Wednesday 5th July 2017

We thought Mum was having the operation to remove the lesion on her face in the morning, but when we got to Colchester General we discovered that this was yet another consultation with yet another specialist. This time it was a jolly plastic surgeon, who said Mum should have been referred to him in the first place, as NHS resources and our own time have been wasted (this appointment was the fifth in relation to the lesion). Hopefully the 6th visit - to the Broomfield in Chelmsford for surgery - will be the last, apart from removal of the stitches.

As Mum was having a much better day with her legs, we stopped off at The Swan for a spot of lunch, and then drove straight to the Freeport Braintree shops to have a look around. Although there's a mother and toddler in my picture, the place was mercifully quiet with not too many children about. The only annoyance was the horde of flying ants crawling on the pavement and dive bombing us. Trust us to choose the one day of the year when they were on the rampage! Mum bought a pretty top for a third of its original price, plus a handbag for £15 which apparently had an RRP price tag of £99. We both got some hair scrunchies and clips too.