Today was an exercise in endurance and acceptance. I started out by going to the Central Health Clinic. My left leg has been bothering me for about a week now. Occasionally while walking, I get sharp pains behind my knee and up or down my leg. About five days ago I had a red lump above my sock line that dispersed into spots all up my calf over the next day. Each night since, my leg is swollen, ankle to mid thigh. Last night the aching kept me awake. I was starting to get paranoid about DVT, but the doctor did a check and assured me that it is nothing serious. He perscribed Naproxen and gentler walking for the next five days. Perfect. Decided I’d just head to Güemes today (20 km, relatively flat) and left at noon.
Nope. 5 km out and I was suffering. At the outskirts of Berrias I decided to stop in to the pharmacy and fill that prescription. Took a dose and found a restaurant serving fried eggs and ‘ham’ (more like prosciutto) and sat to eat while I waited for the meds to kick in. While there, I looked at possible places to stop. I wasn’t doing well, but still had all afternoon and didn’t want to stay where I was. It became a matter of mental vs physical needs. Mentally, I needed to make progress. Any distance at all feels like a win. Physically, I felt pretty crappy. I finally settled on Noja, which was another 6 km of pretty flat walking. When looking for accommodations, I found a room with a sea view for 60 euro. I decided if I am going to be resting for hours, it would be worth the splurge. Holy cow - see photo below!
The walking should have been easy but was challenging for me. Usually, my legs feel stronger a couple km in. Today, I deteriorated with each km. I had two long stops and I arrived at 4 pm. The last 2 km (1.25 miles) took me an hour because there were a couple of minor uphill grades and my knee/leg was inconsistently supporting me at that point. (At least not without shooting pains. Anyone out there want to diagnose me?) In the end, I made it and am so glad I pushed on. Noja is beautiful. Will rest tonight and update this if anything exciting happens, which I don’t anticipate.
One last note: The doctor this morning was very curious about me walking alone. He asked, ‘Isn’t your partner worried about you falling in love with someone else?’ I told him that in fact, my partner and I are better than ever. I feel more like myself than I have since I moved to Australia, and we are both loving it. Mark is my biggest cheerleader and I am so grateful.
Update: This really is a cool, lovely beach town. Rested a bit then did some sightseeing and stopped at a grocery store to buy some food for dinner (orange, banana, cheese, and toast). Added photos below.
Photos from the day:
Take care of you!