Sun, Sea and A&E

As promised before:

Liming – Bajan term for relaxing, enjoying food, drink and the company others

A lot of that was done over the past week. After a Saturday morning of work, we hit the beach after catching up with the premier league games. On a Sunday, we lay in… and then hit the beach. Due to elections recently, however, on Wednesday and Thursday, of last week, schools were closed leaving a lot more time to lime and a lot more time to lay on the beach. Unknown to me at the time, this extended time off was going to prove to be slight issue in the near future not helped by me deciding to ditch my hat over the last few weeks trying to make the most of the sun and even out the ridiculous tan-line on my forehead. This is a decision I now regret but I’m British – what do you expect?

This is an eventful story so we could be here a while: It started Saturday evening. I came home off the beach getting ready for the evening ahead. Overhanging the edge of my bed I looked down at the floor and saw a splash of red that had just descended from my nose. For the record, I never have nose bleeds, so this was odd. Nothing came of this and it soon passed. Sunday evening the exact same happened. Overhanging the edge of my bed I looked down at the floor and you get the picture. This time my nose bled for around 20 minutes, though, and myself and my host family were a little concerned – the latter probably more about their bed sheets and lovely house!

Monday morning came and my nose was still threatening to bleed and it couldn’t have done it at a more inappropriate time. About 10 minutes into our Monday morning double club session, I was standing at the back of a full class and suddenly came to the realisation that I was going to have to try and stumble past 20 kids, clutching my nose with a red (originally white) rag, without them freaking out. I found a staff member and asked for some help. He directed me to a room with a cry of ‘We need someone who can do First Aid’. After being passed between about 4 different people as no one wanted to clear up the mess I was creating I was treated by a lady who I presume was the school nurse. 20minutes later she decided this was too much for her and we were escorted to a nearby doctor surgery – in the middle – of literally – nowhere. 2 hours passed and after having various things poked up my nose I left, told I had to take 2 days off.  I actually asked the doctor how often they get someone come in who needs immediate attention and he said the last was 4 months ago. That’s how ‘in the middle of nowhere’ this place was.

Later that evening the predictable happened… again. This was now too much. Off to hospital we went. A long night was ahead. The first hospital decided I was too much for them (do you see a pattern emerging here) and I was transferred to QEH, the main on the Island. The guess was that I had burst a blood vessel most probably due to too much time in the sun and not wearing a hat. The ENT specialist there poked all sorts of things up my nose in-between my nose flowing like a river and me spitting the stuff that hadn’t come down my nose, out of my mouth. Sorry to be graphic. I never knew things could travel so far up the nose. The doctor used some technical word for the procedure he’d done but essentially he just grabbed a bag of cotton wool and kept pushing it up my nose, causing a lot of pain, until it was full. With no form of entertainment 4 very long and tedious days eventually passed and apart from hearing a contender for the worlds loudest snorer, who of course was sat next to me, nothing much else happened. My nose was cleared and I was discharged – about half a stone lighter thanks to being on IV fluids and banned from eating or drinking for the entire time.

Finally I would just like to thank everyone who assisted me over the last week. From Russ (our mentor) who was a massive help, especially on Monday night, driving me up and down the island and acting as an unofficial doctor, the staff at Grantley Adams Memorial School, my host family who are taking great care of me and all the doctors and nurses who treated me. I do appreciate it, even though I probably didn’t show it at the time!

So I’m now home, signed off for a week, with too much time on my hands, in Barbados and I’m not allowed out in the sun. Brilliant.

Lesson be learnt – Always wear a hat in the sun.