I'm still trying to walk the fine line between resting a lot to get over the glandular fever as quickly as possible, and not simply getting bored or wasting each day here in the UK. So, I've been trying to get out of the house for an hour or two each day, and then having a good rest. This morning I took a walk to a nearby park and lake [see photo] to feed the ducks! Nice hour-long round trip with, as yet, no adverse affects.
I went to the doctor's this afternoon to find out what last week's blood tests had picked up. He confirmed that I have "glandular fever". I may be over the worst of the symptoms, but it is famous for being an infection that reoccurs for many months to come, leaving the patient very weak. There's no cure or medicine - just rest. I guess it's good to finally know what's wrong with me but it has, and will continue to, muck up my plans for some time to come. Frustrating. At first, I was winding Mum and Dad up about having only been ill since returning to "infected Britain". But then after reseacrhing it a bit online I found that symptoms only show up 5-6 weeks after infection (which means I must have caught it during my holiday in the remote villages of Guizhou!). I cheered myself up with a Chinese takeaway [see photo] this evening. It may be an infected country, but the food's good! About 3 months ago I bought a ticket online to see my favourite NBA basketball team - Utah Jazz - play the (rather more popular) Chicago Bulls in the "02 Arena", formerly known as the "Millennium Dome" in London. Last night was the night. It's a remarkable venue [see photo], especially lit up at night. My seat was way up high, but afforded a good view of the court, the game and the "pre-game" and "time-out" performances (mascots, cheerleaders, trampoline dunk teams, Chinese juggler). I did seem to be the only person cheering for Utah though. I've supported them since visiting their home stadium in Salt Lake City 20+ years ago. Unfortunately, despite a close game, I felt increasingly unwell during the first half. Maybe it was the height of the seating, the ear-bursting noise, the flashing lights? Certainly it had something to do with the viral infection I'm still battling with. Anyhow, I very regrettably left after watching the half-time display and made my way back to my parents' house and straight to bed. I found out this morning that the game was decided with a last second score which, although my team lost, would have been fantastic to see live. I just hope I'm going to feel better when I go to watch Everton play in a few weeks. I'm gradually working my way down a copiously long list of "Foods that must be sampled on return". Today was the classic British dish, "Fish and Chips". [see photo] Delicious, although when I lived in the UK I was more of a "Sausages in batter and chips" man. There's time for that option, too! Yesterday Mum cooked roast lamb and, of course, I've been indulging in an overdose of pork pies and home-made cakes. And bear in mind I've only been back two days! We had planned to have a full English fried breakfast at a nearby restaurant this morning, too, but I woke with a headache and swollen neck glands. So I decided to rest up instead. The scrummy food will wait for me, no doubt. My journey home didn't start too smoothly, when Ava's car refused to start. But a taxi, two planes and a car journey later I arrived at my parents' home. Door to door was 18 hours of travelling and my body was telling me it was 3am by the time I got here. It was lovely to see my parents at the airport, wielding some very embarrassing welcome signs [see photo] and a great surprise to find my youngest brother Andy and his family (wife Ali, kids Louie and Daisy) sneaking up behind me in Arrivals too. I haven't seen the two children before, so it was a real treat to meet them in the flesh so early on in my trip back to the UK. Now I hope to get some sleep and awake refreshed enough to "shop 'til I drop". |
AuthorPaul Hider lives and works in Kunming (SW China) and regularly updates this blog about his life there. Past blog entries
May 2024
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