Rio to London

And so to the final part of my trip around the world. In my last few days in Rio, the temperature dropped and I was forced to buy a jumper to keep me warm in the evenings. On the day before I was due to fly to the UK, I realised that I had picked up a bad cold or flu. In bed in the hotel, I was shivering and asked for extra blankets to keep warm. If I had checked my temperature, I would probably have found that I had a high fever. After taking off from Rio International Airport on a British Airways flight, I was still feeling cold and shivering, so again, I asked the flight attendants for extra blankets to keep me warm. I picked up a car rental at Heathrow Airport and as I was driving up the hill to the house where my mum lived, I started to vomit. I knew that I was at the end of my tether! As always, my mum fussed over me and brought me some soup to eat, but what I needed most was a good night's sleep. After a bath, I went to be at about 9pm and slept soundly until about 3am when I woke up to go to the toilet. I was peeing when I felt something similar to a knife going in between my shoulder blades! I felt like I had been stabbed, but ten times worse that the mosquitos on the boat in the rainforest!

I staggered back to bed, and was unable to sleep, so I waited until I could hear my mum moving around the next morning. I called her and said "Mum, I think I'm going to need to see the doctor." My GP, who had known me since I was a teenager and had admitted me to hospital when I was 15, came to see me at home at 10am. He examined me, listened to the summary of my trip, and told me that he was going to request admission to the Royal United Hospital (RUH) in Bath again. On admission, when I mentioned that I had been to the Amazon rainforest, I was immediately put in an isolation room with a small black and white tv. However, the next day, a Monday, a new sister arrived on the ward and I immediately recognised her. While I was post-op. there was a young trainee nurse who used to sit on my bed and chat to me when the ward was quiet. I even met her once for a drink after I had been discharged from the RUH. It was the same girl I had known 16 years before! My old black and white tv was immediately changed for a colour tv and my meals improved considerably! I asked her if they still had my records from my previous stay and she replied "Yes, they're bringing them over from the records department in a wheelbarrow!".

I was diagnosed with pneumonia but after a few days in hospital, I was sent home to finish recuperating there. My return to Oman had to be delayed by a few weeks while I got  my strength back, but I was soon able to complete the last leg of my round the world trip - London to Muscat.