June 5th, 2023

But things don’t always go to plan, and my journey came to an end after just three and a half weeks. Moustapha, the nurse from the hospital in Midelt, even sent me a photo taken as I was leaving the hospital to be transferred to Casablanca, a moving souvenir.

Today, I officially retire at the age of 65. Not that it really changes anything, I’ve been on early retirement for a year already, and before that, I spent nearly 18 months on leave due to COVID. I hadn’t exactly imagined celebrating this milestone with my foot in a cast… According to my original plan, I should be somewhere in the Basque Country by now.

So it’s a modest celebration, given my current immobility. But I received a flood of messages that touched me deeply, especially in these circumstances. From the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone who thought of me.

The cake had three candles, 65 just wouldn’t have fit! and Deniz, who’s been taking such good care of me, gave me a beautiful bouquet of flowers. For dinner, we ordered Indian food and enjoyed a quiet meal together. We’ll save the real party for another day!

This afternoon, I went back to the hospital to see how I could speed up the healing of my scars. A wound care specialist carefully cleaned the scars and scraped off the dry patches to stimulate healing.

She applied a bandage enriched with honey and spirulina, a seaweed known for its beneficial properties, directly onto the wounds. This special dressing should help accelerate the healing process. And the cherry on top, it’s waterproof, which meant I could finally take a proper shower without the cast and wash my foot. I’ll have to go back on Thursday to have the bandage changed.

I must admit, the days can feel very long when you’re stuck in one place like this, but every little step forward is a victory.