This is me starting to recover - I just turned 48 but have been pretty poorly. Our long awaited and very needed holiday turned out to be a bit of a disaster. We went to Austria to visit the in-laws, which is not really a holiday, then we had booked a week in a 4* hotel in Slovenia. It was supposed to be a Spa hotel with much relaxation and massages and jacuzzi's and swimming and sun. Let me tell you non of the above came to fruition. We did get 2 days of sun and 2 swims in a not very clean over crowded pool. Then it happened, I got hotter and hotter, and this time I could tell this was more than the effects of going through the change. Fortunately we had paracetamol to keep my temperature down slightly but then came the eruptions in my stomach and I literally spent the next 2 days on the toilet. The bathroom could have been a lot more desirable too, let alone clean. I managed on the 3rd day to visit the Slovenian doctor after taking something from the chemist that hadn't helped. He gave me something to stop the runs, which I later found out was not ideal, and he gave me pieces of what looked and tasted like coal, which I had to swallow. Not that I knew what coal tastes like!! What then came out of my body could only be described as tarmac, it was vile. By this time I had started to worry a little, I had had enough and the storms were literally raging in Slovenia, which made the atmosphere very heavy and gave me a massive headache. At least it was only the first day that I was completely delirious, thinking that yellow monsters were coming through the window and Peter Kay was coming with a tea tray to my door as room service. This amused the children slightly, although they were also very concerned. On the 4th day we decided to leave the horrible, unhelpful and far from friendly hotel and venture back to Graz Austria. On ringing the doctor in Austria it was recommended we make an immediate trip to the hospital as I could have Salmonella. The hospital in Austria was great, as always, I had 3 people working on me straight away. May temperature was taken, blood pressure too, and then for an ESG and bloods taken. Within and hour I was on a drip and I had had a lovely talk, in English, to a lovely Austrian doctor, who I think secretly was very pleased for the opportunity to show off her linguistic skills. Within 3 hours my Vital Stats had returned and potassium had been added to my drip. I had a severe intestinal infection and quite a bit of inflammation. They sent me home with some very strong anit-biotics and things started to improve from there. We don't know what caused the severe Gastroenteritis but hey at least we had a clear picture that I was soon going to get better.
Not really the holiday I needed. We did have a few enjoyable days together as a family though, a couple of days just wandering round Graz, a day where they train the Lipizzaner horses for the Spanish riding school, and a day in Vienna where we did the touristy thing and took a horse and cart tour. We still needed a rest though and have been trying to rest for the remainder of the school holidays. There are always jobs to do though, especially the ones that have been left as we have been too busy to do them over the last 10 months. I have been reading a good book though by Dutch Sheets called 'The Pleasure of His Company' which is very refreshing. It is really what I needed to just spend some time with God. I need to restock. I needed to sift out the Urgent from the Important. I need to rest more and have some fun. I need to get fitter and look after my body or I'll be no use to anyone. I think I have just been too busy with 'Ministry' over the last year and I think I need to have some good talks with God about what HE really wants me to do. It's hard because everything we do is good!!! but does that make it right when it wears you out to a frazzle. I don't think so!! I also need to analise the demands that others make on me and yes I will have to let some people down sometimes. I am human, I am not a super human. It's not going to be easy but I am determined after all I have been through in the last few weeks. Hopefully I will look back on this blog and reminded myself of what I have written :)
