sportpix

With the kind help of my rescuers we looked into swapping to a private hospital, and the cost for the surgery was suggest at between 4k and 8k euro, however this was for "basic" surgery. Further investigation showed that my injury was anything but "basic" and that the in-patient daily hospital fee was around 1k euro. Plus, plus and plus. Once I was told my surgery was going ahead and when it would be I decided to just wait it out.
I'm not sure how old Portimao hospital is but it's long overdue for renovation. Having said that, the medical machinery for X-ray, CT Scans etc was top notch European brands. When I was wheeled into the operating theatre I thought I was on a spaceship. This once again was all shiny stainless steel hi-tech equipment and operated by a team of generally young but clearly very experienced people.
The one real bugbear I had was with the hospital bed, which was an old mechanical one, so to move it into the various positions to elevate the leg required me to ring a bell and someone to come and crank a lever to effect the change. There were three beds in my ward, and the other two beds were electronic, which meant that the occupants could angle them how they wanted to be comfortable. After three days one of the guys left and I asked if I could move into his electronic bed. The answer was no. When I asked why the nurse said that they had to "covid clean" the empty bed for the next patient, and if I moved they would have to do the same with mine. So...?
Anyway, later that day the surgeon came round to see how I was and to tell me that surgery would be on the Sunday or Monday, and he then told me I didn't have my leg elevated high enough to bring down the swelling. I suggested to him that if I were allowed to move into the empty electronic bed I could do this myself easily and would be able to keep the leg where it needed to be. He said he would go and ask if this could be done and then left. The next day I told the nurse that the doctor had asked if I could switch beds but she said that the ward manager had refused! That bed sat idle for four more days before another warm body moved into it. After the operation I was allowed to go out into the corridor on a wheelchair to get some exercise and I saw that there were lots of empty (electronic) beds parked up all around the lift lobby.
My cast is on the back and sides of the leg and the front is open but obviously bandaged.
When I got home I found I had received a letter from the social security office telling me they wanted another document to complete the S1 stuff that has been dragging on for weeks and that I had 10 days from the date of the letter to submit the document otherwise the whole thing will be cancelled. The 10 days passed while I was in hospital so I have no idea what to do about it now. This is highly irritating as they kept me waiting ages to get an appointment to submit the docs they needed but didn't tell me what they were and then when I didn't take them on that first visit they again kept me waiting ages to be able to go back and submit what they needed. Why couldn't they just ring me instead of telling me I've got 10 days to produce this document? What if I'd been on holiday? What if I'd been in hospital...? I was.
Thanks again to the many messages of support. They are much appreciated, Richard

Xisle

Having spent the past 50 years traveling,I have a lifetime of cherished memories based on the humanity and goodwill of people I have encountered.This has sometimes required a leap of faith on my behalf,but the rewards have been immeasurable.From my first hitch hiking adventure (which the thought of frightens me today !) across Northern Europe,I learned at an early age to dismiss indoctrinated,pre conceived stereotypes , embrace our differences and learn from them.Yes I was a naive and innocent teenager,but hopefully I’m a more astute and rounded adult for it.
Your experience and pain is your gain.Wishing you a speedy and full recovery.