Just one more of those desert island moments

March 6, 2008 on 6:53 pm | In Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Back in January my wifes sister died unexpectedly she was only 57 and as far as we knew fit and well. We decided to go back to UK at once but the following day my wife fell down the stairs and injured her back I phoned for an ambulance which took her to our local hospital (No 1) in central Portugal, where they X ray but found nothing wrong so she was told to rest for 5 days and then she could travel back for funeral which is what we did she still being in a lot of pain. All was going well with the trip back when reaching and paying a toll in northern Spain the van got stuck in reverse gear we were lifted off the motorway and put in a hotel over night until we could get a to a car hire place in the morning it was a further three days before we arrived in in the UK, the day before the funeral.
After spending a week in the UK in which time the motor assistance contacted me to say the Spanish garage said the vans gearbox was broken beyond repair but that they would fit a new one for 3000 euros I said no thank you or words to that effect and asked for it to be returned to Portugal. My wifes back was still not a lot better and she really wanted to come home to Portugal so we made the return trip. The hire car had to be returned to Spain to I took her home and then the following day drove back into Spain to drop the car off luckily they had a Portuguese plated car so I could hire that one until I could sort the van out. It was a couple of weeks before I got the van back the lorry that was bringing it back broke down, you could see the evidence of this my van looked like it had been sprayed in engine oil. When I had described what had happened to the van at the toll Booth to my friends back in the UK they all said it sounds like a linkage problems. The gearbox and drive shaft was in the back of the van when it arrived at the Portuguese garage and was soon out on the bench and reconnected to prove when 1,2,3,4,5 and reverse gear were selected that there was nothing wrong with the gearbox.
The local Portuguese here have a saying for the Spanish which translated means all Spanish are robbers, I used to laugh this off,now when they say this I stop them and say no not robbers but bloody bandits.
So back to my dear wifes back, with all that had been going on she had not properly rested the back so she was determined to do this on our return the pain seemed to have moved a little but not diminish any, so in the end after I had nagged and nagged at her she gave in and I took her back to our local hospital (No 1) after X-raying her a second time they decided there was problem with her back and that she would be transferred to another hospital 9No 2) 45k away where they gave her a scan and found two fractured vertebrae L1 and L4 they said that she would need to see a spinal specialist and the best one was in another hospital (No 3) 140k away and that’s where she was being transferred to.
My wife found that lying on her back painful but on her side was OK, the doctors told her if she was to travel like that in the ambulance and it went over a bump she could become paraplegic and that although painful for her that she would have to travel lying on her back, we were also told that the ambulance would be very calma, travel slow for the same reason slow my ass once on the motorway it never dropped below 140k an hour the van had a good workout after it’s repair. At the hospital my wife was taken into a surgical ward were visitors nor any personal effects are allowed so from then on she had no glasses handbag and most important her contact with me the mobile phone, were not allowed so I had to wait outside but was promised someone would be out to talk to me in ten minutes this happened every 30-40 minutes for the next 4 hours first I was told the surgeon would then the head man but I never seen ether, in the end I was told that she might have to have surgery the next day Thursday or Friday and was given a phone number to call the following morning I left my land line and mobile number for the hospital to contact me if needed before the next day.
I rang and rang and rang the number they gave me but no one would answer the phone in the end after 4 hours of trying to get in touch with the No3 hospital, I gave up and decided to travel up to the hospital drove down to the train station caught the train, journey taking a couple of hours then taxi to the hospital about 3hrs in all. At reception asked for my wife, I could tell something was not right by the body language of the receptionist when he first shook his head and said, after typing in her name, said that my wife was not here, then got up and walked away only to come back and tell me she’s not in the hospital (No3) but has been transferred back to hospital (No2)
By the way my wife had been told at hospital (No3) that seeing she had full use of her limbs and no pain while using them, her pain comes when she twist’s or bend’s, that she had been like this for four weeks including the trip to the UK and that the operation in that area can be very dangerous that they would not operate but she could go back to hospital (No1) (note, not Hospital No2)) where they would fit a body corset that she will have to keep on for between 6-12 weeks. My wife arrived back at Hospital (No2) about three in the afternoon and as soon as she realized that it was not hospital (No1) tried to tell them that hospital (No1) is were she should have been taken but as we have both learnt you are at a big disadvantage if you don’t speak Portuguese and are female. At 7 in the evening she finally found some one to listen to her and they called for an ambulance to take her back to hospital (No1), by the time I arrived at Hospital No2 at 9 she was still waiting in a wheelchair for the ambulance its a understatement to say she was pleased to see me.
All this time my wife never had anything to eat or drink I can understand the reasons for this on the first day with the possibility of an operation but no excuse the second day.
Just one more of those desert island moments

Hello world!

February 10, 2008 on 8:41 pm | In Uncategorized | 3 Comments

So your living onIN a Desert Island, by that i do not mean somewhere in the pacific ocean, all though if you are and its your bag (that saying shows my age) well done you, most peoples desert island can be as simple as when they start a new job, can be in the same town or city,  a new city or worse a new country, this move may not be work orientated could be for health reasons or marriage,with a different language and customs,  it can be a very lonely desert island

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