Recovering in Spain: 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!