England v Italy

Two weeks after being confirmed as having suffered a Stroke I “celebrated” my 52^rd birthday. For obvious reasons this was a birthday unlike any I had had before.

If I had not had a Stroke the partner and I would have flown out to the French Alps, on the day after I came out of hospital, to spend a week with the Step-daughter in the resort where she was working. All that went out of the window the moment that it was confirmed that I had had a Stroke (see post: Hospital - Inpatient). Under normal conditions my birthday would have been subsumed into the whole holiday thing but know plans had to be changed.

I have always been a fan of Rugby Union, both as a player and spectator and I have been fortunate (or not so fortunate) enough to have been to Twickenham to watch England play. As a birthday present my partner managed to get two tickets for England’s game against Italy in the 6 Nations at Twickenham on February 14^th, which also happened to be Valentine's Day. This year, for the first time ever, I did nothing for the day. My Stroke gave me an excuse, mainly that I had other things on my mind but also due to me not have left the village on my own since leaving hospital - mainly because I was banned from driving for a month, by law.

In an effort to make the whole trip as easy as possible we travelled down to London on the Friday afternoon, getting a lift with friends from the next village who were doing the same thing. Not having to drive or even be in the front of the car was easier than I thought, especially as there was absolutely no pressure to even take part in any of the conversations. Our friends dropped us on the outskirts of London where we could catch the Underground to where we were staying at the flat of an old work colleague  and business partner of my Partner. The flat is in West London so convenient for getting to Twickenham the next day. Even though we were away from home I still felt the need to take my blood pressure: which I took 5 times that day (at 04:00 − 172/101, at 08:00 − 181/105, at 11:00 − 160/102, at 18:00 − 173/102 and at 22:00 − 170/93). As I was feeling tired after the journey we got a take-a-way and had an early night, well relatively, just after 22:00.

The next day, not needing to be at Twickers until around 13:30 for the 14:00 kick-off, we took it really easy and had a leisurely breakfast of Croque Madame for me and Eggs Benedict for my partner and Coffee for us both in the Cote Brasserie in Turnham Green. We eventually arrived at Twickenham Underground Station at about 13:00 and joined the throng making its way to the home of English Rugby.

After the two weeks that I had had it was good to be out and doing something and getting to watch England inflict yet another heavy defeat on the Italians was something to savour, sorry any Italian readers. What I did find a little frustrating was the feeling I had of not particularly liking the crowd, which is a problem if one is attending a major sporting event. Not that the crowd was boisterous of aggressive, although this being middle class England at play there were more than a few Henrys and Ruperts who had spent a little to much time in the pubs on the route from the station to the ground. It was just that I was still feeling a little fragile. The tickets we had were in the Upper North Stand, Block U22, Row G, so behind and to the left of the posts and up in the gods, which was not a problem because there are isn’t a poor view in the 82,000 seat stadium, but what it did mean was a journey up three tires. Even taking it easily, by the time I reached to top level I was out of breath, which I found worryingly disconcerting. As we queued for a beer (dispensed in a branded plastic container, which I still have and use every day when I take my meds) my partner, not unreasonably pointed out that a lot, if not most people climbing those stairs would be a little out of breath, including her, and that I was almost back to normal which showed that I was not as bad as I thought.

The singing of the National Anthems

As kick-off approached we went to find our seats and watch the build up (see inclosed photo). As we were enjoying the entertainment one of those slightly worse for wear Henrys, seated next to my partner, insisted on talking to us. As often happens when one has imbibed a little more than one should this particular Henry found it difficult to control the level of his voice, an annoying interruption that was to continue throughout the game, which meant that the only way of avoiding the irritation was by concentrating on events the field, something which earned me a rebuke for being anti-social from my partner.

The game itself was the exciting try feast that we have come to expect from games against Italy with England running out 47 − 17 winners, although a late Italian soft try was to have a major influence on weather they won the championship or not.

With the final whistle the happy crowd began to drift away. I have always found it strange just how quickly a stadium can empty. Although my partner wanted to be away I asked if we could sit for a few minutes. I was happy but was tired. Watching England at Twickers was a thing that I had enjoyed a number of times before but this time I felt exhausted. Eventually we descended the steps and joined the remnants of the throng making its way back to the Underground / Overground Station. As we approached the station was obvious that nothing had been done over the years to speed the departure of spectators away, as evidenced by the huge queues. Even though it was only 16:00 I was fading fast so we decided to take the bus back to Chiswick, a more circuitous route but taking into account the huge crowd at the rail station considerately less stressful.

Unlike most days at that time I was only able to take my blood pressure three times (at 08:00 − 165/107, at 18:00 − 174/102 and at 22:00 − 191/99). By 22:00 I Was dead on my feet and was in bed soon afterwards.

As was the norm at that stage after my stroke I was awake at 04:00 and as was also the norm then I started taking my blood pressure and took it religiously throughout the day with five measurements (at 04:30 − 148/94, 08:00 − 163/98, at 14:30 − 163/93, at 19:30 − 177/105 and at 22:00 − 183/99). The gap between 14:30 and 19:00 was where we were watching the Scotland v Wales match in an Irish pub in North London after which we met our friends for the journey home.