I’ve had a bit of a shitty week and hopefully its all due to come to an end tomorrow as I’m off to Lisbon to see my parents. Its been a while!
I should have known on Sunday evening that I was going to be in for a cracker of a week, as Hubby & I were invited round to my neighbours for dinner. All started well, until I learned that we were going to be eating my two most feared foods:
1) Magret de canard (duck): I actually like duck but others always cook it bloody and I then have to negotiate not eating it or slipping it to my hubby for him to eat.
2) Fondue! I have not eaten this since my Fondue incident at the beginning of February and everyday I live with a reminder in terms of a big red scar on my hand…
I should have taken these signs as a bad omen and cancelled all the rest of my plans for the week…
Roll on Tuesday and I had an important work meeting. By Tuesday night I was exhausted and I nearly passed out on the motorway whilst on the way to the airport. Pretty scary stuff I can tell you as I couldn’t breath and began violently shaking. I just about managed to pull over onto the hard shoulder and then my poor passenger had to drive my right hand car to the airport with me just about managing to give directions! He should have read my driving tips!
At the medical centre in the airport I met the nicest Nurse and Doctor I’ve ever met, and even though my blood pressure was in free fall they were really lovely and never once made me repeat myself. When I felt better I realised that they probably hadn’t been able to understand a word of what I’d been telling them about my symptoms (try speaking French when you’re hyperventilating!) and yet they were professional and didn’t sneer like most people do.
They even managed to save me 160 Euros on the short-term car parking as apparently I’d got my colleague to park it in there at some silly price like 2 Euros a minute! Thankfully the nice Nurse sorted it out and she saved me a lot otherwise that would have been the cherry on the cake.
Then on Wednesday, hubby made me an appointment with my new doctor (who is lovely, speaks English even though we always speak in French, and used to work in Japan). Worryingly he didn’t even have to give my name for the appointment as apparently I’ve been there so much in the last month that I will soon qualify for a Frequent Visitor loyalty card (LOL). I patiently waited for the appointment time to come and battled my way through the maze of intricately guarded Interphone and front door systems, only for me to get there at said appointment time to find a note on the door to say that they had to cancel and had tried calling me but couldn’t get through. Oh yes, we had broken the telephone, I’d forgotten about that!
So now we’re Thursday and I’m just getting through the day, slowly but surely… It’ll be Friday soon and I’ll be on my way to Lisbon and hopefully getting some sun… Or, knowing my luck it will pee down all weekend!!!
Oh. My. Goodness!!!
It sounds like you need a break, m’dear, and I hope Lisbon will be the ticket to a bit of respite.
I can understand your food fears, for many reasons, lol! But yes, bloody magret de canard would be, ugh, awful. I love duck, and the cut of breast that is magret, but I cook it until it is DONE, thankyouverymuch, and then with a bit of salt, it is terrific! Be careful with the fondue fork, is all I can say about the other!
Just because I have read about it a lot, I thought I would say that low blood pressure and an incident such as what you have could be a bit of adrenal gland fatigue. It is a bit of a non-mainstream concept, adrenal fatigue; on the other hand, some doctors are recognizing that there may be merit to the idea. It generally means that you are too stressed out, eh? And you may need to make some changes to diet and sleep patterns. Not trying to be a mum here, but just speaking from a lot of experience. Too much. *sigh* Anyways, I really do hope that you can get the care that you need. I am so excited about the new doctor! I hope that he is cutting-edge and well-informed as well as an English speaker! I am so sorry that after all that hassle that you could not get in to see him, though! How frustrating…
Happy travels to you, and I hope the weather will be good. We could all use some more sunshine, I think, don’t you?
Take care of yourself, Piglet.
Karin
Thanks Karin! I am certainly going to ask my doc about this as it makes sense and I’ve looked up the symptoms etc and I have a lot of them! Thank you so much, I really hope they can diagnose something as I’m feeling so crappy at the moment… Been a bit stressed for the last two years really! Ever since the recession hit I suppose!
I dared to ask my neighbour about cooking the magret properly and got a barrel load of “you can’t do that, would be insulting to the duck”… whatever! In the end my husband saved the day and said that neighbours wife couldn’t eat it if wasn’t cooked as she’s pregnant so… he cooked it!! ha ha ha! Not for me mind, but I was happy to benefit
Lets do a sun dance this afternoon hein?
I hope that what ails you can be diagnosed, too, Piglet.
I don’t know how your new doc will feel about “adrenal fatigue” (some doctors feel it is nonsense), so if he pooh-poohs the idea, don’t be surprised. Still, everything I have read from the doctors who do find it a legitimate diagnosis, as well as people who say they have it (like this woman’s story here: http://www.organicthrifty.com/2010/02/10/celestes-story-part-1recovering-from-adrenal-fatigue/), it really does sound like it could be one of the things that is going on with you.
I hope that you can get to the bottom of it, though, as it is no fun to have things going on like this! Also, not to harp on it too much, but if a lot of fatigue and malaise are part of your problem, and/or if you come up as having anemia, have them check you out for Celiac Disease, too. There is a blood test they can start with to see if you have antibodies for wheat gluten, and if you do, it may mean that you have Celiac.
Anyways, if you need more info, let me know. I have too much information on this stuff, lol.
All this talk about duck has made me crave it, lol! I think I am going to have to go buy one and overcook it today, ha! It is funny, though: I read the package instructions on the magret I last bought, and it said to only cook it something like 4-5 minutes per side, starting with the fatty side. I followed the directions at first, but when I cut into it, I thought “Ew!” and let it go double the time, haha! I sure did insult the duck!
Also, though, my American friend about had a cow in her kitchen when I took a magret she had and started slicing it, Chinese-style, to put in a stir fry. I was cutting off a lot of the fat, and even she was all like, “That is NOT done! Oh! I can’t watch!” Hahaha! I think she has lived in France too long, lol. I, however, am turning into a Duck Abuser. Heh.
Sun dance, indeed! It’s actually a bit sunny today in Paris, for now. Still too chilly for me, though. I’ll contemplate getting that duck in another couple of hours, hopefully when it is warmer outside! I probably could use a dose of Vitamin D.
Take care, Piglet.
Hi Karin
Thanks for all your helpful advice, its really kind of you and I really appreciate it. My doctor was really good and patient and didn’t boo hoo anything so I’m really pleased that he’s going to help me get to the bottom of it.
He’s prescribed me a whole list of blood tests which I’m having done tomorrow so hopefully I’ll get the results fairly quick.
Gluten makes me swell up like a balloon so who knows, maybe its related? I definitely think a change of diet will be called for whatever the outcome!
I hope you made it out whilst it was sunny and got the duck and then proceeded in insulting it correctly!! LOL
Oh dear. A bad week indeed! Sorry to hear it. Hope Lisbon provides the respite you need. (I LOVE Lisbon. I keep going to places and wondering, why couldn’t I have fallen in love THERE
).
Rest up and take care of yourself!
Thanks for your kind words! Lisbon was great, what a fantastic city! I wished I’d had more time to explore but I will definitely be going back! THANK YOU EASYJET FOR MAKING IT POSSIBLE TO TRAVEL TO GREAT CITIES LIKE LISBON FOR NEXT TO NOTHING!