PITA recovery

Hi BoBbers,

After Ouarzazat, we rode to Agadir, where Alice as going to stop and volunteer while I rode south to the border with Mauritania. I was looking forward to really pushing myself and testing my fitness. By the second morning of riding I had a fever and noticed a painful lump on the inside of my bum cheek. Instead of riding further, I decided to catch the bus to Agadir, sweating and feverish for the whole 5 hour trip. I went straight to the clinic and was told to take antibiotics and wait for five days before it could be drained. The three most painful days of my life followed. I couldn’t sit, lie down or stand without intense pain. I was prescribed opiates for the pain which also cause constipation. I won’t go into more detail.

The abscess burst early and I ended up in the clinic. I was taken immediately into surgery, put into a maternity bed, with stirrups and a curtain, then given an epidural with zero forewarning. As they began surgery a newborn baby screamed from the theatre next door - my own little childbirth experience.

The next two days were hell, being “cared” for by staff that seemed to either ignore or actively dislike me. My dressings weren’t changed until we asked and my sheets were covered in blood. They brought antibiotics for me only when we asked. It was supposed to be a day procedure but the surgeon didn’t come to see me until the next morning, so I had to stay the night. The clinic kept no records (their invoice hilariously itemised the entire procedure and inpatient stay as a single word “abscess”), so I’m unlikely to get my money back from my health insurance.

I’ve spent the last few weeks relaxing and recovering, first from the surgery, then from a case of what I think was gout - also extremely painful. I moved from Agadir to a quieter beach town called Tamaraght and now am in Essaouira. And voilÃ , we’re up to the present. I’m planning to do a big hike in the Atlas mountains while I wait. I’ve been languishing a bit in Tamaraght and craving a bit of adventure. Hopefully, I’ll be ready to ride again in a couple of weeks, inshallah (god willing).

J&BoB