the genuine belief that none of the
treatments then currently available were
any good, and that we should therefore
start with the cheapest (a belt) and move
on upwards to the most expensive and
complicated (an epidural or an operation).
We were allowed an hour for each patient,
which involved a full blood picture and full
x-rays, and then a very comprehensive
history and examination. I don't know how
much good I did for the back pain of
Winchester, but I did have undoubtedly the
best moment of my medical career, if not
of outside family life, by a complete stroke
of luck.
She got pregnant with the first cycle of
I.V.F.
I was asked to be the baby's Godfather,
and I gave her away in Romsey Abbey just
after her 23rd birthday, a few months ago.
She and her new husband already had a
lovely baby, and as they went up to the
high altar to be blessed, someone took the
child up to them, and they walked back,
newly married and blessed, hand in hand,
with the child in her father's arms as I and
the bride's parents gazed on in wonder
and awe.
Pretty special.
One Friday afternoon, the last patient, a
charming six foot young woman from
Eastleigh who worked at the check-out
desk at Asda came to see me, with
intractable back pain.
She had normal bloods, a normal x-ray,
but was clearly in considerable distress,
despite being of a very uncomplaining
nature. Having examined her and talked to
her, I decided that we would try some
physiotherapy, but as she got up to go, I
just noticed a look in her face that told me
I was missing the point. On a whim, I
asked her to sit down, cheerfully telling her
that as the hospital was closed and I had
nothing else to do we could sit and talk all
evening, and out came a story of being
unable to have children, despite trying for
eight years.
Again on a whim, I rang my chum Tony
Letchworth, the Obstetrician, who told me
there was no I.V.F. available in
Hampshire, and we arranged to send her
and her husband up to the London
Hospital for private I.V.F. paid for from a
Trust.
Dr John Sargent
Hampshire County Council is offering
free cavity wall / loft insulation to
householders – for details contact
HCC before 15th March. Apply on-line
at www.insulatehampshire.co.uk or
call the scheme Hotline on 0800 952
0037, to register an interest or visit
for more information.
If your waste bins have been missed and
you’ve had no response after phoning the
0300 number, contact one of your city
councillors, who will take up the matter for
you.
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