Emergency stop in Maclean

Today’s plan was to go inland on the way back south from Byron Bay, to visit an old friend in Guyra. But, we never quite made it. This morning, Francis woke with a headache (not Tom) which gradually developed into a migraine, during our journey south.

In Ballina, Fran had a coffee, hoping the caffein would relieve a migraine, since it helps dilate blood vessels and – yeah, for real (or so she tells me).

In Evans Head at noon, she took some aspirin, but that came back up. We tried walking it off, getting cool air, fresh air, reduced light, all the things, but it wasn’t getting better. Half an hour later, stopping further south in New Italy, we decided we needed some medical intervention. We headed south to the Maclean District Hospital-ER.

We pulled into the emergency bay, and were fortunately the only ones in the waiting room. The staff quickly triaged and treated her. A couple of under the tongue pills for migraine and nausea. But the migraine persisted. So, then an injection of Keto-something. We’re very grateful to them and Australia’s medical system.

We booked into a nearby motel, so Fran could sleep it off, with the drugged assistance. The Waterview Motel was just 400m away. When she wakes, I imagine she'll say "I'm never starting the day again with decaf".

As is most common for us, when we book accommodation, especially if just for one night, we do it just before we arrive in a town. If we had booked in Guyra earlier, we might have lost the payment when we couldn’t make it at the last minute. See “Fran’s Trip Tip” from our previous post.