Lanzarote, Canary Islands - Day 8

Thursday, February 15, 2024

Traveling isn’t always roses, is it? Sometimes you’re feeling under the weather. And, sometimes you’re forced to share a room with your sister who insists on sleeping with the lights on all night.

Aden decided sleeping on the sofa was better than spending another night in the same room with Tory. Those two have been bickering like cats and dogs this week; the “sleeping with the lights on” argument just one of many.

Aden was awake around 8:00am. I made him a pretty scrappy breakfast with what groceries we have left in the house — strawberries and a bagel with Nutella.

A little good news — Andi seems to be on the upswing. He’s definitely not 100% feeling better, but his diarrhea has slowed to a couple times a day now vs. multiple times an hour. No fever or vomiting since Tuesday, so that’s an improvement as well. He’s really low on energy though, and generally feeling worn down.

I am climbing the walls of our airbnb, itching to do something on the island. It feels like all I’ve done this week is cook, clean up messes, and referee Tory and Aden. I imagine been cooped up together in our rented house is the reason why the kids have been pestering each other so much.

Andi said he felt well enough to do something today, so we got ready to leave the house around 10:00am to go on a low-key adventure. The island of Lanzarote is known for its volcanic, tree-less, other-worldly landscape, its wines, and its beautiful beaches. Our first airbnb was near the beach on the east side of the island and our current airbnb is in the middle, but we have yet to see any of other parts of the island. Today I wanted to see some of the other popular tourists sights like Playa Blanca in the south or the area of El Golfo in the west. Obviously spending a day in the hot sun was out of the question, but we figured driving around to see the sights wouldn’t be too strenuous for Andi.

From our airbnb in the community of Nazaret, the four of us drove along LZ-30 through Lanzarote’s wine country. The area of La Geria is where Lanzarote produces its award-winning white and sweet wines varieties in the nutrient-rice volcanic soil. At first, Andi and I were puzzled when we pulled into this area and saw rows and rows of semi-circle rock formations dotting the landscape. Each semi-circle of rock sheltered a hole in the ground with a plant growing inside of it.

Warm days and cool nights are present year-round in Lanzarote, thanks to consistent winds blowing in off the Atlantic Ocean. This is the perfect temperature for growing grapes, but stiff breezes can wreak havoc on young vines. Wine makers on the island of Lanzarote solve for this by building semi-circle walls of rock around growing plants to shelter them from the wind. The cone-shaped holes in which the vines are planted allow the plant to receive sunshine and water, and the rocky nature of the volcanic soil provides excellent draining for the plant.

We found this growing technique to be so interesting! I have never seen anything like this before. There are 20 bodegas (wineries) on the island that produce their own wines, and many of them also have tasting rooms, restaurants, and gift shops.

We didn’t visit at any of the bodegas in La Geria on our drive through the valley, but continued on Highway 30 to the small town of Uga. Last night, the doctor who visited Andi at our airbnb prescribed Andi an antibiotic to kill off whatever stomach bug he’s been battling this week. The first dose of medication was making Andi nauseous and he needed to get some food into his stomach. There wasn’t much available except for a small convenience store and a restaurant, but I was able to find Andi some bread and a small can of peaches to eat. The four of us sat outside in the town square of Uga and waited for Andi’s feeling of nausea to pass.

Andi was really struggling by this point, wondering if he bit off more than he could chew in terms of an adventure today. I left it up to Andi whether he wanted to go back to our airbnb or if he thought he could keep going. He said he thought he’d be OK, though I could tell he was fighting through it.

The four of us hopped back in the car and drove toward Playa del Janubio on the west side of the island. We passed Salinas de Janubio salt flats. Lava from the island’s volcanic eruption in 1730 created a lagoon here and when the water evaporated a hundred year later, salt was left behind. There wasn’t much to see here other than fields of salt being harvested and the ocean in the distance.

We drove closer to the ocean to a look-out area called Playa del Janubio. This rocky area is only for viewing the water, not swimming, due to large waves crashing onto the rocky terrain. The color of the turquoise-blue water against the black lava rock was breathtaking!

As we were leaving, Tory realized she left her water bottle sitting on a bench in the town square of Uga. So, we drove 15 minutes back in the direction we came. Luckily, her water bottle was sitting right where she left it.

Andi said he wanted to head back to our airbnb. He was really struggling to keep his composure together. But first, he said, he needed to find some food. Unlike the United States, there is no “fast food” in the Canary Islands; only restaurants. We had a 40-minute drive back to our airbnb, so he thought it was best to stop and eat vs. wait to eat until we got back to our rental.

Back on Highway 30, I was surprised when Andi pulled into the parking lot of a bodega called Stratvs in the La Geria wine district. It’s true that there weren’t a ton of food options in our area other than these type of restaurants. Luckily, the restaurant here called El Aljibe del Obispo wasn’t busy and we were seated at a table right away. The menu looked fantastic, especially after eating spaghetti and sandwiches all week! “Are you sure you can find something to eat here?” I asked Andi before we ordered. He was confident that he could make it work.

For our lunch, we ordered wrinkled potatoes (which are mini potatoes encrusted with a layer of salt), a garden salad with figs, a steak for Tory and Aden to share, and grouper for Andi and I to share. I also tried a glass of the bodega’s tempranillo wine — it was excellent.

Unfortunately, by the time our meals arrived Andi was feeling worse than ever. He was only able to eat a little bread and potatoes before throwing up in the restaurant bathroom. He went to the car to lay down while Tory, Aden, and I finished our meals and I paid the bill. The kids’ steak was served with a small charcoal tabletop grill to finish the cooking to each person’s liking. Aden really liked that.

The drive back to our airbnb was excruciating for Andi. He breathed heavily from his seat and looked like he was near tears from the stomach cramping. I felt terrible that I’d pushed him to go somewhere today when he obviously should have been resting. “I’m going to go to the ER,” Andi muttered through clenched teeth. He dropped the kids and I off at our airbnb and left to go to the hospital.

We’ve learned through our travels that if you’re sick and need the help of a doctor, it’s better to seek out care — even in another country. Spain is completely civilized — you can find anything you need here — so why can’t you find medical help, too?

The healthcare system in the country of Spain is predominantly funded through taxes, which insures that every person has access to medical services regardless of their employment or financial status. As part of this system, there are both public and private hospitals — public hospitals provide citizens with free medical services, but there is often a long wait and sub-par care. Andi chose to visit a private hospital in Lanzarote which meant that he’d have to pay for his medical visit, but he would be seen immediately.

Andi said the 20-minute drive to the hospital was agonizing. He segmented the drive in five minute increments, telling himself to hang on just a little longer. Perhaps I shouldn’t have let him drive himself there, but Andi told me later that he felt better knowing the kids and I were safe at our airbnb so he didn’t have to worry about us while he was gone. I guess we both felt it was better for me to stay with the kids vs. wait in the hospital with Andi. The kids were worried about Andi, and so was I.

Fortunately, Andi was able to be seen fairly quickly in the ER. The doctor spoke English so he was able to communicate his symptoms and health history. The doctor ordered bloodwork, a stool sample, and an ultrasound of Andi’s stomach. Fortunately, the ultrasound came back clear so there was no concern of an appendicitis.

After Andi received two bags of IV fluids and some Tylenol intravenously, he started to feel a little better. The doctor diagnosed Andi with acute colitis and gastritis — inflammation of the stomach and colon — which explained the stomach cramping and diarrhea. In early January at home in the USA, Andi was on an antibiotic which helped to eliminate whatever bad bacteria he was fighting in his gut at the time, but it also wiped out all the good bacteria in the gut as well. We all need good gut bacteria to help us fight off germs and sickness that we come into contact with on a daily basis. As the Spanish doctor put it, Andi went into the “wild Wild West” of germs when we visited Morocco last week. She suspected that something we came into contact with, whether that have been a germ or something environmental, caused Andi to come down with a stomach bug that his weakened immune system couldn’t fight off. Vomiting and diarrhea from that infection led to an inflamed stomach and colon. Without a stool sample, the doctor was unable to tell if his symptoms were the result of something else like a bacterial infection called c-diff or salmonella. Andi should have the results of that stool sample soon and we’ll know more information.

I’m so thankful for my wonderful friend and neighbor Susie who talked me through what was going on with Andi from afar. She helped both Andi and I understand what colitis and gastric are, and how best to treat the infections. After receiving IV fluids, I could tell Andi was feeling a little better, too, since he was cracking jokes over text messages. Aden, in particular, was pretty worried about Andi but I reassured him that everything was going to be OK. “What if we miss our flight tomorrow?” Aden worried. I reminded him that everything is figure-it-out-able. We would be fine, even if we had to delay our departure from the Canary Islands.

The doctor wanted Andi to spend the night in the hospital, but Andi said based on the level of care and bedside manner he was receiving, he felt like he’d be better off at our airbnb. His doctor was knowledgeable and spoke English, but she only came in to speak with Andi for a few minutes. The hospital nurses and ultrasound tech did not speak any English, and it was hard for Andi to get any answers about his care. He said he was left lying on his hospital bed, unattended, for several hours. “It really makes you appreciate the level of healthcare we receive in the USA,” he said later.

The doctor prescribed Andi a different anti-inflammatory antibiotic, and put him on a diet of very soft, bland foods for the next few days. Healing the inflammation in his colon and stomach will take time. Andi paid his hospital bill ($1,400) and left to return to our airbnb. Fortunately, we can submit this medical cost to our insurance company at home in the US, and it will count toward meeting our deductible because it was an ER visit.

When Andi arrived back to our airbnb around 11:00pm, he looked a million times better than when he’d left this afternoon. We were both relieved to finally have some answers as to what has been causing this stomach pain, and a treatment plan going forward.

We’re suppose to leave the Canary Islands tomorrow and fly to Madeira, Portugal. I’m not 100% sure we’ll end up traveling; it will depend on how Andi is feeling. Worse case, we’ll stay a few extra days in Lanzarote and re-book our flights to Madeira for next week sometime. Best case, Andi is feeling well enough to travel tomorrow and we’ll stay on track with our travel plans. My hope is that Andi is feeling better tomorrow though, and we’ll be able to put our time in Lanzarote behind us. I’m sure this is a lovely place to vacation, but our time in the Canary Islands hasn’t what we’d hoped.