LIVE from the Camino cizur menor

[melamee]

hola from the lovely mirabel albergue in cizur menor! the camino has been just amazing thusfar. sjpdp to roncevalles was arduous, gorgeous, painful and magical... like nothing i've ever seen or done in my life. unfortunately, on the descent to roncevalles, i did something to my knee and the next day's trip to zubiri just aggrevated it to the point where i could barely walk. took me 9 whole hours to get there....god was i happy to finally stop hobbling downhill 'round rocks galore and cross the bridge into town. spent an extra day in zubiri and caught a lift to pamplona where i rested a further two... even with the limited mobility and pain, i had incredible experience after incredible experience. this strange road i'm on is filled with magic.

i walked the very short 4km here from pamplona yesterday, and i thought i was doing better, but i was in pain all night and now i can barely walk again....so it looks like i won't be attempting the walk up to alto perdon and down to puenta la reina. am going to catch the transport there instead.

i've never had this kind of knee problem, and i don't know what to do at this point. i don't want to stop altogether, but then again, i don't want to end up with a knee surgery as a result of overdoing it.... any advice? i've got two weeks left till i have to be in madrid to meet my gf. what's a limping pilgrim to do?

btw...great advice on the leki poles minky. they literally got me down to zubiri.

also...i *highly* recommend this refugio. peaceful, beautiful and such a kind señora running the place. i got to watch her feed catfood to her turtles and goldfish yesterday after she took care of weary pilgrims' feet.

mel

 

[Minkey]

Your knee problems may be due to a number of things, although the first few days are REALLY tough on your legs. I found that the downhills in particular took their toll on my pins.

Hope you start to feel better soon.

Buen Camino

 

[Trudy]

Hi Mel, sorry to hear about your knee. Get yourself to a Farmacia and buy a knee brace. Perhaps also some Iboprofen for the inflamation and a topical gel. Be guided by the pharmacist who will have seen this sort of injury before!

Trudy

 

[melamee]

still cizur menor

thanks for the advice and good wishes minky and trudy.

so i went to the hospital yesterday (surreal experience...) and was told that i have a knee sprain (collateral lateral ligament) and should completely stay off my feet for at least two days and then go really slowly if i am able to walk without pain after that. after the hospital i hopped around on crutches doing my food shopping, washing,etc. and i paid for it later with a bout of tear-inducing pain in the middle of the night. luckily, the señora who runs the place is allowing me to stay till monday. hope i can be on the road again soon....

mel

 

[Ulysse]

Have a good week end melamee; rest and enjoy the moment; read a Paul Auster book if you can. :lol:

Monday will surely see you on the road well rested. I am sending you positive waves on your knee... :wink:

 

[melamee]

hmm..so what now?

thanks ulysse! sadly, it doesn't look like i'll be walking normally (much less camino'ing) for a few weeks. i've been told that i could seriously damage my knee if i don't mostly stay off it.
this leads me to the following question:
what should i do now? i have nothing to do until the 13th... i'm planning on taking the bus back to pamplona tomorrow, and then i have to decide... do i take the bus forward to the routes along the camino (puenta la reina, estella, burgos, etc) and stay at the albergues even though i'm not really walking anymore? or do i go somewhere else where i can rest my leg but not go crazy from loneliness and boredom? i'm really open at this point, and i also know i'm coming back to the camino again next year or the year after. has anyone else here ever left the camino because of injury and done something else? has anyone followed the route by bus? suggestions? advice?

gracias
mel

 

[oursonpolaire]

Two US friends had similar experiences. The one who had to stop in Astorga decided to take a room for a week and enjoy the city square, meeting other peregrinos and chilling out. She took some physiotherapy locally and spoke very highly of the care, as well as of the assistance from locals.

Another, whose complaint sounds like yours, stopped in Burgos and, after some reflection, went to a village near the sea where she stayed with a retired teacher, who coached her in Spanish in the morning. As her Castellano improved, she came to enjoy herself and appreciate meeting people locally, inserting herself into the two local choirs for the rest of her stay.

I met a German doctor pilgrim whose knee gave out, and he simply went home, as did another US pilgrim who found the xperience of the Camino too emotionallyintense for her.

If you have to hang around for a week, Burgos might be interesting, as it has a number of remarkable sights and you will not be bored. English-language books and papers are available there. Ditto for Leon (I have a suggestion for a place to stay there-- PM me for details).

 

[Trudy]

Hi Mel, didn't mention this in my earlier post as I was hoping you'd get better, but exactly the same thing happened to me in 2005. I slipped and twisted my knee on the descent into Zubiri, managed to walk to Pamplona over the next two days, bussed around the Alto de Perdon, but had to give up at Estella.

So after a couple of days rest in Estella I took a leisurely trip across to Santiago by getting the bus back to Pamplona where I stayed overnight; then took the train to Burgos and stayed 3 nights; then train to Leon for 3 nights; and on to Santiago for a couple of nights. I didn't know if I'd get back to Spain, so made the most of the time I had.

I stayed in hotels, but the private albergues should allow you to stay more than one night.

Good luck, Trudy

 

[Ulysse]

I think Trudy is quite right; make the most of your stay.

Burgos and Leon are sure worth a few days of sightseeing. You can play tourist to your heart content. A couple a days in Santiago is a must and if you can spend a day or two enjoying Fisterra this would have been a good stay in Northern Spain.

Do not feel bad, this accident happens to a lot of people. Maybe next time you will pick up where you stopped. Get well soon.