For 2024 Pilgrims: €50,- donation = 1 year with no ads on the forum + 90% off any 2024 Guide. More here. (Discount code sent to you by Private Message after your donation) |
---|
Sending healing prayers and thoughts your way! Remember, we are lucky to live in this time and age, in the 'golden age of pilgrimage' aka the medieval age, pneumonia would have equalled more often than not a death sequence! Count your blessings and Buen Camino, SY
So I know that this is totally nothing to do with the Camino but I am fed up and feeling a bit sorry for myself
I was admitted to hospital on Friday and home today... it's high summer in SW France... who would expect pneumonia? No walking or singing for a week
Your pneumonia has everything to do with your next walk, @LesBrass--no lungs, no walk. So offering you heartfelt well-wishing! May you heal well and quickly so that you can be out there walking again soon.So I know that this is totally nothing to do with the Camino but I am fed up and feeling a bit sorry for myself
So I know that this is totally nothing to do with the Camino but I am fed up and feeling a bit sorry for myself
I was admitted to hospital on Friday and home today... it's high summer in SW France... who would expect pneumonia? No walking or singing for a week
Oh Les -
I'm so sorry to hear that you have pneumonia. Please, please look after yourself and get your immune system really strong again. I had pneumonia back in April, thought I was OK but my immune system was compromised. So much so that I picked up some sort of a cold/lurgy thing on the plane coming over here to Spain from Australia late last month which turned into acute bronchitis. Stupidly and selfishly I ignored the advice of the doctor at the hospital and the hospitaleros at the albergue where I had been volunteering - the upshot of this is that one of the hospitaleros and a dear friend have both now come down with the same symptoms. Who knows HOW MANY people I may have infected? The full weight of my actions, in wanting to be with and serve the pilgrims and stupidly and selfishly thinking that everything would be OK, rests like a ton of bricks on my shoulders. There's absolutely nothing I can do to remedy the situation. I had to cut the volunteership short and I'm currently in Madrid and will fly home to Australia tomorrow.
If there's any advice to be given here, it's that each person contemplating a Camino needs to look after their immune system as much as they possibly can in the time leading up to departure by avoiding exposure to anyone who might be ill as much as you knowingly can. Travel on the plane wearing a preventative mask - wearing one would have saved me, and those who I've made ill, a lot of discomfort and worse with the symptoms, and much heartache and guilt on my part.
Rest up and best wishes for a speedy recovery Les -
Jenny
So I know that this is totally nothing to do with the Camino but I am fed up and feeling a bit sorry for myself
I was admitted to hospital on Friday and home today... it's high summer in SW France... who would expect pneumonia? No walking or singing for a week
Jeff took the words out of my mouth, @LesBrass. Rest and take care of your health, and use the time to plan your next Camino.But look on the bright side - you now have time to plan your next Camino!...
@JennyH94
I leave on camino again in a month and would prefer to stay healthy. Suggestions?
Hi Albertagirl - thanks so much for your kind thoughts. I'm currently transiting in Heathrow - my husband Steve has made an appointment for me for Thursday at our GP so I'll raise the questions in your post with her and will let you know via another post on this thread. Enjoy your training - the time will whizz by and you'll be back on those sacred and magical paths before you know it.@JennyH94
Please quit kicking yourself: you did not pass on your infection deliberately and it is always challenging to know when self care should take priority over service.
I am not sure how to care for my immune system. I caught a cold on my camino last fall. It lasted two weeks, then was gone. But I got a really bad cold on my way home, which turned into bronchitis and lasted for three months. I know that many of us who are generally a bit chubby rejoice in significant weight loss on camino, but I am not sure if this is good for the immune system. My usual treatment would be extra rest and self-pampering, but this does not seem practical when on camino. Walking a camino is a drastic lifestyle change and I am sure that no one wants to get sick, but the structure of camino life, sharing a bedroom with up to 100 other people, etc. is what it is. What do you suggest for self and immune-system care on camino? I have used a mask to avoid thick dust while travelling, but a special sort of mask must be needed to avoid viruses. I leave on camino again in a month and would prefer to stay healthy. Suggestions?
Hi Terry - that's great advice about the vaporiser and your pre-Camino preparations. They would make all the difference in staying well. Best wishes to you and Valerie.I am prone to chest infections and as part of camino preparations I avoid being a close environment with other folk. No coffee mornings at the Town Hall etc. The old saying "coughs and sneezes spread diseases" is basic.And although it does mean refusing (gently) some invites to meetings and gatherings, it does mean that I do not pick up nasties just before leaving home. Fortunately we can travel to Spain by ferry, with our own cabin, instead of being packed into a tube with recirculated air etc.
The other thing that I have found helpful is a small hand held "vaporiser". It holds a cupful of very hot water, sprinkle on a few drops of eucalyptus oil and inhale through the built-in mouth / nose attachment. It keeps my chest clear and prevents the build up of mucus which in its turn breeds bugs.
Take care of yourselves
Blessings
Tio Tel
Hi Terry - that's great advice about the vaporiser and your pre-Camino preparations. They would make all the difference in staying well. Best wishes to you and Valerie.
You read my mind @Tia Valeria, I was just about to ask its provenance.@TerryB 's vapouriser is made by Betterware. ....
Thanks a million @Tia Valeria, I'll be back in the UK at the end of this month visiting my family in Kent, so I can order one (in fact I'll probably order two as they are soooooooo useful). My mother has had a nifty inhaler (similar but without the nozzle part) for donkey's years and I've always meant to purchase one.The Betterware inhaler. Not sure if they post overseas....
Oh Les -
I'm so sorry to hear that you have pneumonia. Please, please look after yourself and get your immune system really strong again. I had pneumonia back in April, thought I was OK but my immune system was compromised. So much so that I picked up some sort of a cold/lurgy thing on the plane coming over here to Spain from Australia late last month which turned into acute bronchitis. Stupidly and selfishly I ignored the advice of the doctor at the hospital and the hospitaleros at the albergue where I had been volunteering - the upshot of this is that one of the hospitaleros and a dear friend have both now come down with the same symptoms. Who knows HOW MANY people I may have infected? The full weight of my actions, in wanting to be with and serve the pilgrims and stupidly and selfishly thinking that everything would be OK, rests like a ton of bricks on my shoulders. There's absolutely nothing I can do to remedy the situation. I had to cut the volunteership short and I'm currently in Madrid and will fly home to Australia tomorrow.
If there's any advice to be given here, it's that each person contemplating a Camino needs to look after their immune system as much as they possibly can in the time leading up to departure by avoiding exposure to anyone who might be ill as much as you knowingly can. Travel on the plane wearing a preventative mask - wearing one would have saved me, and those who I've made ill, a lot of discomfort and worse with the symptoms, and much heartache and guilt on my part.
Rest up and best wishes for a speedy recovery Les -
Jenny
... I stopped doing first aid in the Rabanal area when I realised that I had contracted the virus - imagine me opening a blister, breathing on it, and then covering it with a plaster!!! - ....
A hospital refugio in a sense - so anyone who gets the virus or has the virus and thinks they may also have pneumonia please do come to the plague house - plenty of room !! (it is the house with the painted red cross on the door)
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?