Dalyan – 15th & 16th September

It should have been my last painkiller on Monday 15th September but, as advised by the doctor, I started my next packet. This meant I was affected by them and not 100% focused. I had to also make sure I wrote everything down so that I didn’t forget or get distracted with all my daily tasks, which were mounting up. Ironically, I was starting to get busier and had several ongoing enquiries to deal with at once. My bad foot had started to have dry skin/peeling directly where the fracture was which was weird.
I had beans on toast followed by figs and nectarines for brunch. I drank lots of water and herbal tea too.
In the evening, I was asked to meet my parents and The Aussies so I decided to combine them together and suggested Lukka bar, with it being my nearest place. I ordered a vanilla milkshake thinking the calcium in the milk would do me good but it probably wouldn’t make a difference due to the sugar in it. Greg turned up without Amanda because she hadn’t been feeling well. I had another 2 drinks of soda water so my bill came to 500 lira (£9.09) including a small tip so wasn’t bad for an alcohol free night.
We said bye to Greg, who was off to get a kebab before going to check on his wife.
I was on my way home to eat when my parents convinced me to join them at Duble and the thought of a good chicken soup sounded lovely. Ibo, the owner, had chicken soup on tonight so we ordered 3 and it did not disappoint. I had prawns for my main which came with chips and salad. The meal was very nice and, of course, I didn’t drink wine with my parents – just water. When we came to pay the bill, my parents insisted on paying which was lovely. They also walked me back home as the automatic light on the stairs doesn’t stay on long enough for me to get up them safely.

Gratitude List
1. Painkillers
2. Milkshake
3. An impromptu meal out with my parents.

It was a very busy day on Tuesday 16th September and, if I’m honest, I was struggling with the pain. It was also very hot despite having the AC on and I’d not been able to attempt doing any hoovering or laundry yet as I couldn’t carry the hoover or the laundry basket to hang it out very easily. So the chores were mounting up and the house looked a bit messy, which bothered me as I like to keep things neat.
I warmed up some chickpea and spinach curry for a very late lunch at 3pm and had to prop my foot up and ice it around 6pm. I finally ate a beef stew that I’d thrown in to the slow cooker, around 8.30pm and almost fell asleep on the sofa shortly after.

Gratitude List
1. Batch cooking food
2. Having a slow cooker
3. Resting

Dalyan – 13th & 14th September

It was market day on Saturday 13th September and I’d offers from a few people to get me some shopping in, should I need it. I was running low on a few items so I asked Debbie if she would mind grabbing me some items. I spared my parents having to carry their own stuff and mine but did ask if they would get me some items from the shop, including a wholemeal sliced loaf for toast.
The water man came and, luckily, he always brings it upstairs and replaces it in the cooler, all for 100 lira (£1.82). Debbie arrived in the afternoon and brought me nectarines & onions from the market, figs from the garden and a Dido chocolate bar and some homemade cookies. It was a lovely treat and we sat and had a good natter over a cup of tea. I should send her to the market more often as it came to less than 100 lira. My parents arrived with shopping and it was hot outside as Dad moaned about Mom forgetting the shopping list. Ma bought me a loaf, a whole chicken and some cheese spread. They didn’t stay as they were a bit out of sorts with the heat, and Dad didn’t even notice Debbie was there.
That evening, I made a chickpea and spinach curry with steamed rice, which was very tasty and had spare for the fridge/freezer. I also had some naan bread in the freezer which I had to go with it.

Gratitude List
1. Having people who were able to go shopping and to the market for me
2. Tea and a chat with Debbie
3. Curry for dinner.

I’d toyed with the idea of inviting my parents round for a Sunday dinner on Sunday 14th September, not quite sure if I could hobble about long enough to cater. They had been here a week already and I’d only seen them twice. It turned out they were busy when I asked if they had plans but I decided if I cooked a roast chicken anyway, it would make me quite a few meals for the week.
I had fresh figs, nectarines and cheese for breakfast, which was delightful. I had beans on toast for lunch and then excelled myself on the roast dinner – I even did stuffing (but no Yorkshire puddings).
It tasted lovely but I think I’d overdone it as the washing up took longer than I thought and my foot hurt a lot. By the time I spoke to Captain Caveman at 8pm I was tired, in pain and emotional. He reminded me that it was not even 2 weeks since I broke 2 bones in my foot and that I needed more rest.

Gratitude List
1. Having nice food
2. Being able to cook for myself still
3. Knowing that things could be a lot worse and I would get better soon.

Dalyan & Ortaca – 12th September

On Friday 12th September I was due back at the Yucelen Hospital for my first check up. It had been 8 days since I was there and the conditions of the insurance policy state that you have to go before 10 days, so I was early due to it being a weekend. Jamie had kindly agreed to drop me off and pick me back up, as he was nipping in to Ortaca anyway. He brought Norman, the dog, and he dropped me off around 11am. This time, Umut the translator wasn’t there so I went to the osteopathic doctor first. He looked at my foot, looked confused and sent me to the pay desk then for another x-ray. I walked to each, and was surprised at how well I managed to not slip on the floor that was being buffed directly in front of me by an oblivious employee. At the pay desk reception I was asked if I had all my insurance documents and asked by a female translator if I’d got a copy of my statement of what happened to injure my foot. I didn’t as I’d never had one so she helped me with what to write and the translation in to Turkish. I then paid 1559.84 lira (£28.36) for my consultation and 2nd x-ray. The x-ray concluded it was still broken and the doctor then told me I should not be walking on it, or swimming and that I needed to keep my foot up and rest it! I was to only remove my brace to shower and to sleep with it on – I hadn’t been! The walking in the hospital wasn’t helping! He said it could take 3 – 6 weeks to heal but I needed to come back in another 10 days to have another check.
Jamie picked me back up, I went to the pharmacy and got more Ketoprofen Painkillers for 108.69 lira (£1.98) before going home to sit on my bum. I warmed up some pasta Bolognese for lunch, caught up on emails, fell asleep on the sofa and then made mini wrap pizzas for dinner. I finally got a call from Captain Caveman at 9.30pm, he’d temporarily forgotten I was due for my check up as he was so busy with work.

Gratitude List
1. Jamie giving me a lift to the hospital
2. Managing to deal with things at the hospital without help
3. More medicine.

Dalyan & Ekincik – 11th September

Jamie had invited me to join him and some friends on a boat trip on Thursday 11th September and it had been booked long before I broke a couple of metatarsals. I had already paid my money to Sioned to go on Captain Unal’s Duran Duran boat and didn’t want to miss it because of being in pain. It has been a week since I’d not seen that very small step! It was also a good chance to catch up with my parents, Nanny Kay, Jamie, Josh & Martha, Ann & Stuart, Karen & Shaun, Julia and Evie. The boat was moored the nearest to home that it could be, which was good for me crutching to get there. I took a seasickness tablet as well as my medication and I was well away before 10am. We sailed to Ekincik and, as usual, we were served welsh cakes and other nibbles with our hot beverages. It was a lovely day out albeit limited because of my mobility but I did manage to get down the lovely disabled friendly steps to go for a swim. The lunch was great and my mom was kind enough to do the buffet run for me. The food was amazing with extra meatballs being dished out by Ünal. In the afternoon there was a delicious cake with fruit. It was probably one of the best I’d had on this boat too – I really did need to just stick to the fruit next time! I was a little sad that Captain Caveman was back at work in the UK and unable to be here for this trip. Due to my medicine it was another alcohol free day, too, and I wasn’t really missing drinking.
After the trip, I was tired and resting up on the sofa while adding stuff to my to do list for tomorrow.

Gratitude List
1. Being on another one of my favourite boat trips with lots of friends and family
2. Going in the sea and managing to get back out without further injury
3. Amazing food on the boat.

Dalyan – 9th & 10th September

On Tuesday 9th September I was eating breakfast and looking at flights to go to the UK in November when I saw a message from Jamie on the work group chat. He had won a free trip to Antalya for 5 days in October. It was the day after his holiday with Drew to Kos where I was already looking after Norman, the dog, so I replied to say Congratulations and that I could extend the dog sit by 5 days if he needed me. He didn’t have time to respond before I had checked my emails to see I had also won a place on the same Fam trip with Anex Tours. Sod Norman, the dog, I was going. It was the best thing that had happened in my 11 months as a Resort Expert. Jamie and I had a quick call, got very excited and he had arranged for Drew to do the dog sitting. Next month we would be at a 5 Star All Inclusive resort in Antalya and we were super excited.
I worked extra hard that day with a rest for a cup of tea in the afternoon as my foot was throbbing.
In the evening, I got some bad news; the Turkish classes that were due to be starting back this week were no longer going ahead. Our teacher, Sioned, had decided she needed to focus on her family and could no longer commit to them. I was disappointed as I really enjoy them but I understood her reasoning.

Gratitude List
1. Winning a work trip
2. Getting to go to Antalya for work with Jamie
3. Having a zero spend day.

It was Weigh day on Wednesday 10th September and I was keen to know just how much damage my 16 days of holidaying with Captain Caveman had done. However, I was groggy, in pain and too busy to get to Fat Club, even if I could walk there a bit quicker. I also had a visitor; Jamie had to go to Fethiye and had dropped Norman, the dog, off for me to look after at 8am. I wasn’t quite sure how taking him for a walk would pan out but he seemed quite happy on the sofa while I worked. He had clapped the weight on too so I was in good company. I think Jamie had been giving him Edna’s share of the snacks since she’d passed away.
At 12.30pm, I decided Norman might need a tinkle and I attempted to get him out for a walk. He wouldn’t go down stairs and just stood at the top watching me! I’d been down and back up for no reason while Norman thought it amusing.
For lunch I had cheese, olives and nuts followed by fruit and quark. Captain Caveman asked me to look at flights for him to visit in October but they weren’t cheap. We might need a Plan B.
Jamie came back for Norman and we said farewell, he wasn’t impressed we were leaving him to go off on a jolly next month, but we thought it was funny. Carol from Fat Club popped by with her scales so I could see how fat I was. I had put on 2.2kg (5lb) in the last few weeks – I’m surprised it wasn’t more but I was now back to the weight I was at the end of September 2024!!!
For dinner, I made myself some veggie noodles which tasted ok, I was determined to lose the weight despite not being able to walk much. I continued working until I started to fall asleep and then went to bed. I’d got a day off tomorrow.

Gratitude List
1. Having Norman, the dog, come over to see me
2. Nice healthy homemade food
3. Not putting even more weight on.