I got back home from hospital last night. I had been there since my accident last Sunday. Now I have to stay at home with my foot "elevated" for two weeks at least.

Contrary to what some people seem to have heard, I wasn't in a car accident: it was a lawnmower accident - I ran over my foot with the lawnmower and lost (most of) the big toe on my right foot. It's a small enough accident to have a funny side, but serious enough to be horrible for the person concerned.

A few observations:

• Gas and air (Enotonox: active ingredient Nitrous Oxide) is interesting stuff. I should like to try it again when not in a state of shock and pain.
• It's amazing how quickly you get institutionalised. The world shrinks to the size of the ward within hours.
• General anaesthesia is pretty interesting too. In particular the way that you have no sense of the time that has passed when you come round - it doesn't seem that no time has passed, but it doesn't seem that any particular amount of time has passed either.
• I'm very glad that we still have a National Health Service which is universal and free at the point of use.