Under Doctor's Orders
17 July 2009 | Kyle of Lochalsh / Plockton
Well apologies everyone for the lack of blogging but it has been an interesting week all in all. I reported to all that I was unwell in earlier blogs (but tried hard not to bore you with the detail....... Which was certainly boring us both and putting a dampener on the whole holiday)
Over the last week needing access to doctors and chemists had dictated our schedule a little too much and last Friday our move from Armadale had the same considerations as we would be able to step onto a pontoon and access the local doctor. Also there was always Broadford hospital on Skye 10 miles away. To be honest, despite antibiotics I had continued to get worse and we were at a loss to know what to do (I was by now not eating, enduring 4 attacks of Rigors a day from a severely high temperature and just lying around sleeping) I knew I needed some help and so we headed in search of it at Kyle.
Fortunately, it was a short, safe, extremely scenic and totally uneventful journey to Kyle and I personally was very glad to see the pontoon in the distance (in the background the Skye bridge) We tied up and I began to relax a little. Unfortunately my newly found comfort blanket was to snatched early on Saturday morning when the Harbour Master informed us that we would have to move as there was a gale coming through on Saturday evening and the wind direction would make us exposed and it would not be safe, he directed us to Plockton which was only about 8 miles away and where we would be safe from the gale. We had intended to visit Plockton anyway as we have heard about it from almost everyone we have bumped in so far.
On the wildlife front, we can report a sighting of two young otters playing just by the boats on Friday evening. Apparently otters can become quite brazen and have even been known to take possession of people's boats in Tobermory! Also, we saw several seals en route between Kyle and Plockton .
Plockton is a well sheltered anchorage on the mainland and every bit as beautiful as we had been told. It even has a small castle on the shore, a number of islands within the anchorage and of course good pubs and restaurants. We had a slow potter about but I was neither interested in sightseeing nor eating and so we retired to the boat and weathered the gale that indeed passed through that night together with my rigors attacks which were getting worse (longer, hotter etc)
On Monday we called the doctor in Kyle, made an urgent appointment and headed back. The doctor told me that first antibiotics had reacted badly (oh yes forgot to mention I was now covered in prickly heat type nettle rash after suffering an allergic reaction but feeling so poorly had refused to stop taking them). The infection had now progressed to my kidneys and I was going to have to brace myself for the biggest horse pills ever and at least 3 more days in bed to avoid hospital. We were banned from leaving (Dr Fiddes was one small package of a lady doctor not to be disobeyed) and I had to return every day to be checked. Tuesday was judgement day and a couple of really bad sessions had me give in. Within an hour the hospital admission had been arranged together with the necessary taxi and I was admitted to the Dr MacKinnon memorial hospital in Broadford on Skye. Here they promptly hooked me up to IV antibiotics (which from then on were known as the "good stuff"!) and pain killers to manage the high temperatures (which almost created a problem in themselves..........it was so high that the pre printed sheets didn't go any higher than 40 degrees and mine twice managed to touch 39.7.
Our experience of the doctors and now the hospital here has been a wholly positive one; for small 1 doctor practices and a hospital with only 23 beds they were brilliant, professional, friendly and managed to identify the bug, hit it with the right drugs and get me out of there in 3 days - Well Done! So although waking up on my birthday in hospital was never part of the plan, being allowed out by Dr Murray and the gang was the best present ever! Unfortunately, I couldn't tell Stu the good news before he boarded the bus to Broadford because he'd managed to drop his mobile in to the clear, deep, salty water of Loch Alsh on Wednesday evening!
So now we are still in Kyle and I am still just resting but now I know that in a few days I should feel much better and able to move on. Now that time is running out, our next move will be south, towards, home, friends, family and work.
Normal sailing content will be resumed for the next blog as soon as convalescence period is over!