The reason i ask is that it looks as if i will have to cancel my trip :crybaby:

Ive buggerd up my legs somehow, no docs know whats wrong :(

Mega mega gutted but I feel like i should at least wait until I get a diagnosis & treat the problem before I spend a year travelling. & being in the UK its going to be a very lengthly process! :thumbdown:

I wanted to ask the Tpunk crew am i doing the right thing?

What would you do?

how bad are the legs...depends on where you are going and dont forget you might not be covered by your insurance when you are out there!

3 months ago i could hardly walk.. I'm still getting symptoms now just not as bad so they are getting better slightly.
Just dont know weather to risk it or not ?!?!

The thing is i've got a Working Holiday Visa so if i do go and have to travel home mid way i wont be able to get another.

if you can postpone i would!

I'd put it off until I at least found out what exactly was wrong.
I'd hate to be somewhere I didn't speak the language trying to explain that I didn't know what was wrong with me to a doctor...
..and with your legs, how much walking are you going to be able to do? are you going to miss seeing a lot of things where you have to walk up 100+ stairs or steep hills?
not trying to put you off here but those are some things I'd consider..

You could take a trip to Sweden, remember we're all European now and entitled to the same care as a local citizens when visiting our brothers on the mainland. It'll give you an idea of what'll be like to travel with the condition. All you need is your passport and medical card.

You shouldn't just set off it would be heartbreaking to have to come home and have wasted money going nowhere.

I had to cancel a trip to Morocco about three weeks before leaving, for health reasons, so I know that gutted feeling!

You're really going to need your legs on the road, and it makes no sense to suddenly find yourself debilitated in some obscure little place and have to come home - possibly doing more severe damage that could set you back even longer than had you waited.

Also, having travelled while ill myself or with others who've been ill, you really do miss out on a lot when you're under the weather. I'd find out the problem, deal with it as best possible and then travel when it's manageable. I definitely wouldn't rule out travelling with a health issue (I took two kids to Singapore while 5 months pregnant) but I think it would be best to know the situation before hand, so that you can deal with it more effectively if it flares up en route. Having experienced emergency rooms and pharmacies in Lithuania, Austria and Greece, I do think it's nice to have a bit of a clue what's going on when you're dealing with medical situations! :doctor:

:tumbleweed:

Thanks guys youve been a great help.. :thumbup:

Its a massive setback as i was going to quit my job too, Its definately the sensible thing to do as i just dont know if they will flare up when i do go on treks or do any activities.
When i do get a diagnosis & if it is something more permanent than at least i can take with me whatever medication to make it more bearable.. I'm definately not backing out on this trip just defering it :)

Yeah if it's something like that I would back out alittle. I sprained my ankle pretty seriously 2 days before i left and that was kinda an issue. I mean I did SO MUCH walking it was retarded. I would want to be in good shape to minimize the risks of anything else happening. At home it's probably easier to cope with a good support network. Travelling means everything is going to be foreign.

Once you know what's up, you can always factor that into the trip too!

Jenn

Sorry to hear that! I can`t imagine how frustrated you must be. But let`s face it; your health is the most important thing and you will enjoy your trip 800x more if you aren`t dealing with what you are dealing with now. I think you made the right decision.

Hope it is sorted out soon and a speedy recovery so you can get underway! :friends:

Yeah the smart part of me says hold off... but knowing me I'd still go as long as it was a industrialized country or continent like Europe or going to see my fam in England (yes I know that's also EU)

Thanks for your support guys, youre right.. it IS frustrating.. its going to mean i will have to claim on my insurance which i'm really reluctant to do!

A couple of you mentioned several barriers if i was to go to a non-english speaking or an underdeveloped country.. i am going to Thailand for 2 weeks & Oz for a year working & travelling.. is it still the right thing to do? :huh2: I was hoping to do fruit picking to extend another year and you have to be mega fit dont you..

Has anyone had to cancel & claim on their insurance before?

I did when I cancelled my trip to Morocco. I had purchased the full up travel insurance, however, so I just had to get my doctor to sign the forms (not a problem at all, since he'd been my doc since birth, and had forbidden me to go in the first place), turn them in to the insurance co. with my tickets etc, and I got a full refund, no hassle at all.

Incidentally, I would think fruit picking would be pretty arduous on the old legs (I spent a few hours picking grapes this summer and I can see how that would get old pretty quick) so it sounds like postponing your trip til your situation is sorted would be the sensible, prudent, wise, logical thing to do. I'm sorry though, I do kinda know how you're feeling, and it really stinks...

:tumbleweed:

A very short answer to your question from me is "no" I would not travel if I wasn't feeling 100%. When I am sick, I don't like to be anywhere but home. When you travel, yes, there are always the chances that you can get sick, and deal with it, but an ideal situation it isn't.

If a major part of your trip is going to include walking, it will put a major damper on things if you are in pain during every step you take.

I hope you get this looked after though. And I do believe the working holiday visa is good for one year from the time you get approved for it. And then it is good for another year once you depart. Double check to make sure, but that is what I have heard.

You made the right choice mate, definately a crap thing to happen, but you did the right thing. This is especially true seeing as you wanna do fruit picking, it's damn hard work, especially up north in summer where most of the fruit picking work is, and it would be made so much harder if your legs weren't 100%.

Like you said, you're not cancelling the trip, just postponing it, so it will still happen