One Sunday last month, the day of the Winter Solstice, I walked down to the Fish Shack, a small kiosk on Hove’s beach, open three days a week to sell extraordinarily fresh fish – hence its name, I guess.

I love the little crayfish tails they sell, so buy a large tub and some anchovies in oil. It was two days after I had had the all clear from the nursing staff at The Montefiore about my post-operative Hernia wound. Jim recognises me and asks:

‘How are you, Richard?’

“On the mend after my hernia repair.”

There’s a tendency when we hear something, we automatically want to recount our own experiences, rather than ask a question to further the conversation; not really listening!! 

“Hernia huh! I had one of those, so you don’t need to tell me how painful it is. (Ed: Actually, I wasn’t going to!) It was about 5 years ago, and I was working in The Billingsgate Fish Market in Central London …….

One of the Billingsgate stalls

I was supervising the unloading of a lorry, a fork-lift taking the pallets off the back. One partially split and I instinctively went to hold it together ….. well, that was stupid wasn’t it …..  got a shooting pain down my arm and suffered a rupture, later diagnosed as a hernia.”

As I am listing to this tale of woe, I realise another customer, a woman, has arrived to buy some fish. I turned to her and apologised about the rather distressing medical story: “Don’t worry, I know all about Hernias …. my husband, my brother and my son have all suffered.”

We will all suffer something going wrong with our physical bodies during our lifetime, that much is guaranteed. What’s not is which particular ailments might come our way, maybe affected by lifestyle, our level of risk, eating habits, genetics and possibly bad luck – wrong place, wrong time. A Hernia? I had heard the name, knew that one of our yoga chums had had a bad one, whatever that meant, but my knowledge was minimal. Three weeks after mine and I apologise to the Waitrose delivery chap that I shouldn’t lift the green plastic crates containing our order (ie my wife Celina had told me not to!), as I am recovering from a hernia operation. “I’ve had one of those, know all about it!” He looked about 17 (actually he was 22!) and his had occurred when he was 18 – so age is no differentiator!

You can skip the next paragraph if you know all about hernias.

‘A hernia occurs when an organ or tissue pushes through a weak spot in the surrounding muscle or connective tissue. Common types of hernias include an Inguinal hernia, occurring in the groin area; an Umbilical hernia, occurring near the belly button; a Hiatal hernia, occurring when part of the stomach pushes through the diaphragm and lastly a Femoral hernia, occurring in the upper thigh near the groin. Symptoms may include a noticeable bulge, discomfort, or pain, especially when lifting or straining. Treatment often involves surgery.’

Then I found a diagram; I like diagrams, having a preference for pictural representation rather than a verbal description. I learned the other day that some 1-4% of people have a real phenomenon called Aphantasia; they are completely unable to imagine images in their head. For example, they can’t consciously create pictures in their head, like ‘seeing a red apple when you think of one.’ Thankfully I am not so afflicted, as I can’t imagine not being able to visualise, picture something.

Sorry, I digress!

Note the ‘weak point’ in the surrounding muscle. To confirm I had a hernia, I went off for an Ultrasound at The Nuffield Hospital, the other side of Brighton, on 12^th August 2025. (Note 1) The Radiologist explained that, in men, the testes left the abdomen to drop down into the scrotum. OK, I understood this basic biology; they are there because they need to be kept at a cooler temperature than within the abdomen. What I hadn’t known was that where they exited the abdomen, they left a weak spot; that is often where inguinal hernias in men occur.

I was put on the NHS list in mid-August and attended the clinic on 7^th November 2025 at The Montefiore. Given the delicate nature of a hernia repair, I was motivated to find out more about the consultant. These days, with LinkedIn and other online platforms, it’s easy to find out some basics, such as the fact he was born overseas, arriving in England as a child, and completing his medical training at Cambridge University. After our initial meeting he booked me in for late February 2026 and followed up with lots of information about the procedure, for me to digest. I was impressed – he ‘did what he said he would.’! We exchanged emails and I learned for instance his favourite composer is Bach. I warmed to him as a human being when he wrote: “I always say how lucky I am to have been accepted here and never cease to admire the tolerance and civility of this nation and its people. It is my duty to give back as much as I can.” Currently there’s often derogatory comment in our press about Britain and its place in the world. It was nice to read something positive and fundamental.

We managed to bring the operation forward to 5^th December 2025. I checked in with Helen at the Reception Desk at 0655, got briefed by Abbi the Anaesthetist, felt confident everyone knew what they were about to do ……. zzzzzz ….. then into the recovery room!

I left around 1400 just as Helen, the receptionist, was finishing her shift. Seemed a fitting closure. Three weeks later I was back in the hot yoga studio, albeit being careful in some postures.

Richard 9^th January 2026

Hove

http://www.postcardscribbles.co.uk

Note 1 Paying for medical treatment is, for some, an option, either through their Health Insurance or from their deep pocket. The cost of the scan was so exorbitant that I wrote to the CEO of The Nuffield, essentially asking him to justify it. I received a reply explaining this and that and the other – but no real justification for the cost.