May 5 and 6, 2016 Thursday and Friday

Health drama on the Camino

My short-lived, and not really that serious health drama is over. I did spend time in the hospital, but I am well, and I appreciate all the well-wishes from everywhere and everyone from which they have come. Many people really came through for me here in Spain, especially the Spanish people. We hear that it is their culture to support the pilgrims (people walking the Camino de Santiago are called pilgrims, as they are making a pilgrimage). I understand the words “it is in their culture to support the pilgrims,” and I thought I knew what that phrase meant, but until I was here, I did not truly understand. It is deeper than I ever knew, touching, caring, and very real.

Pilgrims in history have faced many challenges far beyond what I faced: wolves, bandits, sleeping outside (and no hot shower). I consider this health problem seriously, but I also think of it as a reminder of the historical significance of this pilgrimage. And I appreciate greatly that Spain is a modern country with modern medical facilities and capabilities staffed with kind, caring, and nurturing people.

All right, I am going to give some detail here, so if you are not interested, you can skip the rest. There are no photos today. I am expecting to start walking tomorrow from Sahagún, where I am now, back on the meseta.

Fromista

After starting dinner at Fromista with my friends Elaine and Claudia, I started feeling badly, and left dinner to lay down. Soon my lower GI tract awakened, and a bout of diarrhea followed. Thinking it would pass, I drank an electrolyte mixture to keep me hydrated, but the problem persisted all night.

When Wednesday morning came, I knew I would not be walking, and talked to the manager about whether there was a doctor in town. Other than the diarrhea, I felt fine – no fever, no pain, basically fine, although a little tired after losing so much fluid. There was a medical clinic in town and I went there. I was given very basic examination and was given a prescription for loperamide, a common anti-diarrhea medication. Went to the pharmacy, took the medication, packed, and asked at the front desk to call me a taxi to get me to my next hotel reservation in Carrion de las Condes. I needed to rest, allow the medication to work, and re-evaluate.

Carrion de las Condes

It is too bad that I was not feeling well, because the hotel is in a beautiful restored monastery, and may still be a monastery. I had no energy to explore, I just rested. By evening, I was feeling worse. My mood was darkening. I thought my Camino was over, that I had failed, my body had failed, and I just wanted to feel better. Through contacting my travel insurance company, they called the front desk and spoke to them in Spanish and learned that there was a clinic in town, and the hotel could call the doctor. They decided to have the doctor come to my room to evaluate me, and in 20-30 minutes, the doctor and a nurse were at my room. They did a more thorough examination, looked at the medication, and decided I needed an IV of saline to get me rehydrated. They called a taxi, and I went to the clinic. I was given an IV of saline, and really started to feel better.

When I asked to pay, they waved that off saying, “we support the pilgrims; we want to help you get well so you can continue your pilgrimage.” I am serious – a visit by a doctor to my hotel, evaluation, a visit to a clinic, an IV, and no payment. They told me it was important for me to continue my pilgrimage to Santiago and they wanted to help get me there.

They told me that if I was not better, to call them right away and I would need to go to the hospital in Palencia, about 40 kilometers away (25 miles). By morning, after several more episodes, and no change, I packed up everything, contacted the font desk and got a taxi back to the clinic. They re-evaluated and after a very short discussion in Spanish, two doctors agreed that I needed to go to the Rio Carrion hospital in Palencia. They called that hospital, and in less than 15 minutes I was in an ambulance on my way to the hospital, seated, not on a gurney; no lights or siren.

Palencia

The Rio Carrion hospital is a large, 400-bed modern, clean, state-of-the-art facility, quite impressive. I was seen right away, since they knew I was coming. This exam was much more thorough, and included blood tests, and stool sample to culture. In about half an hour, the admitting doctor returned with the test results. She told me that I had two problems: (1) I was very dehydrated, (no surprise) and (2) I had a bacteria, and she said, “and we know this bacteria, it does not manifest with a fever, but responds very well to antibiotics.” Still being an a dark place psychologically, I asked her if there was an airport or train station close by so I could start my journey back to California.admitted for at least one night, possible two depending on the tests the next morning.

She responded while looking at her clipboard, “Aren’t you walking the Camino de Santiago? … All of these tests tell me you are very healthy. You have two small problems and we can take care of them.” She paused and then looking me in the eye said, “Your Camino is important. When you walk into the cathedral in Santiago, you will understand. We are going to help you get well so you can continue your pilgrimage.” And then she repeated, “Your Camino is important.”

I was admitted for at least one night, possible two depending on the tests the next morning. I was moved to the 11th floor (In the US, this would be the 12th floor, in Europe, what we call the first floor is floor 0), into room 1111 sharing a room with an older man recovering from some kind of surgery. His wife was there the whole time, even overnight, but neither spoke English.

Then, one by one or two by two, the staff started coming in to wish me a Buen Camino, sometimes saying that they had walked the Camino or part of the Camino, and they wanted me to get well so I could continue. And then staff from other floors started coming up finding someone to translate and saying the same things. Pretty soon, as the hydration kicked in and the antibiotic started working, I starting thinking that maybe, just maybe this might be possible. After a few hours, I was feeling better, and the problem stopped. I rested, walked around the floor quite a bit, made a few phone calls, called my travel insurance company and told them the name and location of the hospital.

Many people came to see me when they learned I was walking the Camino de Santiago, nurses, the other staff, the doctors, and even a priest. They all seemed almost grateful to be able to help me reach my goal of completing the Camino. A few had also walked part of the Camino, and were especially encouraging.

On Friday, I was given more blood tests to test the electrolytes and the state of the infection, and I was discharged with some fanfare, encouragement, and Buen Camino wishes from the staff and my doctors. The travel insurance company and the hospital had already been in contact, and I was good to go.

Camino Ways, the company with whom I booked my hotels had arranged to have my extra bag, boots, and hiking poles transported to the hotel in Sahagún. I asked at the taxi stand about getting to Sahagún, and the first driver in the line told me that he was from there, and he took me the 50 or so kilometers (30 miles), and while a little pricey at 55 Euros, I would have had to wait overnight for a bus, or walk, and that would be a long, long walk.

I am ready to go back on the meseta.

Next: A shorter walk to El Burgo Ranero