Benjamin

Hi Grecian. As mint says you seem to have got your head around the situation. After a few disappointments I, in agreement with the consultant, will be having external beam radiotherapy. There is a three month course of tablets to be taken first and when I mentioned that we would normally be in Spain at this time he sais just go and he'll make the appointment with the oncologist for the middle of February. The radiotherapy will commence shortly afterwards and will be Monday to Friday and spread over six weeks. Unlike Norman my round trip will only be about 20 miles. Needless to say we're leaving for Spain on Tuesday! Best of luck.

Opened a kitchen cupboard earlier to see a bottle with the words huile pimentée on it. For a nation that, in general, don't do spicy they certainly have lots of words for it.

Hi Grecian Christmas, New Year and your birthday all rolled into one. Don't doubt the guy who looked at your scan. What he says is what everyone will take as gospel and work upon. Nice link from Norman on the da Vinci machine. As far as I can work out the only person looking at you during the "procedure" will be the anesthsetist.

Here we go again. The French Interior  Minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, has suggested that UK policemen should be drafted into Calais to help with the illegals problem as well as telling the illegals that the UK is not a land of milk and honey. (my expression).

Mint She probably doesn't like Chorizo piquant either. Spicy wine is what you get in Winter when the cafes and bars serve vin chaud.

Good news so far Grecian. Fingers crossed for tomorrow. There is one fairly big difference between France and the UK. You have come away with the report on the CT scan. I had to wait a week to get mine. Mrs Benjamin has had MRI scans here and in France and to sit and wait for 10 minutes after the procedure to get the report in France is by far the best way. Seeing as Norman is intent on making us laugh I will relate what happened when I got my CT scan result. Jusr before the end of my appointment I said " Well, at least there's been one first today ". " What's that? " asked the Urologist. " Well, it's the first time I've been to one of your clinics and managed to keep my clothes on! " There was a young female student doctor in on the appointment and she absolutely roared with laughter. Trying to keep a lighter outlook is vitally important in these situations.

[quote user="NormanH"]I think you have touched 'bottom' [:)] and are now on the way up again... [/quote] Norman.  We can do without that sort of humour thank you Norman!  [:D] Hi Grecian Best of luck with the CT. A very definig time for you. I know how relieved I was when told the cancerous cells are contained within the prostate. My preferred method of treatment (Brachytherapy) was referred to the specialist regional centre over three and a half weeks ago and if I hadn't been chasing them I wouldn't know anything. In reality I still know nothing so last week I went back to the original hospital and now have an appointment with the surgeon who performs the robotised prostate removal (radical prostatectomy). The waiting is, as you know, is the worst part so fingers crossed.

Where does piquante fit in? We made a rice dish that is spicy for one of the hamlet's do's and, knowing that the older French dont do spicy, I put a label on saying piquante and only the youngsters ate it.

A driver was stuck in a traffic jam on the M25 near London, nothing was moving. Suddenly, a man knocks on the window. The driver rolls down the window and asks, "What's going on?" "Terrorists have kidnapped all members of Parliament, and they're asking for a £100 million ransom. Otherwise, they are going to douse them all in petrol and set them on fire. We are going from car to car, collecting donations."  "How much is everyone giving, on an average?" the driver asks.   The man replies, "Roughly a litre."

I've come a  little late to this thread but can I redress the balance about immigrants and scroungers. You wont find confirmation of  this in the Daily Whatever but I assure you it's true. Some friends rent out properties, one of which is a two bed flat.They've had the same tenant for about three years. Never had any problems over rent with the money hitting their account like clockwork. When anything has ever needed repairing our friend has always been amazed at how spotless the place is kept. Sometimes the man will 'phone up with a little problem and ask if it's OK to put it right himself. They had a 'phone call a week ago from a very tearful tenant to say that her husband's work had changed with his depot moving 60 miles away (parcel deliveries, white van man etc.) and that they couldn't afford the rent any longer as the cost of his travelling had made doing the job impossible. He refused to claim benefits. They asked to be released from the tenancy agreement immediately but that they had lined up one of their friends who was looking for accomodation, subject, of course, to our friend's agrrement. New tenant interviewed last Saturday and moving in this Friday. The original tenants are returning to Poland this weekend.

Then they really are convinced that I am insane. Of course we don't think that Chance [:P] Now just go and sit in a quet room wit the curtains drawn and I'm sure you'll feel calmer later.  [:D]

According to your earlier post your neighbour only took out a top up mutuelle after her operation/stay so to talk about a 20% charge just would not be the case.  

I don't think the article is saying that all of the charges are recent: your quote says only one, generalised social contribution,is relatively recent. I remember getting my first French payslip (yes, I have worked in France) and seeing a bewildering list of deductions. I gave it to a young French man I knew and he showed it to his mates.Between all of them they could identify and explain about half of them. They didn't have a clue about the rest. And, if you're going to get all ruffled about a Torygraph report knocking the French, then I feel all is lost. [:@]  

There is something wrong with your neighbour's €1.000. Over four years ago, when Mrs. Benjamin used to attend CHU Nantes for three quarters of a day as an outpatient every month, the daily charge for "accomodation" alone (24 hrs.) was something like €750. That was without any charges for actual treatment. On the other hand, if you are classified as disabled, then there are no charges whatsoever except for the "extras" (TV, telephone etc.) that you may chose to have.

Bit of a mixed bag that. As for getting earlier scans don't forget what I said yesterday. You have had an invasive procedure and there is no point in having any scan until the area has "calmed down". I understand that waiting is very difficult but patience is the watchword here. Bon courage.

[quote user="Chancer"]  they have nothing to spend it on other than their own whims and they are not accountable, they dont even publish accounts. [/quote] Ooer Chance. You've almost just described the Police Federation.

..."in the garden" is not quite correct Idun. It should be "in the bush"........

Grecian I am a little further down the road than you insomuch as my prostate cancer has been confirmed and I'm now waiting for an appointment with the oncologist for my preferred method of treatment. I suspect that the wait for an MRI and CT scan is to do with the sigmoidoscopy, since that is invasive and you have to give time for the area to"calm" before you can have any scans. Having had a prostate biopsy I then had to wait a month for a scan so the timing looks about right. I could not have an MRI scan as I have a none MRI compatible pacemaker so I only got a CT scan. My GP is supportive of having the pacemaker changed next year: a fairly easy procedure as the wiring in to the heart itself is compatible ( weird or what?). If you want more information regarding your possible condition then stick to recognised  sites e.g. Macmillan. My condition was spotted by my GP who noticed that my PSA levels were rising over a period of time. PSA is checked via a blood test and whilst the test is not totally accurate it is useful if a trend can be spotted. When we lived in France, and again since returning to live in England, I just asked to have the test from time to time. Again both in England and France we were invited to send off samples (the poo test[+o(]) to test for early bowel cancer. Is this how you were recognised as a potential sufferer? Best of luck.

I remember us buying these type of curtains some 30 years ago and bl00dy expensive they were too. 8 foot drop and 12 and 15 foot wide. Mrs Benjamin (and she's pretty goood at this) reckons about 3,000 pounds but as it's the remover's insurance put in a figure of 4,000 pounds. Expect to be asked to get a written quote so you'll need a nice friendly curtain shop.

We use Comfort Insurance whose policies are undrtwritten by Aviva (formerly Norwich Union). Cost to cover annual medical and house insurance foe two plus 65 years old with a maximum single trip of 180 days 664.02 pounds. No special conditions regarding people entering/staying in the property and no special conditions regarding draining down etc. (although you'd be a complete plonker if you did nothing). They will accept medical conditions subject to Aviva's scrutiny. They either accept or don't. There's no loading for specific conditions.

Well, this is the sort of news that could pi55 Nige off a bit. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-29646414

[quote user="woolybanana"] If Europe lets the French off by accepting their budget,[/quote] But surely isn't this what EU budgets are all about. Why tell the truth when a bit of creative accounting is considered fair game. If the truth were told probably half the member states failed the entry criteria but a bit of creativy still let them join.[6]

I did this some six years ago but from England to France. The information which you need and which I will try to remember applied to the Prefecture in 85. It appears from other threads that the rules can be interpreted differently from Prefecture to Prefecture and, if your spoken French is good enough, it might be worth checking with your own Prefecture. Take the invoice for the vehicle to your local tax office and get a quitus fiscal so long as the vehicle is over six months old and has over 6.000 kms. on the clock otherwise you may have to pay VAT and then claim it back from Ireland. You will need a Certificate of Conformity for the base vehicle in French as well as a CoC for the conversion, again in French. Before buying the vehicle check that these are available. The CoC for the base vehicle is probably not difficult to get as most vans are sold all over Europe. Unless the conversion was sold in Europe getting a CoC in French will probably be impossible but there is another way.   The organisation you had to go to was originally DRIRE but I believe this has now changed (someone will be along with the correct name). You will be given a sheaf of documents to complete for the conversion covering axle weghts, fresh and waste water tanks and a host of other details on the conversion It is not an easy task. You will also need to get the gas system checked out and again you will need to visit a specialist organisation (name somebody please) which may involve a long journey as they are not very thick on the ground. Don;t forget insurance and a FRench CT if necessary. Good luck.

At some point in the purchse process we received a photocopied A4 sheet showing our land with the house on it as well as the adjacent land/properties all with their unique reference numbers.

Bit knee jerk that sweets. After all it was a report in The Guardian.Try and find the counter article in the Daily Mail and everything will come out smelling of roses. Watched "Location location" last night on Ch 4. Two couples,both youngish, who had decided to move, one from Leeds and the others from South Wales, to London. Both had budgets of around €500.000 for one and two bedroom flats. Yes, I know those figures to most on here are staggering, but so were interest rates (for the whole of the country by the way) of 15 to 18% in the 70's but somehow we managed. Having lunch a couple of weeks back with my neice who lives in London, and I commented about places such as No. 1 Hyde Park and the prices those places fetch. She told me you can drive past those and similar properties at night and there are no lights on anywhere. Simply speculative purchases. The so called Mansion Tax is about the only sensible policy that came out of the Labour Party Conference when, quite astonishingly, Ed (normally a brilliant speaker without notes), managed not to mention the economy at all.