Tag Archives: illness

One Year On — A 2019 Mid-Year Update

It has been a year since we visited Paris, and quite a lot has unfolded in our lives. Yes, we are still in Brittany, France — for now.

We spent two months in Tuscany at the end of 2018 with Mark doing renovation work on a historic villa and me doing photography for the villa’s website and social media accounts. It is a massive and ongoing project and I’ll place links to the site in the next update — a photo essay of the Villa Francini Del Prete.

Reading a book on the elevated terrace of Villa Francini Del Prete in Fazzano, Tuscany.
The front entry door into Villa Francini Del Prete from the left side of the courtyard. Fazzano, Lunigiana, Tuscany, Italy.

Arriving back in France in late November, a stressful period of rioting, blockades, and demonstrations began. This situation continued for many months afterward as the Gilets Jaunes movement caused chaos in cities large and small, highways, and even rural roads. Yes, I understand that French citizens have the right to protest what they see as economic inequity. No, they do not have the right (in my personal opinion) to cause businesses to fail, to smash in the huge glass windows of shopfronts and restaurants, and to set fire to barricades and vehicles.

The road blockages also made it difficult to get to work, go to doctor or dentist appointments, do the weekly shopping, and even attend scheduled appointments at government offices. This has not been a happy experience, and it would seem that we are soon to be dealing with rail strikes and rolling airline and airport strikes in the months ahead. We don’t find any of this social upheaval appealing or thrilling.

Mark has had the additional stress of losing both parents within 10 weeks of each other, on opposite sides of the world. He was especially close to his father and was startled when he received a cancer diagnosis out of thin air. We spent most of February in England, and Mark drove his father back and forth to radiotherapy. The treatment was ineffective and the doctor was incredibly inaccurate when he told us we had quite a lot longer with Brian, Mark’s father. No — we didn’t. He died the week after we returned to France.

Right now we’re in planning mode. We have some adventures in mind, and I’ll share those with you at another time. For now, this was just a quick check in to say that yes, we are still ticking along. And no matter what, we always find things to be grateful for — each and every week.

***NOTE***
After dealing with severe amounts of spam and highjacking attempts, I have turned off all comments on my posts.

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©A Wanderful Life 2007-2019
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Do You Do D?

Ah yes, the getting older thing — a few more vitamins here and there, supplements like fish oil and garlic tablets, and all the while you hope that the aches and pains don’t increase.

But what if they do increase? And what if you are suddenly in a whirlwind of medical tests for all sorts of scary things whilst you never have a full night of sleep for months on end and you struggle to even rise from the bed some days due to pain? THAT, my dear readers, is exactly why I have been ‘missing in action’ for the last several months.

It was a huge relief to find out that the Big C was not a scary addition to my life and there were a few other things to deal with that I don’t think are worth mentioning. But then my lovely woman doctor told me that in all of her years in medical practice, she had never seen anyone with a Vitamin D level as low as mine. If 50 and above is normal, mine was a 1 — seriously — a ONE! That charming woman and another one that I met at the hospital the following week said that I must have been walking around under sheer force of will. And of COURSE, they assured me, you were in bone-shattering pain and had brain fog! A vitamin D deficiency will do all of that and more.

I’ve had to have a major rethink about several issues including where we are living, the fact that being on the 3rd floor of a building with no elevator might NOT be a fabbo cardio workout if I am getting sciatic leg lock-up again and again, and there’s also the sheer volume of noise in a major city like Melbourne all day and all night. Add to that the fact that if I have a project in the works, I simply don’t remember to eat in the middle of the day or get enough sleep at night. I’m like a little engine in one of two modes — fully on and ZOOM or almost completely shut down. That doesn’t strike me as a balanced approach and I need to sort that out.

Long story short and so I don’t bore you into a state of glazed eyes, I am now on massive liquid D supplements each day along with D capsules and something called Krill Oil and I’ve been urged to occasionally expose my lily-white skin to the sun. And all of that is in addition to the regular handful of daily vitamins that should have me sounding like a baby’s rattle when I walk. Nothing has shifted dramatically in the last 10 days but, fingers crossed, the charming lady doc assures me that I’ll be on the comeback trail by the end of 6-7 weeks. I certainly hope so.

It was quite astonishing to hear how many of my girlfriends or family members had been through similar issues with vitamin D at a much less intense level than my latest episode of ‘medical surprises’ — so I would urge any of you who are tired, aching, a bit blue, and brain foggy to get your own vitamin D levels tested with a simple blood test from your family doctor. Who knows what long term damage to your body you might be preventing.

On a happy note, I’ll be making a rather splendid announcement tomorrow about something that has kept me quite focused over the last few weeks — some new work to share with the world that I am quite proud of.

Tune in tomorrow for the really GOOD news!

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SAVINGS on Travel Insurance for Overseas Trips

Whether you are an expat, a round-the-world traveller, or simply someone who is headed off on their annual holiday, a comprehensive travel insurance policy is a VERY necessary item when you leave home. And anyone who fails to purchase such an essential thing may be taking their lives and their financial future in their hands. Rather a lot of people think that they are the ‘lucky ones’ and that no accident or theft or illness will befall them because they are alert and aware and prepared. But, as I can share from personal experience, life’s a little messier than that!

Before you even make a travel insurance purchase, there are ways to save on your overall costs. They usually mean you have to be patient enough to look at quite a few online options, compare the coverage, decide what you don’t need to trim things down a bit, and then consider paying a higher excess or deductible.

Why pay for action sports coverage if that isn’t your thing? And if you aren’t carrying a lot of tech gear with you the way we do, you can probably use a more budget-oriented company that’s a bit ‘no frills’ except on the essentials like medical coverage and missing luggage.

In the past, we have repeatedly used World Nomads as our travel insurance provider. I have nothing but the highest praise for this company and would recommend them to anyone. They were quite reasonably priced, were very pleasant to deal with, and we were quite satisfied with the service we received when we unexpectedly had to make a claim against travel insurance for the first time ever in 2012. They paid a week-long hospital bill for me when I was incredibly ill in France last summer and I would have been stuck with that hefty bill if we had not had an active policy at the time. An episode like that is one of the reasons that I continue to remind fellow travellers to ALWAYS have insurance because the unexpected really does happen more often than you can imagine.

That hospital visit left me in a tricky position though. I now have what’s known as a ‘pre-existing condition’ since it is an issue that could potentially reappear in the future. World Nomads was quite clear on their website when I checked a few days ago and it stated that yes, I could purchase travel insurance that would cover all of the other things like lost luggage or cancelled flights and so forth. But they would NOT COVER any medical issue that had been paid out in the past. On my!

That set me on an almost 3-day search of site after site to try and find good quality travel insurance that I could purchase by simply being honest, stating that I had been hospitalised for a previous issue, and paying a slightly higher premium. Easy, right? But when the companies that I was researching were moving from my budget-target of £500 for the two of us for a 6 week trip and zooming right up to over £1,200 for that short a period, I was a bit stunned. We paid that much for a full year of comprehensive travel insurance a mere 2-1/2 years ago!

I looked at quite a few companies in the UK and discovered that, one after another, they rejected our applications because Mark was British (so he was eligible to buy a policy), but I was Australian and therefore was not. Telling fibs and pretending to be a UK citizen or resident wouldn’t have been a good idea since it would have negated the insurance coverage completely.

When you are preparing to purchase your own travel insurance, you will need to make sure that you answer truthfully what country you are a legal resident of. Since we’ve given up on living in the UK and I didn’t bother doing the paperwork to become a legal resident, I am still a citizen of Australia so I did a web search on insurance for pre-existing medical conditions from the Australian Google site. Simply search from your own country so that if there is ever a problem, they can air-ambulance you back to your home country.

Some of the bigger companies that I included in my search were BUPA, Travel Insure Direct, Medi-Bank, Worldcare.com.au, and 1-Cover as well as the policies offered by banks in Australia. They were all over £1,000 for 6 weeks and CoverMore was the most expensive at £1,249.

Finally (whew!) on Day 3, I found what I was looking for — insurance that covered everything, had a medical certificate stating that I had declared my condition, and we were both covered for all the rest of the baggage, delays, and such. AND, triumph of triumphs, it came in at under £500 for the two of us.

The company we are using this time is InsureAndGo and they have branches in several countries. Securing that insurance for our upcoming trip was the final puzzle piece for the adventure ahead.

Come back soon for more pictures from Newcastle Upon Tyne!

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Noro or Gastro or Whatever-ro, Please Go Away!

4 March 2013
We had the most wonderful day out on Saturday in Newcastle Upon Tyne. It was one of those perfect days with bright Spring sunshine that just lifts your spirits no matter how cool the temperature is. And yes, I took lots of wonderful photos.

However — within hours after arriving home, my stomach was in chaos and was beginning to get very, very ill. I’m now on Day Three of this and trust me, I’m not having a good time right now.

And what IS it about my ‘link up’ with the Royal Family? Last year I was in the hospital in France with kidney problems at the exact same time as Prince Phillip. This time I’m unwell at the same time that Her Majesty has gastro and is in the hospital. Not a particularly good connection!

Hopefully I will bounce back in the next few days and be able to upload some photos and information. Wish me well!

UPDATE: 6 March 2013
In response to quite a few queries about how I am feeling, I’m not happy — really not happy to report that I am still flat as a pancake in bed whenever I am not racing off to the bathroom. Oy! The up-and-down body temperature is also quite distressing.

Apparently the hospitals here in the UK have been so deluged with people with the same symptoms that they ask you to stay home and suffer through it until you have reached the full 4 day mark. That won’t actually arrive until almost midnight tonight. (groan!) I’m following all of the advice and staying hydrated even when sipping a glass of water or a cup of peppermint tea gives me a massive stomach ache. Mark made an off the cuff remark a couple of days ago that this is really NOT an optimum weight loss program!

Speaking of the marvelous Mark, he is being an absolute saint as he ferries cups of tea up the stairs in between demolishing the kitchen downstairs and those middle of the night bear hugs are certainly welcome when I am shivering with chills. Bless him, he’s a treasure. Apparently he suffered through this same level of sickness about 20 years ago in Morocco and he remembers it vividly to this day. It took him a week to get over this first stage and then he was wobbly for weeks afterward, so he’s been very dear and sympathetic.

Thanks for the notes full of kind thoughts and good wishes. They are certainly appreciated.

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Photo Of The Day: Feeling Gruesome!

Think of this grimacing stone face as a fairly accurate representation of how I have felt for most of this week — just plain YUCKY! We’ll leave it at that for now and say that ‘under the weather’ would be an understatement.

We’re still in France and shall be for another 8 days — and we’ve had a marvelous time. But these kinds of things are bound to crop up every once in awhile when you engage in long term travel. We’ve been on the road between countries for more than 7 months now and yes, I do occasionally miss the fact that I can’t always control what we are eating or drinking the way I could when we shopped in our local grocery or organic veg market and cooked everything ourselves. Ah well…

This little carved stone face, gorgeous in its own gruesomeness, is on an interior wall at Castle Howard near York in England — an amazingly elegant place and one which will eventually get some individual coverage in a post.

 

Tiny stone head on an interior wall at Castle Howard near York in England

 

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