All was going well yesterday afternoon.  Tadej Pogačar was surging ahead of Jonas Vingegaard in the Tour de France.  In a couple of hours I’d be joining fellow Evolutionary Collective members on Zoom.

And then the creeping began …

My forehead becoming hotter.

My mind starting to swim.

And I was sure I was slurring my words as I talked to myself.

Not again!

Tadej was getting a little blurry on the TV.  My world was slowing and spinning gently.  There were big spaces in my head.

A battle began building: Momentary or lasting?  No problemo or major problemo?  Stay at home or head to the hospital?

“You’ve got an EC call coming soon, Bruce.  Suck it up.”  …  “You’re not a doctor.  Go find one.”  …  “Wimp!”  …  “You don’t know what’s happening.  Find someone who does.”

I did a WhatsApp video call with Carolyne, the Executive Director of the EC.  I told her I wasn’t thinking straight but I knew enough to go to Emergency.  She agreed with my decision.

Vaguely I reasoned that they might keep me overnight and that I needed to throw some stuff into my backpack.   I think for several minutes I wandered around the apartment, looking for things to take.  Slow.

***

ECG.  Blood taken.  A small irregularity in the heart rhythm but the doctor said it wasn’t significant.  The blood results were normal.

Doctor said that if it had been him, he’d have come to the hospital too.  And then some new information …

“With a blood infection, you can have “flare-ups” even weeks afterwards.”  The usual symptom culprits show up big time and then disappear in a couple of hours.

Oh.  So I’m prepared for a next time.

***

Back to my apartment.  Then onto the Evolutionary Collective Zoom call – a mere three hours late.

I was welcomed home