This was my diary entry.

1. Return to UK when possible.
2. Have COVID test
3. Healthy lifestyle

I realised that returning to the UK even if possible was merely avoidance. The hospital would only release me to a medical flight. With no direct flights to the UK it would have been a logistical nightmare. I’d been presented with an opportunity to have surgery done in one of the best hospitals in the world.

I don’t align with any religion but consider myself spiritual. I remember thinking when I came to after the operation that I must make the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela because of the link with São João and after all I was in Hospital São João. Its only 225k and will be good for my recovery in a few months.