Day 1 Sept 28 – Thursday – Ferrol
We made it! Margaret and I took the train from Madrid to Ferrol!
It is no small feat if you are handicapped, even if your handicap is invisible. I was grateful for the elevators, when present. But boy howdy! Getting down the multiple stairs to the metro with a suitcase was not easy!
I am envious of all who CAN carry all they need in a backpack. I am grateful that despite the difficulties, I CAN make the hike over to the train.
We got up early. Since we aren’t really sleeping deeply it’s hard to tell if it’s early, but even so – it seemed early. We packed up the last of everything, cleaned up and headed out. It was still dark.
We got to the subway station down the road and there were 3 sets of stairs leading down. It was a huge amount of effort to get my heavy bag down the stairs. Then we had to walk, dragging luggage behind, for about a mile. Yeah, the subway took us a long distance, but every non-subway moment I was lugging a ton of pounds of luggage using one side of my body or the other. My back hurt from this by the time we got off the subway.
We had a long walk over broken concrete to get to the train station. We got there and could see the train to Ferrol listed, but no gate. It was 7:30 AM; the time they were supposed to list the gate. We had to go through baggage security then go to a different waiting. And we waited and waited. There must’ve been 100 people standing around looking at the boards. Occasionally a group of 40 would exit all together for a gate. I think it was around 8:10 when the gate was finally listed for the Ferrol train.
I have to say we had very nice seats, much more spacious than the regular area. Margaret spent some time telling me the story of her whole family, going back generations – fascinating!
The landscape was interesting. As we left the city it was arid scrub land, which then turned into an ecosystem much like south Texas: scrub & mesquite turned to yellow grass and low round trees in the draws. The trees increased, then they became forests, and soon we were in forests like Flagstaff Arizona. Soon, we were in very green mountainous country. The cities, which I expected to be small town were quite large and most were industrial looking. We went to A Coruña and then backed back out and around the coves to Ferrol. I loved looking at the areas in which we would soon walk. I saw the big hill outside of Pontedueme. Yeah – not climbing that!
I had a fair amount of heart pain in the morning, so I put on a nitro patch. That reduced the pain to an acceptable amount.
I was also feeling a bit off emotionally, because of some comments on my posts: things like telling me I shouldn’t skip any of it, that the whole point was to carry all my stuff, that I shouldn’t worry, just carry me stuff and drink wine and meet people, and that I shouldn’t post at all because I was self-promoting. Yadayadayada…
We got out at Ferrol. I saw a few other peregrinos. Some were young and marched off as if they knew what they were doing. Others were older; but they too appeared to know what they were doing – and their packs were small. (They weren’t lugging a suitcase behind them!)
We, on the other hand, didn’t know what the heck was going on. As soon as we got outside the train station, we started to head to the wrong bus stop. Fortunately, we stopped and used our phone for directions and turned around – just as the younger folk were coming back from the wrong bus station. (I didn’t feel quite so clueless anymore.)
The pictures I’d seen of Hotel America’s outside did not make it seem attractive, despite nice inside pictures. I picked it because it was in the right spot to hike 2 miles the first day, then to the hotel for the night, then hike the rest of the way to Xubia the next day, breaking up our start into small pieces. In case I couldn’t do the hike at all.
Hotels generally, all have nice ‘inside’ pictures, but that doesn’t make them nice. Well, Hotel America was nice! It was clean, well painted, well lit, light colors and the hosts were so friendly. The woman checking us in was Emily and she had grown up in the USA, partially. We told her out plan to check in eat then go walk the Camino from the starting point back to the hotel. She said that was a great idea! She was just so encouraging.
It was then time to go up a flight and a half of stairs to our rooms. I just couldn’t do it. I was going to, but Emily, the hotel owner, said she would carry my bags up. I declined. But when I got to the stairs without the bags – I just couldn’t. I was still having a bit of chest pain, despite the nitro patch. So, I let her carry my suitcase up.
I felt like such an imposter!!!
Not only did I need my bags be carried up the stairs; I also needed them to be transported from accommodation to accommodation. I was a loser and wasn’t doing any ‘good; for the world,’ wasn’t helping people by raising awareness of Coronary Microvascular Disorders (CMD). I was just a bellybutton gazer, a self-enamored, self-promoting, mirror-gazing stupid-head. (Man, my inner critic was having a day!)
Well, I tried to let that go.
We’d replanned our day around the Spanish clock, eating while the restaurants were open in the afternoon (instead of hiking when planned), then going to the Tourist office at start of the Camino at 4:00PM when it opened.
Since it was afternoon, we decided to eat during the Spanish lunch. We went to a very nice restaurant: Taberna o Tristan (I think). Margaret got a large salad and I got a smaller salad and some parrochitas – whole fish in the sardine family, fried.
Our salads were both the same size and delicious. I realized then why oil and vinegar dressing became popular. They had drenched the lettuce with olive oil, applied just the right amount of vinegar and topped it off with the perfect amount of salt. The fried whole fish – well I ate them, because I am brave, and because I ordered them. They were fine, but I declined taking them home. Like French Fries, I can’t imagine they would be better after cooling and sitting for hours.
Unfortunately, I had taken my diuretic (for my pitting edema from heart failure associated with CMD). It was a day the diuretic lasted forever! Hours and hours later, I was still peeing. I peed every 5 minutes through dinner and the same for several hours after our return to the hotel.
I think I was not having a good day; tired and over stimulated. I kept forgetting and losing things. However, I did want to go for our hike and if I didn’t stop peeing soon, we would miss getting Margaret a Credential and maybe not even hike today.
Finally, I felt the end of the diuresis come and we left for the port area where the tourist office is located. Of course, we got lost. There is all this construction (have I mentioned this?) and our bus stop was a temporary unmarked one. Well, we didn’t know this and hiked all over looking for it. We made it to the bus, then walked all over the place using Apple Maps, trying to find the tourist office. Turns out the bus dropped us right in front of it and we’d walked away looking for it!
It was now 6 pm. Fortunately, the office was open 4:30 until 6:30pm. Margaret got a credential! It is SO much cooler than mine…but heavier. I declined to get a new one because it was ‘heavy.’ (Ha-ha! Yet I am carrying two bell pepper which I can’t bear to throw out uneaten!)
I used a restroom and then we set out. I was so very thirsty, but scared if I drank anything, I would have to find a restroom in the middle of the city. I never have luck with that, so I walked on and tried to ignore my thirst.
It had cooled off slightly and there was a great offshore breeze to cool things down. We started up the narrow village type street, only to meet the ubiquitous loud construction. In one area they had huge holes dug out of the walkways and covered with narrow tippy boards. I would hate for my grandma to live outside of that mess!
We walked through the city as the folks started to come out to meet up and enjoy the evening. It was kind of nice, though it was still loud and still city. It was a very pleasant time of day to do some good walking.
Soon, we started curving away from the city part of the city. This is a mixed blessing. It was greener and we could find soft areas to walk on. The city streets are flagstone, the walkways, cobbled, and they all are made of stone in an array of patterns. These hard underfoot and make steps hard to see. It was hard for me due to overstimulating the visual areas of my brains which are still turn into Swiss cheese under duress: A gift from covid.
The down side is that apparently one can go into the bars to use the restroom, and there would be no bars, hence no more restrooms. Turns out, that would be okay, because once the medication wore off, I would pee no more all night…. Because I was also now dehydrated. Fun times here – trying to balance between edema and heart failure!
It was much quieter and more pleasant. I felt like I could do it; walk the Camino. I was doing it. I was doing the Camino. My heart wasn’t keeping me for doing this walk, which turned out to feel a lot longer than we expected! It was not 2 miles, but it was 3.3 according to our watches.
We got to the hotel and I climbed the stairs and guess what? I did not feel like an imposter!
I felt like a peregrina!
~
On my walk I thought about what ‘stuff’ I was carrying and compared it to carrying all your own gear. I have done that.
I hiked the entire Appalachian Trail (AT) – and I carried all my gear. And my dog’s gear.
I’ve hiked on the A.T. and carried all my gear, all my daughter’s gear, and all the dog’s gear.
I know how to do that. I’m not missing that experience in my life.
Now, I am carrying other burdens: a heart that can’t do all its work, heart blood vessels that can’t dilate, but often constrict blocking my blood flow. I am carrying a medical alert card and medical alert bracelet, nitroglycerin tablets in a waterproof necklace I wear 24/7, and nitroglycerin patches. I am carrying an inhaler, just to get more oxygen to my poor heart (and due to all the smokers around), medication to manage out of control post covid allergies (take 20 minutes before eating – yeah, right!), as well as the regular daypack gear (rain jacket, sun hat, water, snacks, lunch…)
Though it is not on my back, I also need my CPAP machine (and all its assorted hoses, masks, and cords), sterile water for said CPAP (water is heavy), a nebulizer and its solution, and several large bags of medications. Over half the volume of my suitcase is filled with crap I wish I didn’t have to haul, but which I need.
I am also carrying the knowledge that I have a limited, very limited time during which this kind of physical endeavor is within the realm of possibility – if I have the support (medical and otherwise) I need.
Oh! To once again have the luxury of being young and healthy!
Well – I don’t. But that “ain’t gonna stop me!”
Tonight – I will go to bed knowing I am a winner, not an imposter.
CMD Info:
I could not walk 1/2 mile before my diagnosis and medication. See video #3 what the Heck are Coronary Microvascular Disorders or visit INOCA international for more information.
Coronary Microvascular Dysfunction is primarily suffered by women, in menopause, though younger people and men can also get it. It causes chest pain, not unlike that of a heart attack, the pain can go on for moments or weeks or months.
Normal diagnostics will come back normal. A special test, a provocation angiogram with acetylcholine challenge is required. A normal angiogram will not pick this disease up. These tests are only done at about 20 hospitals in the USA. Patients can be told their heart is fine, despite great suffering.
The first step in getting a diagnosis is to go to the ER when chest pain presents. The ER screening for typical chest pain causes is vital. However, don’t give up if answers are not found. Getting a diagnosis, and the correct medication is vital.
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