Saturday, June 30, 2007

CAMPING PARQUE TROPICAL - GIBRALTAR

Mon25th/Fri29th June.
Well this has been one "Helluva" week in all sorts of way. Over last weekend I was
able to lay on the bed for the first time and sleep.so this has helped with the legs-
the physiotherapist has been giving me the treatment on Mon/Wed/Fri and I am
now back to normal but the ribs ars still sore and will take a few more weeks to
get right.On Tuesday we had a surprise when Mano and Anna called in at lunch
time with Sally Ann and her two children who had come over on holiday from
Tenerife.We had last seen them in Wales just as we left on our travels so we
caught up with all the news and after a dip in the pool we had a nice lunch which
Brenda had prepared.In the evening we had just started to get dinner ready when
Vidal ans Gisela called in with a large salmon fillet that they had just bought so we
put every thing together and had a "Helluva" late supper and caught up with all the
news of their weekend gigs including Saturday nights" St Juan" beach party which
is one of the special Saint days that is held here every year and goes on all night
long and has fireworks and very loud music! On Thursday we had planned to go
to Gibraltar with Vidal and Gisela as on the last occasion that we planned to go
we had the accident on the scooter the day before! We shot down to Gibraltar
and showed them the sites as they had not been before and it was also a good
chance to check on the legs as it calls for a lot of walking! We went down to the
marina to our favourite restaurant and had a very nice lunch in the hot sun then
we decided to go up to the top of the Rock on the cable car. It gives you spectaclur
views over Gibraltar,The Straits.Spain.Africa and the Atlantic and Mediterranean.
Also the famous "Apes" one of which took the bag of sweet cakes that Vidal had
just picked up and proceeded to eat -see the first picture! The other pictures shows
The Point.Airport and the gang at the top.We then after some shopping for spirits
and other goods set off back but we then called in for a "pit stop"one of many on
a very hot and sunny day at Sotogrande Marina which we had not seen before.
We then set off up into the hills to show Vidal and Gisela the village of Casares
but as we passed through Manilva we phoned Mano and found him and Carlos.
so we joined them for a few drinks in the main street in one of our favourite bars.
Later in the evening we moved on to a tapas bar with spectacular views over the
valley and sea and had tapas and a meal of Steak.peppers.chorizo.fried eggs
and frits!! We followed Mano back to his house and joined Anna and Sally Ann
for a few more drinks and to discuss life and the world! The legs where ok but
the ribs are a bir sore.Friday was a day to make the arrangments for the trip
next week and Vidal is going to help us with the move and un-hooking on Tuesday.
We have also some messages to pass on to various people;
Nigelnews-we will call to see you.
Al/Jan-we need a phone number so we can call and see you.
Penny-we have the tapas dishes and Hazelnut Liqueur.
All our familay and friends-watch out.we are coming!
also to Tony and Kay Turner.Michael and Annie Vankleef,who contacted us on our
new E-mail address-Thanks! and John Nicholls from Alicante who called us on
the Skype phone !
Watch out for the travel reports as we cross Spain to Bilbao for the ferry on Monday
9th July.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

CAMPING PARQUE TROPICAL

Mon 11th/Mon 25th June
Well we are still in Estepona! It is sunny and hot every day ( 32o ) and the forecast
is hotter. For the last two weeks I have concentrated on getting back to normal as
the ribs are still hurting and I am still not able to lay down on the bed,so I am still
sleeping on the sun bed with cushions and my feet raised on more cushions ! My
legs are now responding to treatment and the swelling is going down slowly from
my ankles upwards thanks to the physiotherapist who is calling in three times a week,Barbara is a gem and this week as she was away on a course her colleague
Bettina who is also German looked after me.I am also now able to get in the pool
and exercise my legs and ankles and have just been able to swim a few strokes
with the help of a children's float borrowed from the swimming instructor!! The pool
is great and I even use the jets to massage my ribs. In the evening we go for a walk
around the site as the sun goes down.Brenda has been to the hypermarket on the
bus and coming back in a taxi or our friends Vidal and Gisela have picked her up
or brought things in when they are shopping,but as they have a lot of gigs on now
we have not seen them as much.The site has changed a lot in the past two weeks
as all the long stay residents have left for the summer as it gets to hot and the prices
have trebled for the summer season.even Vidal and Gisela have moved out to the
grounds of a friends villa behind the site.We do not see many people now as they
are passing thru to other places, but our Gibralta friends were here last weekend and this week an English couple,Angie and Mike Powley from Great Yarmouth were
very friendly and Mike who is PC literate was very helpfull and spent some time with
me and got me on to all sorts of sites including opening a new E-mail address at
malcolm.sexton@googlemail.com ! The" hotmail" site is still ok but the new one has
more space for photo's etc.Also during this week we had quite a social week,on
Wednesday we asked Vidal and Gisela round for a drink and we ended up having
a Chinese Take away ,then on Thursday Angie and Mike joined us for a drink and
saw in Brenda's Birthday! On Friday we were going out for the first time in four
weeks for dinner with Vidal and Gisela but they then suggested that we go up to
the grounds of the villa and we had a BBQ on the terrace overlooking the pool and
across to Gibralta and Africa,which was rather special.Brenda had a "Helluva"
birthday and received cards and singing E-mails from all her family and our
friends and even from old customers ! I bought Brenda a Hammock on a stand as
she loved swinging on Vidals and they found one in a local store.We have booked
to come back to England on the ferry from Bilbao to Portsmouth on the 9th July,
which gives me more time to recouperate and also cuts the driving back by more
than half,so we will be in England for a month or more during July and August. You
will not recognise Brenda with her short hair and suntan and I have lost half a stone
and have acquired a ponytail!!

Monday, June 11, 2007

NEWSFLASH- UPDATE

Sun/Sun/3rd/10th June.
Well we are still in very sunny and hot Estepona (30*) and will not be heading
home before the 27th June. After the the first two weeks since the fall from the
scooter it is taking longer than expected to get better.The problem is that as I
am not able to sleep on the bed still-because of the pain from the 4/5 broken
ribs, my swollen legs and feet,together with a very bad rash had not improved
and are causing concern.We had a appointment on Tuesday at the hospital
next door for a x-ray and check up with the consultant,at which he confirmed
that everything was ok and gave me ointment for the rash. By Thursday nothing
had improved ,so we called the Doctor back and he went through all the reports
from the hospital and gave them a 98% all right! The scans and tests have shown
a couple of none accident thing to watch,all to do with the Adrenal Glands and
Ferritin levels-both not serious but we will have them checked when we get home.
The Doctor who is German speaks very good English and after seeing the x-rays
he confirmed that the breaks were very nasty and there could even be more! and
that the swollen legs are caused by compression of the Lymphatic Duct by the
bleeding inside the Thorax and not helped by my sleeping position.He advised us
to get help with a physiotherapist who would give me Lymphatic Drainage,so he
called her and we arranged for her to come on Friday.Barbara who is also German
has worked down here for 7 yrs in private practise and started laying on the hands
from the neck to my toes as soon as she arrived !! We have arranged a course of
further treatments this week and over the weekend I was able to lay flat on Brenda's
sun lounger for the first time for a while and also start to walk a little around the site-
as advised by her and the Doctor.Next week on Monday 18th we will see how I am
and will carry on with the treatment if required .We are now looking at the idea of
crossing Spain to Bilbao and catching the ferry to Portsmouth-watch this space for
our weekly update !

Saturday, June 02, 2007

NEWSFLASH

Wed/Sat 23rd/2nd May/June.
Today is the first time that I have been able to sit down at the table
and update our blog since the accident on Tuesday 22nd May.The
only place that I have had to sit and sleep in has been the armchair
with the foot rest because of the pain ! By Friday of last week some
problems had set in,my legs started to swell and the pain had got no
better so we had to call the ambulance, they decided that they could
not move me so gave me some shots and prescriptions to help.Over
the weekend it was not so bad and I was able to eat and move a little
with the help of the nurse,Brenda! who has had to also give me armchair
baths as time went on!! Things then went from bad to worse on Thursday
when my legs became very swollen over night,so we called in a doctor
from Estepona and he immediately advised me to go and have a scan
Asap as he suspected a problem with my Lungs and rib cage! We could
have called a ambulance but as it happens we have right next to us the most
up to date and private hospital in Southern Spain ! so we went in a taxi-100
metrs.next door! instead off going 30kms to the Main hospital were I had
been to after the fall.After the consultation and the scan they immediately
checked me in for 24hrs and arranged for a heart scan as they wanted to
check for damage and blood clots! which was a bit of a shock!!So I found
myself hooked up and on drips and being given injections over night to
help.On Thursday morning I was taken down to the heart consultant and
had a scan and ultra sound check as well as blood tests,At the same time
I was given liver and kidney tests.The out come was that there was no
damage to my heart-in fact he said the the exact opposite-everything was
in excellent condition and i was taken back upstairs to the room to await
further results.I had rung Brenda and told her the news before she returned
later in the morning so as we waited for the consultants results.We then had
another shock when a new doctor came in and introduced himself as the
intensive care consultant!!-but he immediately said it was good news not
bad! He had given a second opinion to all the results-my heart,liver and
kidneys are all ok! but the problem was that I had broken four or more ribs,
which had not shown up the first x-ray and had blood clots on the lung and
rib cage ! The bad news was that I would have to have an operation to re-
move the blood if it had increased after another x-ray.The good news was
that after a 2hr wait it would not be necessary to operate -it will go better
over time ,Our first consultant then arranged some new prescriptions and
also for another x-ray next week to check that everything is ok So we are
back at the Winnebago after a very traumatic 24hrs.It also means that we
will have to postpone our plans to leave by another week,ie,17th June to
give the ribs a chance to heal.