'A nerve wracking time': relief after the dreaded TB tests - Jo Thorp

This was followed by him spending time in Bradford Royal Infirmary a five hour long operation and a lengthy recovery. It was touch and go for a while, but his finger eventually decided it was happy to stay reattached to his hand and all was well. Despite it resembling a giant gnarled Cumberland sausage and having very limited sensation he has resisted the urge to “chop this useless damn thing off” and is forever grateful to the surgeon who painstakingly removed years of ingrained cow muck and grime before sewing it back in place. On this occasion there was no repeat performance, no trips to Bradford with packets of Cadbury’s chocolate fingers to cheer him up, just the overwhelming sigh of relief following an “all clear”. The cows were returned to their fields and all was well.

Our house is now hidden under a large white tent leaving us cocooned inside, oblivious to the endless stream of vehicles tearing past. The sound from outside is muffled, the muddy fields and heavily laden grey skies all hidden from view until we step outside and realise it’s all still there! The last couple of weeks have been very quiet without the little guy; our house, fast resembling a building site is no place for someone who now has to plough through mountains of homework in the evening and needs a good night’s sleep before catching an early bus to school. He spends the week at my Mother’s and comes home at the weekend to see his menagerie of animals.

Half term is fast approaching meaning a full week of freedom, no doubt indulging in his latest passion which involves his much battered and abused bike and a giant home-made ramp. I fully anticipate that despite Paul managing to steer well clear of A&E this year, we could well be finding ourselves sat in that dreaded waiting room, preparing ourselves for broken bones!