Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Total distance cycled was 4,300 kms in 57 days.
Countries I travelled through were Canada, Holland, Belgium, Germany, France, Germany (again), Austria, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey and Canada (again)
Number of flats = 2 plus one broken chain.
Problems with disc brakes again (same as on France/England trip)
Weight lost = 23 lbs. I went for a haircut and beard trim yesterday and the first thing my barber said was "You lost some weight". I gave him a $2 tip.
Ottawa Queensway Carleton Hospital Emergency Ward
I lay on my back with my bladder still draining until midnight. There must have been a change of staff as a new nurse came in to see if I was OK. I asked if I could lie on my side (I was starting to develop bed sores on my back) and she said OK. She also said the ER was quite busy so it would be awhile before a doctor arrived to see me.
Finally, at 2 AM, a young, female doctor arrived. She asked a bunch of questions. I told her about my cycling trip across Europe, the train rides, flight to Montreal from Istanbul and the car ride back to Ottawa. She couldn't say exactly what caused my bladder infection but it could have been the diarrhea that I had had earlier. She also said the large amount of urine I had retained in my bladder had caused my kidneys to become infected and that I would have to keep the catheter inserted for 2 weeks. In spite of the relief it was providing I was not to pleased about the prospect of having a catheter stuck up my pecker for 2 weeks!!! She gave me instructions to go see my family doctor, to make a follow up appointment with an urology specialist and a prescription for some anti-biotics, etc. A nurse came in and gave me instructions on how to swap over the night and day time collection bags and how to empty them. I was then allowed to go home. I put on my shorts and went out to admitting with my daytime bag strapped to my calf feeling somewhat embarrased. I called home and asked Lise to come and get me. Lise and Keith arrived at 3 AM and drove me home. I was finally able to lie down in my own bed at 4 AM after switching over to the night time bag.
Lise got up at 7:00 AM to go to her placement. I got up and switched over to the day time bag and had a shower. The tape holding the tube in place on my thigh came loose. I had some cereal and a banana for b'fast. I called Jim Cale and left a voice mail re not beeing able to cycle and that I had to cancel out of the Ontario-Quebec-NewYork long weekend tour. I called Barrie T. and updated him on my condition and situation. I said I would call him re going to the Old F.A.R.T.S. lunch on Wednesday. I managed to get through to Dr. Nadolny, my family doctor, and got an appointment for 11:20. I sorted through my panniers and did a full load of laundry.
Due to having had to stay up so late Keith had booked off sick for the day. I got him up at 10:00 and asked him to clean up the mess in the kitchen. I called Barrie Kirk (tour leader) and left a voice mail re my having to drop out of the ON-QC-NY tour due to a medical problem.
I drove to the doctors office and parked on a side street to avoid having to pay for parking lot fees. There was some discomfort walking to the office. I should have paid for parking!!! plus it looked like it was going to start raining any minute and I hadn't thought to bring along an umbrella. I saw Dr. Nadolny at 11:30. She gave me a requisition for blood and urine samples and said I should go in 1 week but then she changed her mind and said to go in 2 weeks time after the catheter had been removed. We talked for half an hour!!! She was very fascinated by my trip. I gave her my blog address. She looked it up right away on the laptop in the examination room. When I left the doctors office there were a lot of patients waiting to see her.
I had left my admitting papers from the QCH with the doctor but went back to get them as I thought I might need them for the specialist. I drove to the Merivale Mall to get my Rx filled at the pharmacy. While waiting I walked over to FarmBoy and bought some groceries. It was tipping down when I arrived but just a shower when I left.
The pharmacist explained my new meds and possible side effects, etc. He said I should drink lots of water. I asked if beer counted as water. He chuckled and said one or two wouldn't hurt.
I drove home at 1:00 PM. Made myself a nice sandwich on Italian bread with tomato, lettuce, garlic bologna, Monterey Jack cheese and mayo and washed it down with a diet green tea.
I called Dr. Pierre (specialist) and got a recording that he would be on holidays until August 8th. I went throught the pile of mail that had accummulated since my departure. I tried to check my e-mail but discovered there was a problem connecting to the Wi-Fi router. Neither Lise nor I could connect with our laptops or her Notebook. Only Keith could access the internet using his PC. I reset the router but only managed to screw up Keith's connection. I folded my laundry which I had put in the dryer earlier. Keith worked on the router and again was able to connect to Internet. I was able to "piggy-back" on an unprotected nearby Wi-Fi router and check my e-mail.
I called the QCH re specialist and having catheter removed. The nurse said she would have to check with her team leader and would call back. I called Dr. Nadolny's re latest developments. The receptionist said I should wait until the QCH call back.
Had rice and chicken curry (which Keith had prepared for my return) and Naan bread for dinner while catching up on the news.
I was pretty shattered by now and was off to bed at 7:30 PM (2:30 AM Istanbul time). Keith was also in bed early. The cats were locked up in the basement until they learn to use the litter boxes!!!
Cheers, Roly
Total distance cycled was 4,300 kms in 57 days.
Countries I travelled through were Canada, Holland, Belgium, Germany, France, Germany (again), Austria, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey and Canada (again)
Number of flats = 2 plus one broken chain.
Problems with disc brakes again (same as on France/England trip)
Weight lost = 23 lbs. I went for a haircut and beard trim yesterday and the first thing my barber said was "You lost some weight". I gave him a $2 tip.
Ottawa Queensway Carleton Hospital Emergency Ward
I lay on my back with my bladder still draining until midnight. There must have been a change of staff as a new nurse came in to see if I was OK. I asked if I could lie on my side (I was starting to develop bed sores on my back) and she said OK. She also said the ER was quite busy so it would be awhile before a doctor arrived to see me.
Finally, at 2 AM, a young, female doctor arrived. She asked a bunch of questions. I told her about my cycling trip across Europe, the train rides, flight to Montreal from Istanbul and the car ride back to Ottawa. She couldn't say exactly what caused my bladder infection but it could have been the diarrhea that I had had earlier. She also said the large amount of urine I had retained in my bladder had caused my kidneys to become infected and that I would have to keep the catheter inserted for 2 weeks. In spite of the relief it was providing I was not to pleased about the prospect of having a catheter stuck up my pecker for 2 weeks!!! She gave me instructions to go see my family doctor, to make a follow up appointment with an urology specialist and a prescription for some anti-biotics, etc. A nurse came in and gave me instructions on how to swap over the night and day time collection bags and how to empty them. I was then allowed to go home. I put on my shorts and went out to admitting with my daytime bag strapped to my calf feeling somewhat embarrased. I called home and asked Lise to come and get me. Lise and Keith arrived at 3 AM and drove me home. I was finally able to lie down in my own bed at 4 AM after switching over to the night time bag.
Lise got up at 7:00 AM to go to her placement. I got up and switched over to the day time bag and had a shower. The tape holding the tube in place on my thigh came loose. I had some cereal and a banana for b'fast. I called Jim Cale and left a voice mail re not beeing able to cycle and that I had to cancel out of the Ontario-Quebec-NewYork long weekend tour. I called Barrie T. and updated him on my condition and situation. I said I would call him re going to the Old F.A.R.T.S. lunch on Wednesday. I managed to get through to Dr. Nadolny, my family doctor, and got an appointment for 11:20. I sorted through my panniers and did a full load of laundry.
Due to having had to stay up so late Keith had booked off sick for the day. I got him up at 10:00 and asked him to clean up the mess in the kitchen. I called Barrie Kirk (tour leader) and left a voice mail re my having to drop out of the ON-QC-NY tour due to a medical problem.
I drove to the doctors office and parked on a side street to avoid having to pay for parking lot fees. There was some discomfort walking to the office. I should have paid for parking!!! plus it looked like it was going to start raining any minute and I hadn't thought to bring along an umbrella. I saw Dr. Nadolny at 11:30. She gave me a requisition for blood and urine samples and said I should go in 1 week but then she changed her mind and said to go in 2 weeks time after the catheter had been removed. We talked for half an hour!!! She was very fascinated by my trip. I gave her my blog address. She looked it up right away on the laptop in the examination room. When I left the doctors office there were a lot of patients waiting to see her.
I had left my admitting papers from the QCH with the doctor but went back to get them as I thought I might need them for the specialist. I drove to the Merivale Mall to get my Rx filled at the pharmacy. While waiting I walked over to FarmBoy and bought some groceries. It was tipping down when I arrived but just a shower when I left.
The pharmacist explained my new meds and possible side effects, etc. He said I should drink lots of water. I asked if beer counted as water. He chuckled and said one or two wouldn't hurt.
I drove home at 1:00 PM. Made myself a nice sandwich on Italian bread with tomato, lettuce, garlic bologna, Monterey Jack cheese and mayo and washed it down with a diet green tea.
I called Dr. Pierre (specialist) and got a recording that he would be on holidays until August 8th. I went throught the pile of mail that had accummulated since my departure. I tried to check my e-mail but discovered there was a problem connecting to the Wi-Fi router. Neither Lise nor I could connect with our laptops or her Notebook. Only Keith could access the internet using his PC. I reset the router but only managed to screw up Keith's connection. I folded my laundry which I had put in the dryer earlier. Keith worked on the router and again was able to connect to Internet. I was able to "piggy-back" on an unprotected nearby Wi-Fi router and check my e-mail.
I called the QCH re specialist and having catheter removed. The nurse said she would have to check with her team leader and would call back. I called Dr. Nadolny's re latest developments. The receptionist said I should wait until the QCH call back.
Had rice and chicken curry (which Keith had prepared for my return) and Naan bread for dinner while catching up on the news.
I was pretty shattered by now and was off to bed at 7:30 PM (2:30 AM Istanbul time). Keith was also in bed early. The cats were locked up in the basement until they learn to use the litter boxes!!!
Cheers, Roly
Hi Roly
ReplyDeleteCongratulations for a job well done. You should be proud of yourself for completing 4300 km safely.
Hope Your infection heals soon.
See you on the next ride.
Cheers Heinz