Bailing from Mojacar !

The Mojacar adventure didn't go quite as well as I planned,  I do tend to jump into things rather than procrastinate, but on this occasion I wished I  would have procrastinated.

I did get to see the boaters who are wintering in Mojacar but didn't join them for lunch or dinner as I felt constantly nauseous and on a couple of occasions was sick.

I also envisaged walking along the prom stopping at bars for a coffee or beer, the reality was I was too tired to walk more than a couple of hundred of metres so that plan was scrapped also.

I have spent a few winters in Mojacar and had forgot how cold it gets at night, the villa was like an ice box,  I had the heaters running for 24 hours a day in the upstairs room and my bedroom, it was a joy to go to bed with the electric blanket on!  The boaters bought me food packages at night because I was too weak to cook anything other than a basic spag.

I did manage to sort out the insurance on the Jag and did an advert to sell it on the local forums.  I would love to keep it but I just dont know when or if I will be back so it will just sit in the garage at the villa, its OK at the moment as the boaters are using it which is what I want , but they are all heading back to the UK now so it would just sit and gather dust which is no good to it at all. plus I still have the little Citroen C3 if I do manage to go back.

I started to feel worse and was starting to get worried about getting ill whilst down there and not being able to return to the UK, it was my biggest fear.

After nine days, I thought bugger it and booked an escape flight for last Thursday with Ryanair, I chose Ryanair as they fly from Murcia to Luton, so a little bit further to drive at the airport at the Spanish end but so much closer at the Luton end.  I didnt want a repeat of my nightmare journey on the outbound leg going through Gatwick!

24hours before I was due to leave I received an email from Ryanair ....your flight is cancelled, would you like a refund or book another flight?  I quickly checked the Ryanair website there were no other flights, I was physically sick, my fears had come true, I was feeling like I wanted to die and couldn't escape the country,  I rang up brother Russell to see if anyone could pick me up from Gatwick as I couldn't face the thought of getting from Gatwick to Luton on the slowest train in the world again, He couldn't but Tracy could, five minutes later I got one of the last three seats on the Easyjet flight from Almeria to Gatwick.  Roly was going to give me a lift to Almeria airport with Andy riding shotgun, they were picking me up at 09.00 the next morning, the boaters to the rescue again.

They arrived at 08.50 and let themselves into the villa, I was stuck halfway up a flight of stairs trying to get my suitcase to the front door, I just couldn't make it so Andy came down and took it off me and put it into Roly's car..... how pathetic had I become!

We drove away from the villa, 200 metres later I asked Roly to pull over so I could be sick. what a joy this trip was going to be!  Without going into too much details about my puke, it was different, it wasn't food it was crap in my lungs like phlegm, but loads of it and very white.  It was usually proceeded by coughing, once it was gone I would feel better until the next cough came along. Im guessing it has something to do with the tumours on my lungs and hopefully will find out soon.

Andy came with me to the check in and I asked for help to to the plane,  wow what a difference to Gatwick, I was wheeled past security and passport control albeit a basic check, they then took me out to the tarmac where I sat in the wheelchair for a while before being loaded onto the scissor lift lorry and loaded straight into the plane.

The flight was perfect and smooth and I even ate some noodles and had an orange juice with no side effects.

When we landed at Gatwick those of us who needed assistance where asked to stay on board.

I was the youngest of the mostly elderly people on crutches etc and Im sure they thought I was faking it!

Once again it was straight off the plane into the scissor lift truck, once on the ground it was into a minibus who took us to the terminal,  once inside the terminal buggies were waiting to take us the rest of the way outside the airport,  again it was a very quick trip through passport control.  My driver took me all the way to the luggage carousel and even grabbed my bag.  Tracy was waiting for me it was then a short walk to the car , hit the road and head home.....Thanks Tracy you are a life saver x    This is what should have happened on the outbound flight but obviously the chap I asked for assistance  took one look at me  and probably thought I was faking it.  

So was the trip to Mojacar worth it ???? Probably not but then again I would have been thinking I should have gone.  From now on there will be no more trips outside the UK until im feeling like a normal person again and be able to do normal things, which may or may not ever happen again. Hopefully I will be able to do some trips in the UK and see how we go, but Im not jumping into anything.

Its nice o be home, the house is warm and snug and I'm back in my safety zone.

Since being back I have helped Russell fix the fence to make make it doggie escape proof, it blew down a couple of months ago and is the neighbours responsibility but he doesn't seem t be in any hurry to fix it. 

I managed about five minutes before I had to retire exhausted.

I also went up the stables with Kimberley and Russell as the horse float had a puncture, for this one I sat in the car and watched, it was too cold to get involved.

This Thursday Im  off to London to see the lung oncologist, Kimberley is coming with me and we are going by train rather than driving. 

I have quite a few questions for her as in...

What is the white gunk that I'm puking up?

Why am I so weary and still cant walk far, do I need another blood transfusion?  

How do I get my appetite back?

Am I ever going to lead any sort of normal life again or is this it?

Do I need to go on anti- depressants to give me a bit of help, she did suggest it once before but I said no, I'm not depressed!!  I dont feel anyway suicidal but would be quite happy to go to bed at night and not wake up in the morning.  What I struggle with is trying to see a way ahead, I cant imagine going to a nice restaurant again or enjoying a pint of Doombar, I have lost enthusiasm for everything pertaining  to a normal life.   One good thing to come out of the Mojacar trip was talking to someone who had cancer a a few years ago and like me reacted badly to the chemo. 

They told me that they went through a year of hell before recovering and now leading a very good life albeit some setbacks every now and again.

Perhaps I need to eat a concrete sandwich and harden up!

Once again thank you to the winter narrow boaters in Mojacar  who helped me immensely whilst I was there XX.