On Thursday I paid my monthly visit to the hospital and I am happy to report that I am de-tubed, un-hickmaned, de-plasticified, non-bionic, all natural, with no artificial additions!!!
 
I had a very nice doctor spend an hour working on me with a scalpel and (I'm glad to say) a free hand with the local anaesthetic. After lots of unnatural tugging under the skin, scrapings, dabbing up of blood and muttered Cantonese conversation with the nurses he exited abruptly, leaving me with only two stitches and my Hickman line dumped unceremoniously on a tray beside the bed.
 
One of the nurses explained that he tends to over-run his time slots because he makes very small incisions and works slowly to leave small scars.  I got the impression that she felt this is not really the Hong Kong way. He's probably supposed to make a bigger cut , leave a bigger scar, get the job done in half the time, and recommend a plastic surgeon to make it look pretty afterwards - for a price, of course.
 
Be that as it may - I have a bruised chest with a dressing taped to it and an appointment for the removal of my stitches next week at the clinic here on Lamma, and then another step on my path to the land of post-leukaemia will be behind me.  
 
It's been 22 months since I had it inserted, 3 days since it was removed, and it's only beginning to dawn on me just how glad I am that it's gone.