Having just returned from a 4 week holiday I am feeling happy, content, pain free and grateful for my life. I have so many twitter buddies searching for relief from RA with new meds, med additions and alternative therapies that I am once again reminding myself that I am so lucky, at this moment in time, to be where I am on Enbrel and I am determined to make to most of it, appreciate what life has to offer and to try and not worry about what may or may not be.
This is very much a pictorial blog post - a reminder of how wonderful my holiday was!
My holiday was a real turning point for me I departed on Wednesday 13th June on the ferry from Portsmouth to Santander in Northern Spain. Accompanied by my eldest daughter, my 18 month old granddaughter and our two dogs, we squeezed into the tiny cabin for the 24 hour journey. Sleep did not come easily in a tiny bed with a hard matress and a dog that barked every time someone moved in the corridor, but I did eventually drop off and slept quite well. I woke the next morning feeling optimistic for the first time in months, the ferry docked at 12 noon and the sun was shining my spirits lifted even further and we set off for a 350 mile journey to our overnight stop in Toledo just south of Madrid.
We made it in good time, several stops along the way for drink, food and stretching and luckily joints didnt complain too much and we checked in at around 7pm. It was glorious - the views over Toledo were sublime, the hotel was set in the mountains and it was just lovely. Hot bath, room service and bed were all I could manage.
Friday the 15th was hot and sunny and the last leg of the journey, the 300 miles to Marbella passed easily, we arrived about 4pm, unpacked the mountain of things I had bought with me from the UK and settled infor the start of our holiday! Coming back to Marbella is almost like coming home for me, because it is ours, it is full of things that make me feel comfortable, there is no uncertainty like I sometimes feel when I go somewhere different. Here I know where to shop, where to eat, where the pharmacy is ...I know what to expect....and I like that!
My partner Ray, my youngest daughter and my eldest daughters husband Peter arrived the next day. Now you may be wondering where my Enbrel was in all of this , well I had decided I could do without the stress on the journey so my family were bringing it with them on the plane. Fully instructed they had wrapped it in bubble wrap, popped into a cool bag with 2 ice packs and attached the thermometer with instructions that it must stay within 2 - 8 degrees. No probs, had been in the fridge on the plane but walking over the border in Gibralter to the car hire it had tipped over at 8.5 in the sun, they rushed to the hire car turned on the AC and tried to keep it chilled for the 40 minute drive to Marbella. My daughter ran to find me at the pool (bit like one of those scenes on TV when the transplant organ arrives in a hurry) we ran upstairs and straight in the fridge to settle down... phew that was it .....except when I woke in the morning the fridge was too cold and the thermometer was showing - 1. Panic, panic, panic - a day of trying to regulate the fridge, too much food in it was throwing the thermostat out of sync, another night when the temperature dropped too low, I thought that was it, hundreds of pounds of meds ruined (3 click pens) and envisaged a holiday with worsening pain and even worse, maybe enbrel would not work as well when I restarted it when I got home. So - a phone call to Healthcare at Home in the UK and spoke to the pharmacist who after much thought and consulting with various colleagues said it would be ok, as long as it was not frozen and no large particles, he said perhaps safer to keep it between 8 and 25 degrees under which circumstances it will keep for 45 days. So I relegated it to the electric cool box where is stayed quite nicely at around 12 degrees for the rest of the holiday.
Well after that it was plain sailing, I forgot about my Enbrel, except on Tuesdays which is E day. This holiday was to be about recharging my batteries not about pushing myself to my limits and I spent three glorious weeks at our apartment resting, reading, swimming, meditating under the palm trees, having long leisurely lunches followed by a nap in the shade in the gardens, strolling around the sights and eating at fabulous restaurants. I spent valuable hours with my daughters chatting, laughing, drinking coffee in the Port, watching the world go by.... creating precious memories. Walking my dog on the beach and watching my granddaughter enjoy her holiday - simple pleasures but a reminder of all that is important in my life...
My apartment is only a short walk from Puerta Banus but it is very quiet and peaceful it is built like an Andalucian village with small clusters of low rise buildings set around swimming pools surrounded by palm trees and beautiful gardens ....bliss ...and every day that passed I felt better and better, my anxieties slipped away and I began to feel like myself again.
Puerta Banus itself is often described as the playground of the rich and famous, unfortunately I fall into neither category. The port itself is lined with bars, designer shops and restaurants - a great place to people watch and enjoy a drink, a coffee or eat dinner.
Marbella old town dates back to the 16th century and is a maze of tiny streets lined with small shops and restaurants and shady walkways covered in flora. We had some lovely evenings wandering the streets enjoying the sights and eating at superb tiny bistros tucked away.
The weeks passed too quickly and reluctantly we repacked the car, retraced our journey, boarded the ferry for a rocky trip across the Bay of Biscay and docked at a very grey and damp Portsmouth on Sunday 8th July at 7.30pm.
I arrived back at home at about 9.00pm and it had apparently rained non stop for the 4 weeks I had been away, my garden had grown beyond recognition, my miniature buddleia has grown so much I can hardly see my front door.
That sentiment is dedicated to all of those suffering
from chronic illness - never give up!
I'm really paranoid about my enbrel now, i never check the temp! ;-) Glad you had a relaxing few weeks, i bet it made the world of difference x
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