Dave Williams's 2018 Big(Photo)Year!

[Peter Connan]

Looks like a fine pair of gloves!

 

Not too sure about the hat though...

[xelas]

Dave, you look fabulouse even from far away Costa Rica! 

[michael-ibk]

Cool hat, almost as good as a pith. 

[Galana]

@Dave WilliamsGo Dai bach go!

 

A dab of Cherry Blossom and get down to Llandudno Pier and a whole new career awaits you!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIaj7FNHnjQ

 

 

Edited July 15, 2018 by Galana

[Dave Williams]

A tad politically incorrect me thinks!

 

[Dave Williams]

besides, does anybody clean their shoes nowadays?

[Kitsafari]

Congrats on the pith! Well earned, i think.

[Dave Williams]

Like @Galana I have ground to a halt with my BY but in my case possibly until next year. I was curious to see what a 12 month total rather than a calendar year one might be and on checking was surprised to see I have equalled last years final tally exactly....363.

Have two revised targets now, one is to improve on last year, two is to average one a day.

I need just two species to do so and I have target the two I will go after, shouldn't be too difficult if I can motivate myself.

 

I now have a date for my back operation, not until the end of October but at least I have something to aim for!

In the meantime my woes have continued and I have additional health problems to sort out as well as discovering that due to a stupid error of judgement and thinking it not worth mentioning I had been prescribed some  cocodamol tablets for back ache on my first visit to my GP to discuss my back ache which was just two days before I renewed my travel insurance.It was the only medication I have been prescribed in the last couple of years.

I now discover I was not insured as a consequence of not declaring it..

What a difference two days might have made !

So, as a warning to others, make sure you declare everything you have been prescribed irrelevant of how important the prescription might appear to be at the time. Might come back to seriously bite you in the bum otherwise! 

[Galana]

Good luck with the revised targets and sincere best wishes for a successful  outcome of the health problems. Always remember that tortoise often live to be over 100.

That insurance claim sounds a right bummer. Such a shame.

 

[Kitsafari]

yikes so sorry to hear about the insurance issues. it sounds very punitive there, but there are probably reasons for it. 

 

 

all the best on the revised targets! and take care of that back. 

[Dave Williams]

@KitsafariThere are indeed reasons for it... they don't want to be defrauded of their cash!

It's an interesting one though because when I took the policy out it never dawned on me that I might need to cancel a holiday, indeed, I didn't want to cancel this one either but common sense prevailed in the end just in case the worst possible scenario happened. 

No, the reason I took out , or indeed most people take out insurance I would have thought , is in case something happens whilst you are abroad on holiday. If you know you are at risk because of a previously known health problem then you are attempting to defraud if something goes wrong but I guess you will probably be found out from your health records anyway.

I'm pretty confident if I told them I had just been to the GP and got a prescription for a bad back they would have gone ahead and insured me anyway and although they say there would have been an increased premium I'm sure it wouldn't have been significantly more anyway. My stupid mistake and my warning is so I hope others don't do likewise.

I'm not going to get too worked up about it, I did get refunded from the source for a couple of cancellations including the air tax on the flight tickets which was an amazing £900 after they had deducted £230 admin charges. The tickets had cost £1680 so it's frightening how much flight tax we pay. I would have spent the money plus a bit more by now so I haven't lost out from that point of view.

No what might have been catastrophic would have been to have needed medical assistance in Africa then discovering I wasn't insured. That would have had very, very serious financial implications so I'm glad I didn't go!

 

[Kitsafari]

 

thanks for the explanation @Dave Williams

travel insurance is definitely a must for the places we travel to. over here, we buy comprehensive travel insurance with no questions asked but I never thought if there would be preclusions. you've given me food for thought and I'd best check with my agent!

 

 

[Dave Williams]

I'd be amazed if there weren't any preclusions @Kitsafari. Mine asked had 1) you been an hospital inpatient and 2)had any prescriptions in the past 12 months. In my head I suppose I answered no to two as I was relating it to inpatient treatment and serious illnesses. My spinal stenosis is considered high risk of cauda equina but it wasn't diagnosed until 9 months later, at the time of the prescription it was no more than backache which we all get now and again if we over exert. Had I gone on the trip and not told them prior to going that I had a now diagnosed condition that would have been seen as not meeting the conditions of the policy too as it does say you have to inform them of any changes in your health. 

I suppose what rubs many people up is that insurance companies appear to only want to collect money from safe bets and not pay it out but like bookmakers they probably want to change the premiums to suit the odds.

[Galana]

Good to see you are being stoical about the insurance. I dare say that many of us could say "there but for the grace of God go I!"

You were brave but quite right in cancelling as the consequences of not doing so could have been horrendous. It was indeed unfortunate that that 'unrelated' prescription came back to refute your claim. Given that most of us on here travel to some exotic destinations insurance should be a must even though we all hope that we won't really need it.

 

[Dave Williams]

What is even more ironic is that I now have a second health issue that I might have been able to justify cancelling the holiday for. My back consultant suggested I should have a blood test and that showed up a  slightly high PSA so following a consultancy with a urologist I opted to pay for an MRI scan which cost a small fortune.( our local health authority doesn't provide or pay for them unlike some do). I had hoped to get the results of the scan before going on our planned trip as we had 13 days in which to do so but our local health board appears so pressured that didn't happen until after I had cancelled our trip and in fact after we had passed our intended departure date. The scan results reveal I probably have a tumour in my prostate. The good news is I have used the time while we would have been away to progress things... and they do need personal intervention too. The consultant who sent me for the back scan never got the results and was unaware of my situation until I got back in touch with her. She immediately arranged for my appointment with the consultant at the specialist spine hospital to be expedited and I got a date for surgery within 4 working days of seeing her. Meantime my efforts to arrange a date for a biopsy on my tumour have drawn a blank, there is an 8-10 week waiting list, and one I'm not prepared to wait for, particularly as it might clash with the back operation so I am in the process of arranging private health care appointments instead. If the results had been given to me before I cancelled the holiday the insurance would have paid out as it wasn't a previously known condition and another case of a couple days might have made all the difference.

Oh well, at least hopefully I'll be back on track for next year, my tumour is contained for the time being so there's every chance I'll live to fight another B.Y. if I get it sorted sooner than later.

 

[Peter Connan]

Bugger.

 

I sincerely hope you live to fight many more B.Y.s!

[TonyQ]

@Dave Williams you are having a tough time.  Best wishes to you for both of your health problems ( @Thursday's Child Also sends her best wishes) Looking forward to many more contributions to the Big Years, both your high quality photos and you humour.

[Galana]

Jeez! Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

[PeterHG]

These are hard times for you Dave! Best wishes for a full recovery on all counts and I hope you get the biopsy sorted out soon.

[xelas]

Ouch. Life is not fair. But strong will can surmount many obstacles. I wish you will have many BY races with The Hare!

[Dave Williams]

Thanks for your concerns everyone, the support is much appreciated.

Don't write me off though ...I'm not going anywhere other than on some more trips in the coming years!

[Kitsafari]

awful news Dave but you are more stoical that I would be in your shoes. Stay Calm and take Photos to Relax. 

 

I'm sure we will continue to see more BYs from you in many years to come.

[Zim Girl]

Admire your positive attitude despite the additional health issues.  Fingers crossed for the results of the biopsy. 

I for one definitely want to see lots more BY's so you make sure you keep fighting back and get better as soon as you can.

[michael-ibk]

Very sorry,  not what I had hoped to read on your thread upon catching up here on Safaritalk. I'm sure all will be ok Dave, and you will have plenty of time to delight us with many more excellent pictures after getting through your health ordeal. The good thoughts of the whole Big Year gang are with you!

[Ratdcoops]

@Dave Williams Sorry to read about your health issues hope all comes up roses for you and you are back to full health sooner rather than later.