The whole Danny Williams story has brought out a lot of comments to me. Some of my American colleagues view my situation with pity , almost as I am a poor simpleton who does not know better. In the US I would have stayed in the hospital after my angiogram and been scheduled for an immediate bypass. I would be almost ready to return to work now. That sounds pretty good.

But then I dig a little deeper. Would I really stay in my bed and have the bypass the next day? Well, not necessarily the next day, it depends on how much blood they have, it depends on the availability of the cardiac surgeon – they just don’t sit there waiting you know. So, I just lay in my room waiting? Sure, if you want to pay for your room, but it may be less expensive to go home and wait for the call.

So when the call comes, I just show up, right? Well, not necessarily, you have to check the surgeon out. How many of these things has he done? Have you checked out the rating websites? And what about the hospital; is it accredited? What is their germ outbreak stat? Their what? Germs, viruses, bugs, that sort of thing, you don’t want to come home sicker than you were.

This is delicate, but how much is this going to cost me? Ah, it depends on your plan (you do have a plan .. right?) , but it should be no more than eight grand, and if you take it easy on the pain killers you are not only going to avoid addiction problems but you will cut down on the out of pocket expense.

How about the rehab programmes once you are out? You mean the rehab programs? Are you out of your frigging mind? Why do you think God gave us the city block?

No question that the likes of Danny Williams and David Letterman will be well cared for by their healers. But I trust my family doctor. I trust my family consultant doctor who resides at the head of many waters. I trust my cardiologist. I trust my cardiac surgeon. I trust my triage nurse. I trust my spiritual adviser. I trust my Higher Power SOAPE. Sometimes you have to fall back and have confidence that the angels will protect you from being dashed upon the rocks.