Our five week sojourn to Spain has come to an end and we spent our first night here in our own home cosy and warm against the outside temperature being much lower than we had just left behind us. Colin did amazingly well keeping up his cycling ready for LEJOG, his bike ride across the length of the UK from May 4th to raise much needed funds for our PH UK Association. If there are people out there still willing to give then please do so, the link is below. For those that receive one of our amazing PHA magazines Colin features in the latest spring edition.
Link you need to copy and paste - bit.ly/LeJogForPHAUK
I have received messages from a few people who have tried to give and the page just does not seem to accept their donation. I do not know why and looked it up on Google. They do tell you how to get over this and donate so please now is the time. All preparations except for one leg of his train ride home from Scotland are now in place so no going back.
It has been some journey getting where I am now from Christmas. After my time in hospital suffering badly from RSV I feared never getting back to any level of fitness. I was determined though to try but my body did not cooperate. I am writing this to those that feel like giving up. I feel most of us have done from time to time when the going gets so tough.
I met with my specialist just before going on holiday and expressed my frustration at not being better almost two months on from infection, he reminded me that I had been very very poorly when admitted and recovery takes a long time. I asked if I would be able to get back to walking considering the results of all my tests. He was very hopeful but said it may not be whilst I was away, it may take longer. I was aghast at this and told him I would ensure that I would do my very best to walk along the ocean daily extending my steps as and when I felt able. However it seemed there was a likelihood that we may not even get away at all. I just could not hold down anything. I was constantly sick and just needed to rest all the time. The decision should we go, could we go was open to the very last morning of our departure and the two friends we were going with were not advised until just before we left home. Once on the ferry I did seem to recover somewhat and felt hopeful for the future.
Things did not go too well for Colin who got a really bad tummy infection which left him a drained wreck. There were talks of who would drive who if he did not recover enough to make the journey through Spain. He rallied however and though still feeling drained was able to drive us to our first stopover at a Parador Hotel. All was not well with me however as the sickness returned with a vengeance and I declined dinner on our first night and had a few spoons of soup in our room. My trusty sick bowls travelled with us all the way and were well used.
On arriving at our apartment things took a turn for the worst with one of our group not feeling quite right in the tummy department and me getting this infection really badly. I was unable to keep food or drink down me for six days until we decided enough was enough. I was so cold despite the temperature being high and even a dressing gown and thick blankets could not stop me from feeling freezing, My belly hurt so bad and my eyes were sunken and my skin looked grey. Colin was on one of his bike rides with a friend who had gone biking with us and I was on the couch when I turned to another friend and said I was ready to go to the hospital as this could not go on. I won’t go into details but believe me I had never been so poorly with a tummy bug before and it just went on and on and on. The guys returned from their bike ride and Colin took me to Dénia hospital where to cut a long story short I stayed in overnight and was rehydrated for 17 hours and given two lots of antibiotics through a drip and sent home with two more lots of oral antibiotics. It seemed my body was in quite a state. On arriving back at the apartment the following day we had made the decision if no real improvement we would head back to the UK. That night I was very sick and so we were all fearing the worst but hey…….. after a restless night I woke to a day feeling way better and so the walking began.
Steadily at first I walked and I walked and I walked, one day doing almost eleven miles so I was so chuffed. I never did less than seven miles a day which for me is 17500 steps but often I was achieving way over 22 and 23000 steps depending on what we were up to, one day doing just short of 11 miles. I sent my specialist a message asking him to check out all my readings from his end and he was so pleased I had achieved my goal. Is this a result of the trial drug I am on or just the fact that the weather was so lovely and the scenery whilst waking along the ocean front was so breathtaking I do not know but I was ecstatic.
Colin and his friend continued with the bike riding twice a week and walking some of the mountains and exploring caves so he was a happy chappie. Morning coffees were taken by the side of the ocean in the port daily, or even a few times daily and very much enjoyed.
We did spend time with lots of our friends that live in Spain either enjoying long leisurely lunches and walking around the different villages around us. Sadly one of our group caught a terrible chest infection. Of course our concern was for him but also fear for me as I knew I could not cope with another one. So his second week was spent on antibiotics with no real improvement so he required a second course which appeared to do the trick.. These illnesses of course curtailed some of the plans we had made before we left England but at least we had the sunshine and made the most of the days we could get out and about,
Colin and I decided to cut our stay short in the apartment due to circumstances and travel up through Spain spoiling ourselves by staying in gorgeous hotels and seeing parts of Spain we had never visited before or had just flashed through whilst travelling. This was an eye opener and we were often open mouthed staring at their beautiful statues, or plazas or many of the gorgeous buildings. Our hotels on route were stunning and the breakfasts out of this world, though we did decline the Cava lots of the guests were helping themselves to for breakfast, it’s not really our thing.
We spent our final night in Spain in Santander in a fabulous hotel and for the first time ever walked around this city we had always believed to be too industrial to bother looking around and oh how wrong we were. What an amazing place with lots to see and views around every corner. We enjoyed our best steak EVER here in a restaurant thanks to a maitre de who took pity on us, We had not realised that Saturday it seems all of Spain go out for a meal so we were turned away from one after another eating places. We could have got in at some that were playing loud music and and televisions for sport but that is so not us so around and around we searched but also admiring the cobbled streets filled with bars and restaurants, no trouble with drunkards here and everyone having a good time. We realised Santander had much to offer and promised ourselves god willing a return visit here in the future. Anyway I digress, we eventually hit upon a lovely looking restaurant and it appeared to be empty. Generally we would walk away asking ourselves why was it empty but it looked so pretty and clean and rumbling bellies led us in and we asked for a table. At first it did not look promising but two of the guys got together and decided they could seat us. How grateful we were as once we took to our seats the place just filled up with those with reservations, It was packed.
We chose a starter to share and it was tempura prawns. My word never had we tasted any prawns this good. A huge dish appeared on the table and here we were, faced with prawns in the lightest batter with a little chilli we felt and lots of chopped chives on the top. They had cut the prawns into bite sized pieces and covered them with the tempura batter and seasoning. The bowl was huge and we both said thank goodness we had only ordered one starter to share. The menu was extensive but we both decided on an entrecôte steak though half dreading if the steak was not cooked correctly or was tough, none of it though. It was perfectly seasoned with the right amount of pink, no blood seeping out of it into the salad. The pepper sauce was just right and the steaks could be cut with a butter knife. We declared our last full meal to be perfect and left them a good tip to show our appreciation for being given a table and such great food. We then enjoyed our walk back to our hotel for our final night in Spain.
Packing our car the following day we were glad of such a big underground garage to repack our things and for me to retrieve my trial meds to take back to my hospital on the way home. We noted a few cars with the UK sticker and assumed that like us they were headed for the ferry. Up we went in the car lift, a first for us and out to search for our final breakfast. We had decided against the hotel as we wanted to walk and wander and explore to get an appetite before leaving Santander. We parked our car at the ferry port and did more meandering. Then sadly we said goodbye to Spain and headed off for my visit to Sheffield for my trial appointment.
We stayed overnight at Halifax Hotel in Sheffield, close to the hospital and hoped this appointment would not be too long. We had a boot full of five weeks of everything we deemed necessary for our stay and just wanted to get back to deal with it, Fortunately we were only there for around four hours and all seems well. So home it was to three lots of washing and a beautifully cleaned house. We were greeted by Izzy who had been looking out for our car and the biggest hugs from her in a long time. She was so glad we were home and she helped us ( a little) with our unpacking. Both of us decided we could not be bothered shopping so managed with things from the freezer. We had bought the biggest sack of mandarins from a local market where the guy that picked them had just arrived with a new batch. First they insisted we try one which we were happy to and then he poured us a sackful of the ones he had just picked from the trees fresh that morning. We gave Izzy a big bowl full and are looking forward to walking with a couple in our pockets later once organised. Three lots of washing dome and we are back on track. We shall see what today brings and keep you informed of Colin’s journey toward LeJog and his fundraising for such a worthwhile cause.
One of the donations he received was from the sister of Pete Duffy who sadly lost his life to ph and the donation was in his memory, The ones we lose to ph are never forgotten and we felt so blessed to receive this. I tried to reflect on the ones gone before but it is too painful to think for long which is why we need to fund more research and keep receiving all the info we are given by our PH Association we owe so much to. My hope is one day there is a cure so every penny helps at funding this cause, Please if you have not donated I am actually begging you now to give whatever you feel you can. This disease causes so much heartache for the patient and families of those affected by such a cruel disease. The day looms ever closer for Colin to get on his bike and don his ph t shirt ( which we have forgotten to ask Mary to order so must do it today ) and ride off into the sunset to raise us much needed funds.
Hope this blog finds you all as well as can be and know that I care for each and every one of you.
Must get up now to begin the day.
Warm love
Carole. Xxx
