Advertisement
Entry by Gemma.
We have been in Sydney for just over a week now and yet we havent actually made it into Sydney centre yet due to the knee saga!
Well, it all started on Thursday 12th May when i noticed a pussy spot on my knee. Didn't think anything of it and departed as planned to Nacula island on the friday to spend the last few days relaxing before we flew to Sydney on the following tuesday. By the saturday the spot had got bigger and popped, again i didnt worry about it but my knee was getting more and more painful. On sunday and monday on the island i started to feel unwell and my knee started swelling and it was getting difficult to walk on. We were on a small island so i couldnt seek medical treatment, but i asked around and managed to find a doctor who was holidaying on the resort. I spoke to him and he said i had a knee infection and said to get antibiotics when i arrived in Sydney.
Got back to the mainland on monday evening and decided to go to the local hospital just to get it
Greating on arrival at Safe Landing Resort.
As our boat arrived at the resort we were greated by the Fijian staff singing a welcome song and each given a coconut ready to drink. checked out as it was getting worse. The hospital was so funny, we walked into the waiting room, there wasnt anyone at the desk, but this fijian guy called us to sit down and asked us what the problem was. Then everyone in the waiting room started talking to us and were really excited that we were from England! They moved me to the front of the queue and after a few minutes i went into see the nurse. She looked at my knee and confirmed that it was an infection but was only able to give me antibiotics for that night and the next morning as the one doctor in the hospital was delivering a baby, so she couldnt give me a full course of antibiotics without the doctors signature. We asked her about getting a taxi back into town and she took us into the waiting room and asked this guy to drive us back to town. Everyone just wanted to talk to us, it was a funny experience!
On tuesday morning we flew to Sydney, the flight was four hours and luckily we were being met by Sharon who we were staying with for a while
Our beachside bure
I loved listening to the ocean as i went to sleep. It was amazing getting out of bed and being on the beach. in Sydney. She took me straight to a medical centre and the doctor said i had a bad infection and gave me a course of antibiotics and told me i needed to come back everyday to check whether it was clearing up. We then went to a medicare centre to get a card which would give me free treatment whilst in Sydney because luckily there is a reciprocal aggreament between England and Australia. In the afternoon i just rested, but that night by knee seemed to be getting worse and i hardly slept as it was painful.
The next morning Dave took me back to the medical centre. Very kindly, Den and Sharon who we were staying with lent Dave their car to drive me around. It was funny as it is a big automatic car, so Dave had to quickly get used to driving an automatic and find his way around too. He did a good job and is now a pro. So we went to the medical centre and the doctor took one look at it and sent me to casualty. Dave navigated us to the local hospital and upon arrival i was taken hobbling along into
The view from our bure.
There was a hammock just outside our bure. Lovely! see the doctor. The doctor was great, but scared me a bit as she said it was a serious infection and if they didnt get it under control i could end up having a knee replacement!
The doctor then asperated my knee, which involved putting a needle right into my joint to get some of the fluid out. Very painful! I was then admitted to the hospital and was fitted with a canula in my arm and put on really strong antibiotics and a drip, so within an hour i was all hooked up with tubes coming out of my arms! It was very surreal!
I was admitted onto a ward and for the first night had my own room which was great, but the next day i was moved into a room with three other people, which was good as it wasnt so lonely. There was some good points about being in hospital. The food was good, i got to choose my menu each day. The nurses were lovely, i was well looked after and i also made friends with the people in my room, Lee, Ethel, Francis and then Lorna came when Lee was discharged. It
View of part of the island.
Dave took this photo on his walk with Bross. certainly was an experience.
At the beginning they werent sure whether to operate to get rid of the infection, but they decided against it. But, on friday the doctor lanced my knee under local anaethetic and got out all the puss and found a small piece of coral in my knee which had been causing all the trouble! It was painful, but worth it as after that my knee started improving.
I was on really strong antibiotics which made me feel sick, so they gave me anti-sickness drugs. I also had to wear stockings and had two injections a day in my belly to prevent blood clots. I wasnt allowed to walk at all so the nurses/Dave wheeled me to the toilet in a wheelchair. Dave was brilliant, he spent most of everyday with me, which must have been boring, especially as i slept most of the time. Sharon was also great, bringing me flowers, nighties and chocolate.
I was discharged yesterday (tuesday 24th), so was in one day short of a whole week and will probably spend the next few days resting before i am ready to start sightseeing. I am on antibiotics and just have
to go back for a check up next wednesday.
It was certainly an experience! Am glad it is over, but it certainly was a memorable experience. Am looking forward to seeing Sydney, as so far all i have seen was as we flew in we got an amazing view of the Opera House and the Sydney skyline which was really cool.
Have not written about the last few days of Fiji, so will do that now. We went to Nacula Island which was in the group of islands called the Yasawas. We stayed in a resort called Safe Landings. It was a four hour journey over to the island by catamerang and then a five minute transfer to the resort in a little speed boat. We were greated by the Fijian staff singing on the beach and they presented us each with a coconut ready to drink. It was a small resort and we stayed in a little bure right on the beach. It was lovely listening to the sound of the ocean as you went to sleep. We spent most of the time relaxing in a hammock or on the beach. Dave went for a walk around
Meke (Traditional Fijian dance).
The villagers came and entertained us for the evening at the resort. The singing and the instruments were brilliant. A great experience. the island with one of the staff called Bross. He was a real character and arranged activities each day. On the saturday night the villagers came down and entertained us for the night with a meke which is a traditional Fijian dance and music. That was definately a highlight. They made us all get up and dance with them at the end which was funny. Every meal was served in a dining room which was on the beach and everyone ate together on two long tables, which was nice. We went on a snorkelling trip, but it was a bit choppy, which made us feel sea sick. Mainly we just relaxed and did lots of reading. It was a good few days apart from my knee.
We were sad to leave Fiji, we both loved it. But we are excited to be in Australia, now the knee saga has finally ended!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.043s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 11; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0216s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb