I am writing this on the 7th month anniversary of my selling my house to go travelling. So far, I have stayed at 22 airbnbs (including one twice,) 4 other bnb’s, a friend’s house for a few days and a week in a conference centre. I have travelled to all four countries of the UK and to Ireland, Belgium, France and Germany and even a day in Poland. The one issue that has remained significant for me has been my health and in particular, my bowel health.
Now I know that bowel health is not a particularly sexy topic to be writing a blog post about, but it is an important issue for me and I guess, possibly for others around my age. Although I was first diagnosed with the condition in my early 30s – (the story of how that happened is pretty gruesome and I think if you really are that curious you better ask me.) It probably first occurred during my gambling time in my late 20s.
Since my diagnosis – I have lived with it by watching my diet and coping with the inevitable flare-ups by cutting out solid food, drinking lots and taking pain-killers when really needed, (I hate taking tablets.) But I knew that the stress of travelling was likely to take its toll and so it has proved.
The first episode of “tummy trouble” occurred in Donegal – but this was mild and with the usual remedies it went away in a week or two. The next time I had an occurrence was when I came back to the UK for a residential course. This one was pretty spectacular, and I suspect that there was also some food poisoning involved – but it was gone by the time I got over to Belgium and I thought I was over things. Then I became increasingly tired in Germany and very stressed on the journey from Munich to Strasbourg (where I managed to lose a carry-on case.) The first sign of a serious problem came towards the end of my stay in Esbly near Paris and by the time I got to Rouen I knew I had a full-scale flare-up. As it was co-inciding with a pre-arranged visit back to the UK – I thought it could wait until I got to my doctors’ surgery in Sheffield and so made an appointment for as soon as I got over there.
The outcome is that it has been suggested that I stay in the UK for another 2 weeks – so that I can get some more tests done. Additionally, I have been told that I need to take boosters of vitamin B12 as my level is exceedingly low. So it is that I have decided to cancel my 3rd week in Rouen and my week in Le Mans – and instead I will be ensconced in Nether Edge, Sheffield and at the end of the week moving to Dronfield in North Derbyshire.
Hopefully, I can move onto Brittany as planned and reunite myself with my luggage, (which is at the Airbnb I stayed in, in Rouen), sometime during the visit.
And what of the future? Well I think that the lesson from this is to take the warning signs more seriously and to act earlier. I will try going onto a liquid only diet for a couple of days when the pain starts and resting more. Not trying new foods whilst I am away is a shame – but if it is between novelty and health then I guess that my health will have to come first.
I feel quite strongly that I don’t want this to beat me. I knew that it would be the one thing that could tie me to “home” (wherever that might be in the future) but I didn’t expect the challenge to come so soon in my adventure. Hopefully in a few days, I will be able to confirm that I am going back to France and continuing where I left off. Hopefully!
Update on 29.08.2020.
What happened next was that I had investigations including a colonoscopy – but nothing else was found. I went back to France and coped whilst I was there. Then back to England for a residential that was cancelled – and my problems resurfaced. Now I have been diagnosed (purely by symptoms) with IBS – but no help is being given to me, even though I am in a lot of pain. All thoughts of travel are on hold until this is sorted out. My plan now is to relocate to Scotland to access the NHS there to see if that is any better than NHS England. If not then I don’t know what the answer is. But I will keep you posted.
Update on 12.03.2021.
Having been stuck in the UK because of the lockdown, it has given me the chance to look at my bowel health and reach a few conclusions. One is that I have become lactose intolerant and perhaps the reasons things were bad in Esbly was that there was some ice-cream left for me in the freezer! Now my symptoms are being controlled by a combination of diet, pro-biotics and my life saver, slippery elm bark. If you want more information, please message me – and I will update again once I restart travelling (if I can!)
