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"There's always a plan, but unexpected things happen and we just go with the flow. Though I do believe that fate and destiny often play their part"
sailing blog
So far, the predicted storm has only consisted of heavy rain, some of it in biblical proportions I might add, but no nasty gale force winds. However, a slightly different disaster struck on Sunday just when we were all least expecting it. Nicki and I joined Jane's family for a much anticipated traditional Sunday roast - the first in months. During the day my left knee started giving me jip, plus I was developing a temperature. After lunch, I decided to have a lie down, but things quickly went from bad to worse. Imagine a red hot poker being shoved under your knee cap. Now wire it up to mains electricity and you get an idea of the agony I was in. A fever had also taken hold, but even more concerning, were the chest pains.
To cut a long story short, before long I was in quite a bad way. The doctor was phoned and immediately he prescribed an ambulance. Minutes later, I was on a stretcher on my way to hospital in a state of slight deliriousness - no change there then! The hospital team were first class. I had wires and drips inserted very quickly, but more importantly a nice man with a large syringe full of morphine administered instant pain relief - oh I like that stuff very much. Over the next hour or five, the medical team did an ECG, chest and knee X-rays, examinations that involved a lot of tapping and, finally, a series of blood tests. With all the results now available, an orthopaedic surgeon was summoned to the scene. She diagnosed the knee problem with some long sounding Latin name, which basically meant I had acute inflammation of a fluid sack under my Patellae, which was crushing the nerves. The chest/fever issue was the early signs of Pneumonia, the two things being totally unrelated. A steroid jab and some other drugs later, I went home in the early hours and slept like a baby until late the next morning. As I write, I'm somewhat incapacitated, but each day brings a little more movement in my leg. Complete rest was the dictate from the doctor, so that's what I'm doing. The Maltese medics were fantastic and thanks to our reciprocal EU treaties all my care and attention was free. I must say though, before the morphine, the hospital team looked quite normal. After the injection, they suddenly loked more like this......
1 Comment
Gina
13/11/2013 03:42:17 am
Your tales are always entertaining Stuart, no matter how serious. Why can't you just have a cold, or a bit of a chill, like the rest of us? Glad you're on the mend - suggest less of the good life, more boring routine, some weak unreliable sunshine and a touch of drizzle! Love to you both xx
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A FEW PICS OF COMINOClick a photo to enlarge and use side arrows to scroll through.
COMINO IS CURRENTLY HEREDID SOMEONE SAY SEAFOODOn our journey from Portugal to Greece we enjoyed amazing seafood almost everywhere we stopped. Finding the local fish market was always a priority because seafood was so plentiful and so reasonably priced. And, the displays were a feast for your eyes.
Locating a market sometimes meant pounding the pavements in searing heat, but if you kept your eyes peeled, you often came across a little clue. The pic below was a rather less than subtle advert for a fish market - it was eight feet tall.
Freshly cooked onboard, a plateful of giant prawns, baked in wine and garlic, washed down with a few glasses of local vino, was like heaven. Watching the sunset on the boat eating a meal like that was the epitome of "living the dream".
Now we're in Greece we've another favourite to savour. I'm talking about fried Calamari. It's usually good, but every now and then it's off-the-scale fantastic. At Natalie's Taverna on Kontokali Beach in Corfu, it was nothing short of epic.
We're based in Lefkas now and It's been a bit of a mission to find somewhere just as good. And we have. Rakias is a mere ten minute walk from the marina and this little fish market, with its very own taverna attached, is quite sensational.
Oh...and it's also worth mentioning that, on occasions, a bit of barbequed Octopus is on the menu at some of the tavernas we frequent. Can I resist....no. SUNSETS AND DRAMATIC SKIESNo filters, or any other monkey business, have been used to enhance these images.
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