Another week passed and a lot happened. First I visited the hospital another 2 times. The first time in the beginning of the week. The fever that I mentioned in my previous update didn’t go down and it felt as if my body was not able the ‘win the fight’ on its own. After a consult with the department  that treated me, they have extended my medication with another 2 weeks. So instead of one week intravenous antiviral medication plus one week of pills, I now have a double dose. That should do the the job. The hospital checked my kidney function just in case, but that  should be able to handle the additional medicines. My fever went down again ad I feel much better.

The second time I went to the hospital was toward the end of the week. My eye was hurting and sleep was not possible. Again several checks to see if there is something in my eye, or if there is some kind of damage to the tissue. The verdict is that my eye is very dry and I should moisture it every hour. I have been doing so over the last couple of days and it has improved but its far from ideal. I cannot lay down on the right side of my face or on the back. On the right side it feels like my skull is burning and if I lay on the the back, it is painful. Together with the ongoing pressure on my eye, paracetamol is my next best friend. I am the most boring and grumpy travelling companion Ingrid has had for many years. I cannot read, cannot properly sleep and typing an update like this takes me hours. Living the dream…

So much for the complaining. In the mean time Ingrid arrived with our RV. We stayed with Ronny and Josephien for another four great days before we said goodbye last Saturday. As you all know they have really helped me out and I am more than thankful. We developed more than friendship and shared laughs and tears together. The good-bye was emotional as well but we have to head back. We have now travelled around 300 kilometres and nurse Ingrid is taking excellent care of me. She picked some amazing spots for the night, stops at great places for a caffe latte and helps me with my medication and eye creams. We also took gas at a local Route 66 cafe. Country and western music was playing and several American cars were showing of. The owners were in the clubhouse/ caffe. I bought a ‘pirate cap’ today to shield the eye from the direct sun. I went to a pharmacy and described the problem. And in her best English the pharmacist  said that I need a pirate cap. Beautiful sight but I believe it gives my eye some rest.

The decision is made to ship the motorcycle back to The Netherlands. I don’t feel confident that I will be able to fly in a few months and drive it back. A company will pick it up at Ronny’s place probably next week.

Yesterday we stayed close to the sea and this evening we camp inland at a large but cold lake. The sunshine was a pleasant feeling after the cold water.