Our next stop in the UK was St. Albans as we had organized to cat sit for a couple that had two cats, Georges and Leon. We traveled there from Cardiff by train, the first leg was 1st Class which was a great way to start the day with the delivery of beverages and snacks. The rest of the trip was via subway which went seamlessly as well. We sure are enjoying the ability to use public transportation for our travels while here.
I hadnt mentioned in the last blog posting, but Bob started to have lots of pain in his neck and shoulder while in Cardiff. The Airbnb we were staying at had a listing with a couple of Dr. offices so called and found out that as we werent registered in their area, we couldnt make an appointment. They suggested we call 311 so we did that. After a very long and detailed discussion information on Bobs medical history and details on his symptoms he was told to take ibuprofen and paracetamol (acetaminophen) as well as alternate hot and cold. He was also
told to be sure to keep moving and push through the pain. He started on this plan, but wasnt getting any relief.
When we got to St. Albans first on the list was to head to the local hospital emergency room in order to see a Dr. for Bob. Surprise, surprise – we got a bus to the hospital to only find out that the St. Albans hospital doesnt have an emergency room anymore -who would have thought that was possible??!! We learned of another hospital in a neighboring town that did have an emergency room so headed there the next day by bus. As in every emergency room, there were plenty of people waiting to be seen, but after about 3 hours Bob got to see a Dr. He checked Bob out and decided that it was a muscular problem and told him to continue the regiment of alternating ibuprofen and Paracetamol (acetaminophen) but this time increasing the dosage. After a few more days of that, decided to make contact with our wonderful physical therapist, Barbara, back in Greenwich. She suggested that Bob see a physical therapist (and gave us tips of the type of therapist
to look for) which we had learned we could do without being a resident here. Fortunately, we were able to make an appointment with a therapist in St. Albans, which did seem to help relieve some of the pain that had gone down his arm. We know it is difficult to have therapy from various offices, but with our moving around, this is what we will have to do if it is a help in reducing Bobs He is finding that if he hangs his head down to his chest it relieves the pain the best, but as he says he is getting tired of looking down at the floor all the time!
With Bobs pain level we are minimizing the exploring we are doing, but are trying to fit some in. Bob is taking the suggestion of just push through it literally.
When we got off the bus in town after going to the hospital that didnt have an emergency room, we found that there was a large outdoor market going on so needless to say we couldnt pass that up. It was definitely varied selling everything from fresh bread, fruits and
veggies, to clothing, luggage and even old police and military helmets! We were even offered fresh Turkish Delight to try – when we told her that we just came from Turkey, she definitely had a laugh.
The place we were cat sitting was right in town so handy for grocery shopping. This was especially good as many days I went by myself and without having the extra backpack and as Bob calls himself packhorse Bob along I didnt buy as much each time I went. It gave me a chance to stretch my legs and to give Bob time to rest.
One thing we had made arrangements to do while in St. Albans was to head into London to see some wonderful friends of ours from our days when we were in St. Katherines Dock on Tsamaya. We wanted to see them before they left to go out sailing themselves for the season. I wondered about cancelling, but Bob insisted we go in.
Travelmates near
