Rest, welly and getting checked out
What started out as an amazing way to start the year after jumping out of a plane and surviving then took a turn for the worse after an episode of food poisoning on New Year’s Day. I’ve now spent the past two weeks struggling to get my energy back. My muscles have been aching and have felt weak and I just can’t seem to get going. The other day I came to a small incline in the road and my heart dropped. I was instantly transported back to memories of Richmond Hill during my treatment when I would be forced to stop 3 to 4 times before managing to get to the top whilst on my way to visit my brother.
I haven’t felt this bad for a long time and this is the second time I’ve been to see a doctor recently about fatigue. I gave myself two weeks to feel better and after that I said that I would go and see a doctor so on Monday I did just that.
I saw a wonderful Doctor called Dr Winton who examined the usual glands and did some weird tapping thing on my body….I’m never quite sure what the point of this is but he seemed to know what he was doing. He scared me a bit when he listened to my chest and asking “did any of your blood clot break off and get into your lung?”. I replied with a cautionary “noooo….why?”.
Ha! Maybe don’t ask that question when you’ve not been listening to my chest for the past 5 minutes with a concerned look on your face.
The doc said he thought all was fine and that I was probably just worn out but took bloods anyway. I just got the results back and all is fine and dandy. The usual fears of blood test results will never go away. You may have heard a massive sigh of relief wherever you are in the world after the voice at the other end of the phone simply replies “yep…all normal” and with that brief answer life goes on.
My reason for sharing this is just to say it is definitely better to be safe than sorry so please get yourself checked out if you don’t ever feel right. Some people call this being a hypochondriac but I call it being safe. After all it was getting checked out early that saved my life from bowel cancer. I also want to tell those of you who have been ill that despite all my escapades I also get tired so don’t feel that you are alone. I now need rest more than I ever have done before. Rest is key after going through such treatment and operations.
Although this trip has been wonderful for my mind I think my body might be getting a bit worn out now. It’s been good to rest.
Photographs
So I’ve been lucky enough to have had a wonderful base in Wellington whilst I recover. I don’t think Ruth’s remote control or couch have ever seen so much action! I’ve watched an entire season of Game of Thrones! Love it!
Wellington is such a cool little city to recuperate in.
The other night Ruth and I went to the botanical gardens with a picnic and watched a free concert in amongst the beautiful gardens.
I’ve also been spending time down at the harbour side with a cups of green tea and a good book about mindfulness called The Power of Now which was bought for me by my friend Jane from Cancer Research UK. It’s very good and has got some great techniques for coping with anxiety.
I also loved just sitting and watching people face their fear and jumping from the diving platform at the harbour. It was hilarious seeing big Maori muscle men debating whether to jump or not as a little girl, who couldn’t have been more than 10 came along, walked past them and immediately made the jump. How’s that for fearless!
We went to the Embassy Theatre last night to see the final Hobbit film which was amazing! I couldn’t quite believe I was watching the final film where it all started. This is where they had the premier of the first film, the Fellowship of the Ring back in 2001. All the names of the cast are engrained on the chairs that they sat in at the premier. I sat two seats away from Liv Tyler’s chair but sadly she had been replaced with a big hairy guy that night. Not quite my type!:)
So I’m finally starting to feel better and and I can now feel my strength coming back. As well as lots rest I’ve been eating and drinking lots of juices, healthy foods and making sure I take my supplements.
I’m hoping to set off again next week before Ruth realises that the only thing I’ve done to help make dinner so far is taking on the role of ‘supervisor’. I think she may have figured this out already though.
A huge thank you to Ruth for putting up with me over the past couple of weeks. I am eternally grateful to her for her generosity. She has been so kind. Thank you to beautiful Wellington as well for being a wonderful place just to be.
South Island, I’m coming back for you very very soon.
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