It’s always a pleasure to go to Puerto Vallarta, even with an injury. My friends have a lovely house there and they take good care of me. My mate had an accident on his motorbike two years ago and damaged his shoulder so was able to organise all the people I needed to see. I had to have a CAT scan and an MRI and Xrays but this town is set up as a medical tourism town for North Americans, so it was all easy, well priced and basically no waiting.

I discovered that after several decades of crawling around in tight spaces with my work I am actually claustrophobic and just couldn’t handle going into the MRI machine. I was able to opt for getting put to sleep for the process. Not cheap but I needed to do it. It was about $400AUD for the hospital stuff and then $200AUD in CASH, for the anaesthetist. After all this I ended up with lots of nice pictures and a diagnosis that I had two broken bits and would have to wait 3 more weeks for the swelling to go down to decide what to do. But it looked like I would need surgery. And I had to wear the sling for another 3 weeks. He also gave me a few pain killers but wasn’t overly generous with them. My pain level was about a 3 out of 10, unless I knocked it or rolled onto it in the night and it was up to about 7/10.

I tried to make the most of my time in Mexico and tried to keep up my fitness. I wandered into town most days once the swelling had gone down in my foot. There was a gay Mardi Gras Parade one day which was interesting.

I was also having dialogue with my insurance company who were very concerned and helpful, despite me having the accident in Venezuela, a country where I wasn’t covered. I was looked after really well but at a loss as to what to do next. And annoyed with myself. While I was waiting for the three weeks my sister called and said my mum wasn’t well and was in hospital. It didn’t sound great. I was starting to lean towards going back to Australia by this stage. When I finally saw the shoulder surgeon again, he said there was a 90% chance I’d need surgery, but it would be another six weeks before the bones had healed enough and the swelling dissipated. And surgery was about $18,000AUD. I decided to go home.

I bought the next, cheapest ticket home via LA and then the insurance company, to everyone’s surprise, said that it was unsuitable and upgraded me to a Qantas Premium Economy flight. I just went with the flow. I must say it was very nice and way more comfortable for my arm and shoulder.

Suddenly I was back in Australia. And it was cold in Ballarat. Cold like it was when I was younger and decided there must be somewhere warmer.

And then started the process of getting my shoulder sorted. I don’t have any private health insurance, mainly because I’m rarely in Australia. So, with a combination of Medicare and private appointments I ended up seeing a well recommended shoulder surgeon. But first I had to do another MRI. And there’s no dodgy cash only anaesthetists in Australia. I was fortunate that the hospital in Ballarat has one slightly larger MRI machine and I was able to take a sedative to relax me and so I was able to get the job done. In Australia it costs about $900AUD but Medicare pays you back about $600.

The surgeon was great and was probably more excited about my trip than my shoulder. As was the physio. I think most of their patients my age have a fall and break stuff. Not get hit by a bus while riding a motorbike in Venezuela. His diagnosis. He said the main problem was that I had Post Traumatic Frozen Shoulder. My arm and shoulder had made a pact to never allow anything like that to happen again and had just locked up and it would take 12 to 18 months to regain full movement again. He said I had broken a piece off the end the ball of my arm and a piece of the bottom of the socket that it sits in. His recommendation was that it was healing well and that I didn’t really need surgery. He suggested getting a Hydrodilation injection under a CAT scan and have physiotherapy. And be patient. I did get the injection, and while it didn’t give me much more movement, it did take the pressure off and took the constant pain away which I was grateful for.

So it looked like I wasn’t heading back to get my bike any time soon. I was home about 2 months earlier than I had planned and in the end that was a good thing because my mum got gradually worse and between hospital, nursing home respite, and rehab, she eventually deteriorated and finally passed away. It was very sad but happened quickly in the scheme of things and we were all with her when she went. She didn’t quite make 90. We had a nice service for her, and I was able to catch up with a lot of friends and family that I hadn’t seen for a long time. She’s now back together with my dad.

I was in contact with people in Venezuela and Colombia, about my bike and conscious of the fact that the bike and all my gear was in some guys workshop. He sent me a message saying that the repairs to the bike would be about $1000AUD and I asked him to go ahead with it. Payment was a problem but he said I could pay when I got there.

My treatment was coming along okay but slow. In the end I just decided to pick a date to fly back and sort it all out. October the 13^th had a flight from Melbourne to LA with Fiji Airways for $560, so I jumped on that one. Later I managed to find another flight from LA to Panama and direct to Cucuta in Colombia where my bike was. It was about $450AUD and only 10 hours. So in total about 29 hours of flying and transfers. With a 3 day stop over in LA.

So over the next few months I managed to go to the farm and catch up with my other mum and brother. I was able to be a bit useful. Occasionally. I could lend a hand. But just the one.

I got up to Broome for a while and enjoyed the sunshine for a few weeks. I did some jobs around the house and ate a few pies and caught up with a few friends. I also rode the scooter, to work on my injury a bit. And more physio.

Ballarat in winter was bitterly cold but I got to spend some nice time with my daughters and won lots of games of Rhumikub. And walked around Lake Wendouree almost everyday.

I was able to catch up with lots of Victorian friends, family, and neighbours and a few others as well.

I helped the family clean out and sort my mums house which will be sold. I was glad to be around to be able to help out with that. I also had to make sure all my stuff was packed away and stored elsewhere because there’s a good chance the house will be sold before I get back. Mum and dad built the house 65 years ago and you collect a lot of treasures in that time. It’s sad to think when I return home from my trip that niether mum or the house will be there. Sad.

I continued on with my physio and exercises but it’s a lot slower than I would like but it is improving. I’m sure I’ll be fine to ride a bike again when I get there. And if not, I’ll just sell it and get all my gear and come home. The 13^th of October came around so quickly. Why did I pick the 13^th?