Thursday, June 16, 2011

Day 17 Access to a computer...FINALLY!!!

Oh my goodness, I have so much to catch up on!!  I will be spending a pretty penny (Euro) on these next few posts!

Mileage to date: 424 km or 263 miles in 17 days!
It is 764 km to Santiago, so we are more than half way!! 

It is hot and sunny here.  The Europeans are dying of heat and it´s only about 28 degrees Celcius or 82 degrees Fahrenheit!!  There is a cool breeze and we feel like it is late winter or early spring in Arizona!  A lot of people are starting at 4 or 5am and stopping at 1pm.  We start at 6:30a and end at 4pm! haha

My ankle is mas mejor (much better)!!  Today was actually the first time that I could walk on it normally.  But, yesterday I did develop my first blister.  It covered my entire little toe!  I popped it right away and bandaged it up.  I have been telling everyone that I am an official pilgrim now that I´ve gotten a blister.  The English and Irish say that I am now a PROPER  pilgrim! haha

I think I mentioned in a previous post that I was lucky enough to meet a Physical Therapist who taped my ankle and enouraged me to stay off it for a couple of days.  I think it made a big difference.  But, I also met another angel along the way.  His name is Andres and he is from France.  He said that he was a medic and could help me with the pain thru injections.  I was a little leery and thanked him for his offer, but decided to pass.  The next day, he asked if he could look at it.  I took off my boot and sock to show him my attempt to wrap it.  He said that it was too tight and that he´d like to cut some of it off.  I agreed.  It did feel much better after that.  He again offered the medication thru injections and said that it would help with the pain.  Again I declined with a smile.  Finally on a third meeting, he asked if I was feeling any pain.  I said yes and that it had been a very hard day.  I was tired literally watching EVERY step that I took to avoid rocks and divits.  He said that he had his medical bag ready and could give me the injections if I wanted.  Without hesitation, I accepted and immediately took off my boots.  He carefully prepared the bottles and sterilized needles.  He examined my ankle and poked around--I yelped with pain.  He told me that he was going to begin the injections.  I closed my eyes and waited for the painful prick.  SURPRISE!!  There was no pain!  He was only making multiple, tiny pin pricks all around my ankle!  I decided to grab my camera and snap a photo.  As he was working, many other pilgrims started to gather.  They watched intently and made grimacing faces as he continued to poke.  I assured them that it didn´t hurt at all.  Someone from the crowd asked, "Are you a Doctor?"  Another asked "Can you help me?"  He continued to work but answered them quietly by saying, "Yes, I am a doctor.  I am a specialist of the bones and tendons.  And yes, I can help you."  He was an Orthopedist and he was helping me for FREE.  The word spread quickly thru the albergue that there was a pilgrim who was a doctor and surgeon and he was helping people.  He was  a blessing to some hikers that were in a lot of pain.  I´m not sure what he used on me, but I must say that I feel great!!  We did buy him dinner and had some great conversation that afternoon.  He has done the camino 4 times and had some lovely stories to share about his time of the Camino.   I´m thankful for his generousity and will never forget him :)  I


 

1 comment:

  1. Fascinating, Yvette! I wonder what he injected you with that brought relief so quickly?
    If he'd done Camino four times he was probably very experienced in the causes of pain......
    Hope you're feeling better now! :)

    Deb

    ReplyDelete