The blood thinning is a balancing act, so Nick has to see the doctor every week to get it checked.

Fortunately there's an excellent pizza joint round the corner, to soothe the stress.

Atrial fibrillation, to be exact. That's when the first heart chamber goes all fluttery, so never kicks the main pump into action. Thank God for a pace maker.

Apparently the first thing to try is quick and simple. However the main worry is clots, so Nick has to have his blood thinned with rat poison for a month before they give it a go. And beta blockers. And one or two other things. He's starting to rattle.

Nick's pulse has been an unrelenting 60 since the 'flu, the default setting for his pace maker. The doctor has made an emergency appointment for a heart check at the hospital.

Or Mexicaans Griep, as they call it over here. Doctor believes that's what it was.

So now we have prescriptions for some heavy duty cough medicine, enough to knock Nick out so he doesn't keep coughing all night.

Recovery is going really slowly. One of the many joys of getting old.

A work trip to Treviso. Only short, but we have a weekend, and it's near Venice!



Sadly that is all we saw of Venice, a short stop on the way in. By the next day we were both incapacitated with 'flu. Spent the whole week coughing in an uninspiring hotel room.