Wrapping up

I can’t believe it’s almost time to go home! My original return date was December 8^th but I had to change that because more treatment was needed and I was hoping to start work so I could do a bit of work and continue treatment at the same time. I extended my stay here with 2 weeks but unfortunately Occupational Health still hasn’t given me the OK to start going back to work remotely. I have my laptop and access to the network so that’s not the problem.

I’m still doing physio and training in the gym 5 days a week, 2 to 3 hours a day. My physiotherapist is a long distance and trail runner so he understands that I am very eager to continue with all my outdoor activities and I want to start running again. He has given me some specific exercises for that. I’m actually back on the treadmill since last week, now that he thinks my neck is strong enough. I started with just 3 minutes but adding a minute every day.

The weekends I usually spend with my Dad and his friends in Albir. It’s too cold to swim now and unfortunately there hasn’t been much of an opportunity to ho hiking or biking. Every weekend there has been one lame excuse after another such as going to the market, wine tastings, Mediterranean lunches (they take at least 5 hours) in the mountains and a weekend trip to Brussels. One weekend we spent in front of the fireplace hidden under blankets, drinking mulled wine because it was too cold and wet to do anything else.

The receptionist of the clinica where I go for my treatment took me out for Belgian lunch (eel, it was delicious!) one day and told me she has a young dog that she needs to find a new home for. I knew my Dad would love to have a dog and he was already thinking of buying a big expensive pedigree of some sort. But first he had to go on a four-week trip to the UK. Now that he is a free man, he decided that he needs to go visit some old friends. I made sure that Dad and dog got introduced to each other before he left for the UK and they immediately decided they like each other. In January when he comes back he will have a new dog so something to look forward too. Much better than a nasty girlfriend!

After saying goodbye to my Dad I went off-roading with my friend and her husband in their SUV. They do this almost every weekend and invited me along. It was a 65-kilometer trip and a good test to see how my neck would do. I discussed it with my physiotherapist and he was OK with it, as long as I would bring a neck brace in case I got tired. I thought I would be OK because I am training my neck every day in the gym and at home. After only 15 K of bouncing up and down on the back seat I was starting to feel very tired so I spent the rest of the day with a brace around my neck. More practice needed! Other than that the trip was awesome and I might go again next weekend.

Colin decided that he would like to spend a few more days here before I leave. It should be much more relaxed than his previous visit - no more houses to clean and Dads who don’t know what to do with themselves when not being bossed around by angry girlfriends. I will be spending much less time doing therapy as it’s Christmas and also this week is officially my last week – next week is just bonus. If the weather cooperates we’ll have quite a bit of time for some good hikes.  We’ll certainly do one on Christmas day – best way to spend Christmas!

Probably my last swim of the year, mid November

Rainy day in Benidorm. Makes the tapas taste extra good!

Snow on the mountains after a cold and rainy weekend

Off-road fun in the mountains

Sunset / moonrise from the beach in Moraira. The extra dot in the sky on the left is Venus

Settling in and a good look at my tripple chin

I’ve been doing physio 5 days a week for almost 2 weeks now and it’s amazing what a difference it’s starting to make! I needed to build up slowly because the injury was left untreated for so long but they are really making me work hard now! Not only am I going more often and for longer periods of time – sometimes up to 4 hours at a time – I’m also doing more exercises, more difficult ones, more weight, more muscle groups and so on.

The goal of the gym exercises (see pictures below) is not so much to train my arm, core or legs muscles - nice side effect though - but to learn to keep my neck muscles under control while doing other stuff. I’m now actually able to control muscles in my neck that I didn’t even know I had!

The reason I need to train those neck muscles is because the accident caused some ligaments in my neck to be stretched. Without those ligaments it is much more difficult to keep my head in position. On top of that it also causes pressure on my spinal cord, which then causes all kinds of stuff like headaches, dizziness, vertigo, eye coordination problems. It’s actually amazing how much better I feel now that I pay attention to keeping my head in the right position to prevent that pressure on my spinal cord. Also quite amazing that no one figured this out back home!

With the increased training of the muscles I’m obviously experiencing a lot of muscle soreness. I’m often surprised where it hurts; it’s a new surprise every morning. Luckily with the all the extra activity, there are now also regular massages, muscle relaxation exercises, and acupuncture to release tension.

In the meantime all the regular treatment is also continuing; manipulation and loosening of my spine, jaw manipulation, nerve stretching (my least favourite, it doesn’t really hurt but feels horrible), exercises with laser pen on my head, pulling of my head in all kinds of ways, moving of skull parts. Some pictures below, all taken by Colin last week.

I’m also starting to settle into the Moraira life. Half the shops and restaurants are now closed until February / March but it’s still almost warm enough to swim in the sea, certainly nice enough to hike and bike. I bike to the clinica every day but still have to be very careful with biking because of my neck. Hiking is much better and I did a nice hike to the old watchtower that overlooks the harbour.

The apartment is now almost ready to live in. It was gross to the max when I first moved in. The gas stove was so full of gunk that no gas came out when it was turned on. The shower hose exploded after just over a week of use, I installed a new one. The so-called water cooker turns out to be a milk warmer (a regular household item here, who knew…) so does not warm water, or milk, over 80 degrees. I also bought a roll of cheapish fabric from the market and covered all sofas and chairs because they were too gross to sit on - can be recycled in my Dad’s house when I leave. Good enough for a month and a bit!

Following the line with a laser pen on my head

Training neck muscles in the neck machine

Rowing exercise

Testing the strength and coordination of my neck muscles

Head lifting exercise

Acupuncture to release muscle tension

Jaw manipulation

Arm exercises - the trick is to do them without moving my head

Back on track

Eight weeks in and I’m finally getting to the point where I feel I’m actually working on recovering from my whiplash! I moved into my own furnished apartment in Moraira. It’s a dump but who cares, it’s mine! No more being chased out of the house by Dad’s scary girlfriend (now ex), no more depending on Dad to drive me around, no more fitting in with other people’s schedules.

Yesterday I started a new schedule at the clinic - one hour of physio and one hour of exercises in the gym every day instead of only and hour and half every other day. Now that I live close by I can cycle to the clinic quite easily. The medication to reduce the inflammation in my neck and head is working well (downside is that it’s making me swell up like an overinflated zeppelin) and there is major improvement already visible from the physio and exercises so far.

I can feel the increased intensity of the treatment in my neck, head and shoulders, which was expected. But overall I'm already feeling so much better than when I first came here, it's incredible. The vertigo and headaches are almost gone. I don't feel hungover in the mornings anymore (not related to cheap and cheerful Spanish wine, the hangover feeling is there all the time and clearly not related in any way to alcohol intake!) and there is major improvement in my eye coordination, reading and looking at screens!

I also finally had a blood test done. Mainly to confirm that I’m not menopausal as some doctor back home suggested. He said the insomnia, problems controlling body temperature, irritability and other symptoms were clearly “age related”. Good to know that clearly they aren’t. They are all part of the whiplash and inflammation of the brain membranes and all have improved a lot since I started the treatment here. Well, except for the insomnia. The only thing that the test indicated was a typical vegetarian vitamin B12 deficiency but that will soon be solved after another trip to the pharmacy.

Last week Colin came to visit. Unfortunately by the time he arrived I had not moved into the apartment yet. He had to endure a couple of days of chaos; we had to stay with my Dad’s friend  for a few days while I waited for the apartment to be ready and there was still lots to do to get my Dad and his house sorted out. The good thing was that having an extra pair of hands in the house - and those hands actually being male hands - has helped my Dad get past the idea that women are cleaning the house while he sits there reading his book and smoking cigars. He finally started participating in the cleaning and tidying. The house is all ready now and he’s finally moved in!

In the end there was time for some fun stuff and Colin and I climbed the Piñon d’Ilfach, a landmark rock and nature park in Calpe, went swimming and snorkeling a couple of times, kayaked under the cave of Les Rates Penadas (where a famous bat colony lives), visited the wine co-op in Jalon, went to some markets, ate too many churros, tapas and other food and drove through the mountains to the castle of Guadelest. No time for more hiking, sailing, stand-up paddling and visiting Valencia. Oh well, there might be a next time.

Dad is recovering quite well from the break-up and starting to enjoy his new life in his own house. He’s catching up with lots of friends that he didn’t see for a long time and he’s slowly starting to work on his neglected laboratory and library again. He’s back at work after a weeklong break and overall seems quite a bit happier than when I first arrived here. There is even talk about a weekend trip to Madrid to celebrate some time soon! 

The view after an evening swim at Albir beach

Celebratory drinks and tapas on my Dad's patio after almost finishing cleaning the house

Tasty pre-dinner snacks on the beach in Moraira - sangria, deep fried crispy fishes, octopus salad and fish croquettes

Kayaking in El Portet bay (cave of Les Rates Penadas on right hand side of big rock in the background)

This year's Halloween outfits

Testing the flavours of cheap and cheerful at the Jalon wine co-op

The view from my apartment

 

Dad

It’s because of my Dad that I’m here in Spain to get treated for my whiplash and concussion. As an eye surgeon he recognized my symptoms, mainly the eye coordination issues, and knew the clinic here in Moraira that is specialized in whiplash treatment.

When he first started talking about what he could do for me I was very skeptical – why could I not do the same in Canada, why did no one in Canada recognize my symptoms, do the tests that he suggested, do this kind of physiotherapy? I also didn’t expect my employer to allow me to get treated overseas. And how much was this all going to cost? Will I ever get any of this back from insurance?

After 7 months of limbo in Canada with little improvement and no hope left to find anything other than – go sit at home, be patient, do nothing - my employer agreed that I should give this treatment in Spain a go. Within days here I was seen by doctors, had tests done, had appointments for x-rays, MRIs, and we started the treatment. It was like being in medical heaven after many months of not being taken seriously by doctors back home.

The idea was for me to stay with my Dad and his girlfriend in their spare room. My Dad would drive me to the clinic and hospital as I can’t drive yet. We set up a schedule to fit in with his and it seemed to be working OK. On my days off I would drive to his clinics with him and walk around town or go to the beach – swimming, especially snorkeling is very good exercise!

I was a little nervous about the idea of living with him and his girlfriend for 3 months as I didn’t know the girlfriend very well and my relationship with my Dad has been minimal and a bit difficult since the nasty divorce 10 years ago. But, I wanted to get better so thought I would survive 3 months. I thought I’d be able to kind of live my own life between treatments, politely having dinner with Dad and his girlfriend and helping out in the kitchen and the garden.

When I arrived the plane was delayed so I had to wait at the airport for 3 hours as my Dad had to go see his patients. His girlfriend was there to greet me and we had coffee and a chat. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt but I could already sense that there were visions in her head of me laying in bed all day and her Florence Nightingaling about, bringing hot tea, holding my hand and whiping my forehead.

Over the next few days my Dad and I were quite happy to see each other again and spend time together. We had to go to the UK for my aunt’s funeral, which got in the way of settling into a routine. I thought my Dad wasn’t himself but it might be the tension of losing his aunt, the driving around in a new car on the wrong side of the road, worries about my treatment. Maybe this was his “new me” in his new life with his new partner? I thought his girlfriend’s behavior was also somewhat odd. Maybe she was just nervous about me being there, she never had children of her own, not used to sharing my Dad with anyone, not used to having a guest in the house for a long period of time, being from a different culture she might have different expectations? I thought I’d give it time.

After about 3 weeks her odd behavior had turned into abuse. The things she said became increasingly twisted and mean and with me being extremely sensitive to stress – one of the concussion symptoms - it didn’t take long until I had a nervous breakdown.  Luckily my Mum, sister and nephew were visiting at that time and I was able to stay in their apartment for a couple of days. In the meantime we started searching for my own place to stay.

On the advice of my Dad I talked to my family doctor about the situation. She suggested I talk to my Dad’s girlfriend alone. She thought explaining the situation from my perspective would help. I tried. We talked for 7 hours. I was exhausted. When my Dad came home she wanted to talk with the 3 of us. This talking turned into an hour rant from her side about all kinds of things; all my Dad’s shortcomings, most of all about money and “girlfriends”. I was gob smacked. It turns out these rants have been happening about once every 2 to 3 weeks for several years now.

After witnessing this explosion there was no way I could stay in the house any longer. Luckily my Dad was very upset about me being so upset and this was the final kick in the butt that he needed to see that he could not stay in this relationship. But how to get out….

He’s been renting a house for a couple of years now to store his stuff. His stuff was never allowed in his girlfriend’s house even though she promised that in the future he might be allowed one or 2 items in one of the rooms. Of course the rented house is a mess and hasn’t been cleaned or used for years so it needs some work. The few things that he did have in his girlfriends house were important – clothes, books, admin - so he needed to wait for the right moment to get them out of there. If she would see him leave, even though she told him to leave several times right in front of me, we thought she might attacked him.

Last weekend a brilliant opportunity came up and he packed his car and left. I am still surprised that he actually had the guts to do it. He had been taking her abuse for so long, no one knows or understands how or why. He probably never had the guts to leave. But this time after his own daughter was kicked out of the house and his other daughter and grandson were not allowed to even come visit him there he had had enough.

He is very upset and doesn’t really know what to do with himself. At the same time he is obviously relieved and very happy that he took this step. He has the support of some great people around him who will pull him through this. As long as he doesn’t go back…. This time I think he wont.

After he ran out of the house, leaving a goodbye note on the kitchen table, we waited and waited and waited to hear from her. Nothing happened. The only thing we got was an angry phone call saying that her landline had been disconnected.  It’s been several days now and still not much has happened. She has called some friends but has not shown up at his house yet, or at anyone else’s house looking for him. We’ll wait and see.

Looking back all the strange and aggressive behavior makes perfect sense. Even behavior that I noticed years ago suddenly makes sense. It was difficult to see because no one expected what she was really up to. If she had been more subtle it might have taken months before I had noticed what was really going on. I’m just very glad I’m out of there and even more happy that my Dad finally realized that he got himself into a lot of trouble and he had to get out.

Not exactly the nice relaxing environment that I needed to recover from a whiplash.  I’m still waiting for my own apartment, which I should have in a couple of days. Dad is still hiding and recovering from everything that he’s been trough. We’re slowly getting back to “normal”. Although neither of us knows what “normal” really is right now. We’ll give it some time.

In the meantime my treatment has been difficult. Obviously the tension had a huge effect on my body and has slowed down the progress. The people in the clinic have been extremely helpful and understanding, even offering me a bed in their homes, driving me around, helping me to find an apartment.

The psychiatrist who I didn’t think I needed at first has been a great resource to pull me through this. He’s added some muscle relaxants to the medication mix to help with the incredible tension in my neck and shoulders. I prefer not to take medication if I can avoid it but under these circumstances I thought I’d better just let it happen and let it do its job. He suggested some Valium too but so far I’ve said no to that. I think I can get through this without any further brain candy as long as I can keep going for bike rides and walks and long floats in the sea. Blog writing might also be good therapy!

Next week Colin will come to visit and I’m really looking forward to that. I’m hoping to do a lot of hiking, biking, kayaking, snorkeling, sailing, eating tapas and other nice food, introducing him to some of the great people I’ve met here, maybe going to Valencia for a day to see all the beautiful architecture by Mr. “Peace Bridge” Calatrava. It’s going to be a very nice break, which I think we both need!

More news

It’s been a while since I last had the time (and energy) to write anything!

Treatment has been going very well and I’m making good progress. Ups and downs but even the downs are progress because it shows that things are working and changing and getting better.

I had an appointment with a psychiatrist as part of the regular treatment in the clinic here. Whiplashes and concussions can cause all kinds of psychological issues, in my case things like concentration issues, feeling disoriented, sleep disturbance, all that fun stuff. I thought a psychiatrist would be overkill but it’s part of the treatment so I had a chat with him.

He soon turned the conversation from the psychological side to the physical side and asked me several questions about physical experiences that I had had. So far no one had paid any attention to that so far – things like the feeling that I walk around like I’m drunk, uncoordinated and bumping into things, but also not being able to read for very long, feeling like my eyes are uncoordinated and having difficulty looking at screens.

He suggested that I might have chronic inflammation of the meninges, membranes around the central nervous system. Apparently this is quite common in the type of injury that I have. There is no other way to find out than to take anti-inflammatory injections. I didn’t like this at all! You take the injections and see what happens. He said things should feel slightly better within a few days if there was an inflammation.

I did not have high hopes but the next morning my head already felt different. I wasn’t sure if that was because that’s what I was hoping for, or if it was real but it DID feel lighter, less foggy and less tension in the back of my head.

I also had MRIs made of my head and neck. No scars or damage is visible and my spinal cord is OK. There are a few issues with vertebrae but it could have been much worse. Good news! This means that they can accelerate the treatment. And with the anti inflammatory injections, and now pills, I’m having less headaches and other symptoms should clear up faster.

The x-rays that were taken were not done correctly so they needed to be done again. The x-rays were needed was to see if the ligaments that are attached to the underside of the skull are damaged and how much. I had so many x-rays taken that I think I glow in the dark now. It would be a nice Halloween costume!

Luckily the ligaments are relatively OK. On one side it’s normal but the other one is stretched a bit. Not torn as they thought from my reaction to earlier tests. This means I have to keep training muscles to compensate for the stretched ligament for the rest of my life, or symptoms might come back.  But at least it’ not torn, that would have been much worse.

I’m still doing physio 3 times a week, doing exercises, mobilization, massages, muscle training, and learning new tricks to compensate for the stretched ligament. The last few times I might have over exercised a bit as my neck has been incredibly sore but my head feels a lot better apart from the increase in vertigo. Apparently it’s just like sore muscles after any exercise but it feels strange because it’s only in my neck just below my skull. Not a place where I’m used to having sore muscles from exercise.

My sister, my 3-year-old nephew and my Mum came to visit for a week and I had a great time with them. Especially our day on the beach was a blast. Feijo also had his first eye exam with my Dad (that’s normal procedure when Grandpa is an eye doctor). I miss our chats about monsters, dinosaurs and spiders! I promised to build him a new Lego monster next time I see him.

At the same time things got very tense with my Dad’s girlfriend and I had to leave the house. I could write long stories about what happened but for now I’ll just say that I’m staying somewhere else and I will have my own apartment in Moraira from next week onwards. The apartment is very close to the clinic so I can get there on my bike. Much better than all the driving around that my Dad has to do right now to get me there.

I’ve met some fabulous people here in the last 2 weeks and it’s incredible to see how many people jumped in to help when I had to leave my Dad’s house. I was very upset which didn’t help with my recovery, as I’m very sensitive to stress right now. On the other hand the generosity and kindness of the people who helped me get through the last few days has been absolutely amazing! 

Feijo wants to go snorkeling

On the beach

Feijo and Mum talking to baby Gijs and my sister on my iPad

Finally, treatment!

Last week it was finally time to start my treatment here in Spain! On Monday it started with one and half hours and it will build up to 4 hours per day, 3 times a week. I had an hour and half on Monday, Wednesday and Friday with additional acupuncture and extra time in the gym on Friday.

So far each session starts with some very gentle manipulation of my spine and then neck. The neck part causes all kinds of strange sensations in my nose, eyes and ears but also feels sooo good - like something that should have been done long ago, a big relief – especially the stretching (pulling on my head). After the being bounced around in the car last weekend in England my neck really needed some TLC.

After the spine manipulation I get to do some easy sounding but very difficult to do neck exercises. So far they’ve made me feel quite dizzy. The goal is to strengthen certain small muscles in my neck to stabilize my head. I have to do these exercises at home too. Every day, building up slowly. I also have to follow a wriggly line on the wall with a laser attached to my head. VERY difficult!

Then more manipulation, which usually makes me feel even more dizzy and sort of disoriented. After that it’s gym time (they have a gym in the clinic) and more exercises. All highly frustrating because the exercises look so easy but are difficult to do properly.

The first 2 sessions ended with a massage to loosen things up after all this exercising. It felt like I hadn’t really done much because the exercises we so subtle. At the same time it felt like I couldn’t move my head at all and that it might fall off.

The vertigo, dizziness, head and neck aches and sleeping problems got much worse this week, especially after the very first treatment. The therapist had said things might get worse at first and they did! When I came home after the second treatment it was around 1:30 and I was so tired and my head so sore that I decided to have a siesta. I thought I’d sleep for an hour but woke up 5 hours later! And still didn’t feel much better.

The third and last treatment this week was a little different. More exercises, added acupuncture and no massage afterwards. I felt like a rag for 2 days.

Today I took my Dad and Cassey out for a walk to show them a path I had discovered earlier. I thought I’d do three mild kilometres with them but as always my Dad had to drag his 120 kilos of stubbornness along and went way overboard. Seven kilometres return and some steep hills - no stopping this guy!

After seven kilometres he looked 20 years older and of course slipped and fell over out of tiredness (no no, just lost my balance, I’m not tired at all!!). Blood on face and both arms. Once we got home he admitted he might need more training and even managed to do some stretches to loosen the old knees!

Tomorrow morning I will have MRIs and X-rays made and then more physio in the afternoon. I’m hoping to also do some easy biking and maybe kayaking next week, depending on if the therapist thinks that is OK or not. So far the regular walking is making me feel a lot better.

The path we walked today to the village in the background

Poisonous garden plant (oleander)

Basura (garbage) kitty - one of the regulars at the garbage bins. They all look quite well fed!

Sunset from the driveway

First 3 weeks

After being in Europe for almost 3 weeks it’s time for a first update! 

 

On the day we arrived in Holland the weather was very nice and we went to the beach in the afternoon with my Mum, sister, her boyfriend and their baby boy. Colin and I even swam in the sea! It was a 25K bike ride to get to the place where we met the others  (almost 50 KM return) so we got some exercise too! The next few days I spent recovering from the jet lag and visiting friends and family.

I also went to see an optometrist (type of eye doctor) in The Hague. She has had a whiplash herself many years ago after a car crash. She had experienced symptoms similar to mine. She could see the uncontrolled rapid eye movements that are caused by this type of brain / neck injury and is writing a report about the tests she did on me.

After 6 days it was on to Spain. The weather in Holland deteriorated fast after the first 2 days so I was ready for some sunshine! No sunshine when I arrived in Valencia - just heat, clouds and humidity. Also no Dad to pick me up as the plane was delayed and he had to go see patients so could not wait at the airport until I had arrived. Cassey stayed at the airport to greet me and we waited for Dad to return to the airport 3 hours later.

The next few days were spent acclimatizing and planning doctors visits. My Dad did another thorough examination of my eyes. I went to see a GP and the therapist who is going to do the treatment on my neck. He is an Osteopath and Physiotherapist. So far the conclusion is whiplash and potentially some further damage in my neck. This is affecting my brain and ears and eyes and might also be preventing my brain from recovering from the concussion. I still need to have several x-rays and an MRI made and will see a neurologist and other specialists in the next few weeks.

When I’m not being seen by doctors I help Cassey with shopping and cooking and killing the locusts that are eating her roses. I also try to keep my legs hiking-fit by walking around the hood in the evenings (days are too hot) and sometimes I drive to work with my Dad as all his locations are close to beaches so I can go for a swim (good exercise!) while he sees his patients. Some pics below.

We also went for a very quick visit to the UK last weekend. My great-aunt had passed away on September 6^th at 97 years of age and we attended her funeral.

I got carsick for the first time in my life caused by the combination of an injured neck and head, sitting in the back of the car, my Dad’s erratic driving, English country roads, speed bumps, Dad having to relearn how to operate a manual car - with the stick on the wrong side - and the car being brand new and therefor having breaks that actually work. Not fun! But the good thing is that I now know why my headaches and dizziness suddenly increased as soon as I got to Spain. Also Dad has learnt his lesson and trying to drive a little slower and smoother now when I’m in the car.

Treatment on my neck has started but I will write about that another time.

Evening walk

Sunset

Swimming in Benidorm (the crowd on the beach is mainly Spanish and seems to be over 80 years of age at this time of year)

Benidorm wildlife

The hood (Montepego) at sunset. We live somewhere just above the middle on the right hand side of the picture.