After Wayne’s sister had returned to the UK, we were preparing the house we were sitting near Lagos for potential viewings as the villa was going to be put on the market. It was very enjoyable to finally get out and do some walks and outdoor activities plus some tidying now the weather had improved. And before long we had received notice of some people that were interested in looking at the property.
It was on this particular day that Wayne was out in the garden looking after the dogs while Netty was in the house showing the agent and her clients around when she had a bit of an accident. She had lost her balance when closing a door to a small store room. There were steps down into the room and she misplaced her footing and fell into the room. Not a terribly long fall, but she had landed very awkwardly. It was clear something was wrong as she couldn’t move her arm to get up and it quickly started to get very painful.
It was at this point the estate agent quickly phoned for an ambulance and the volunteer bombeiros ambulance arrived very quickly. This was all down to the agent being portuguese. It doesn’t bear thinking how long it would have taken if she had not been there! They managed to get Annette upright, put a field arm support onto her and headed off to the nearest hospital about fifteen minutes away in Portimão. (Annette later spoke of the harrowing trip to the hospital. They weren’t paramedics, so couldn’t give her pain relief, and they never strapped her in while blue-lighting her to the hospital). After quite a few hours wait at the very busy emergency wing of the hospital, she was finally taken in for an X-ray. This showed she had broken her arm in two places. This meant she needed some more scans and X-rays to establish the extent of the damage. It became clear that her upper arm fracture was quite serious and meant she needed surgery, and that the lower arm fracture needed a cast to stabilize her arm and wrist. It also meant a lengthy wait for the operation too, because they have to give the upper arm time to hang and for the swelling to go down before they can operate.
This meant she would have to stay in hospital for about two weeks! That also meant Wayne was now solo sitting until Netty could have the operation and was cleared to leave. Wayne still had several days left near Lagos, so got the house tidied and the dogs sorted during those days, whilst also visiting Netty each day. He then had to leave her at Portimão and heading over towards Loulé, leaving her going stir crazy in Portimão!
As we had sat for the villa and it’s pets before, Wayne was quickly up to speed. Herbie was still honking with an intermittent throat issue and was just getting over a tick infection, so was a bit more subdued than the last visit. Picolé, however, was much more social than last time, even though he still wouldn’t let you touch him, he was a constant companion and shadow when out in the garden. There was also a new member in the household. Jerry the cat, which during our last visit would run a mile if you looked at him, as he was feral, was now very much a house cat that loved to be fussed over. A complete transformation!
Eventually, Annette was released from the hospital after a successful surgery to pin her fractured bones. The stay in hospital was not without incidents though. Some of the orderly’s (as we weren’t convinced they were properly trained), would say they needed to do something, saw she had a cast on her arm and pulled it out not realizing the upper arm was fractured causing serious pain for Netty, and also made her use the shower when it was still dirty (and I am talking covered in excrement, from a previous patient). It wasn’t all doom and gloom though, as many of the carers were very gentle and understanding, and she got plenty of visits from Wayne who kept her spirits up and supplied with clean clothes and anything else she needed.
The weather at Loulé was lovely and warm and the showers were large and with plenty of hot water provided free by the owners fantastic solar system which also rand the underfloor heating which was bliss! Annette was so happy to have a comfortable and tranquil place to relax. We even managed a trip to Loulé where we got her dressing changed at the local private hospital and even managed a walk around IKEA!
Small steps, but she is much better and on the mend!
Our Portuguese Life 