The Brel Chronicles

It’s been a week since the surgery, and things are progressing well. Nurse Powell has been diligently carrying out his tasks with much love, and Mel is definitely on the mend. The drainage tube (yuck) is finally out, the drugs are decreasing in supply and the stitches are scheduled for removal on Friday.

Some stats for your amusement: 

• $$ spent on medical care: $4,800

• $$ spent on unanticipated living expenses in Athens: $3,000

• $$ lost on our sailing trip: $1,300

• # times Brendan made Mel feel guilty: 0

• # times Mel would have made Brendan feel guilty if roles were reversed: about 25

We hope this will soon just be a bad memory (and perhaps one day a funny story?) of life on the road.

Thanks to all of you for your concern and support. And thanks to our travel insurance for making this less painful.

 Now back to the Turkey blogs…

We interrupt your Turkey blog reading to bring you real-time news from Athens (our blog is usually a week behind our adventures).

In an unfortunate twist of fate, Brel have found themselves in a hospital in Athens, Greece. Mel has had surgery for an abscess on her tail-bone (not the sexiest of diseases or recovery by the way). The prognosis is good-but it does require us to spend 10 days here and miss half of our Greek Islands sailing trip.

As with all things Brel, there have been some interesting moments:

* Mel mistaking the IT Manager for the doctor and nearly dropping her drawers for him

* Mel attempting to take directions in Greek-and accidentally putting on multiple robes and paper panties on her head

* Mel waking up from the anesthetic convinced she had been unconscious for 7 years (and asking everyone if she was still alive)

* The constant “good lucks” from the Greek hospital staff - unnerving as we were kind of hoping to rely on expertise and not luck

And so, in the end, 24/7 travel for a year isn’t the biggest Brel test- it’s surgery in a foreign country, with Mel in significant pain and Brendan playing Florence Nightingale. Wish us luck!