the wanderer
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Home
I'm at home. When we got to Newark yesterday I was exhausted. I was miserable on both our flights - stomach cramps, dizzy, etc. - and was treated like a piece of dirt by one flight attendant on the flight from Amsterdam to Newark (after having already encountered an impossibly rude one on the first flight). I'm not in top mental shape at the moment, and his actions only made me feel worse. Other passengers even complained about his treatment of me. KLM and Northwest will be getting angry letters from me very soon.
I had to be wheeled around in a wheelchair when we landed at Newark airport, I was so weak. My mom suggested I just fly home from Newark rather than continuing to Montreal for 4 days as planned. It was a tough decision to make, because I wanted to see friends and family and consult with Engineers Without Borders very much, but in the end it was the right choice. What a relief it was to see Jim's face at LAX yesterday... I needed to be in my own home.
I'm still dizzy, emotional, and my stomach feels horrible, but I feel slightly better every day. My legs are really weak, which I think is a result of having been so dehydrated from the dysentery. It feels like I ran a marathon yesterday. I'm having a hard time eating since everything feels acidic in my stomach, and makes me nauseous half an hour later.
But my husband is taking good care of me, and our dogs are entertaining me. It's freezing here, it's 55 degrees (13 celsius). My mom must be frozen solid in Quebec.
I'm still in shock from my trip having ended so abruptly. It's going to take me some time to sort all that out in my head.
Dysentery or not, though, I loved Africa. ¶ 3/21/2006 12:45:00 PM 5 comments
I had to be wheeled around in a wheelchair when we landed at Newark airport, I was so weak. My mom suggested I just fly home from Newark rather than continuing to Montreal for 4 days as planned. It was a tough decision to make, because I wanted to see friends and family and consult with Engineers Without Borders very much, but in the end it was the right choice. What a relief it was to see Jim's face at LAX yesterday... I needed to be in my own home.
I'm still dizzy, emotional, and my stomach feels horrible, but I feel slightly better every day. My legs are really weak, which I think is a result of having been so dehydrated from the dysentery. It feels like I ran a marathon yesterday. I'm having a hard time eating since everything feels acidic in my stomach, and makes me nauseous half an hour later.
But my husband is taking good care of me, and our dogs are entertaining me. It's freezing here, it's 55 degrees (13 celsius). My mom must be frozen solid in Quebec.
I'm still in shock from my trip having ended so abruptly. It's going to take me some time to sort all that out in my head.
Dysentery or not, though, I loved Africa. ¶ 3/21/2006 12:45:00 PM 5 comments
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Not so Great a Goodbye
Friday night we went out for a goodbye dinner with Solomon, Anton and Neema. By the time our appetizers came to us I started feeling bloated and queasy. Half an hour later I was in the bathroom throwing up.
I tried to eat a couple of bites of the food I'd ordered, and it came right back out within 5 minutes. It kept coming in waves - for 5 minutes I'd be sweaty and dizzy and nauseous, and then for 10 minutes I'd be just fine. Someone suggested I go to the hospital but I thought I'd be okay once I got home, so I said I didn't want to go.
We went home, I laid down, and over the next 2 hours I developed agonizing stomach pain, 100% liquid diarrhea, and I started vomiting bile. I tried to take an antibiotic but I threw it up instantly. Finally Solomon went to find a taxi and we went to the hospital.
I was so weak I could barely stand. They admitted me for the night, gave me 3 or 4 bags of saline to rehydrate me, tried to give me pills, which I threw up, and then they injected a different medication into my arm and I was half-asleep the rest of the night, save for a few trips to the bathroom. I got diagnosed with amoebic dysentery. I don't know how or when I got it, though it's likely that it's from the local water that I drank over 2 weeks ago.
In the morning I was in a daze, but better. The doctor gave me pills, which she said to take with some food, and let me go home. My poor mom stayed up all night in a chair next to my bed.
When we got home I had two bites of food, my pills, and some other ones she gave me for stomach pains. I slept all day after that. I got up for a couple of hours in the evening, had a bit of food, and went back to sleep for another 12 hours.
Today I'm better, but completely exhausted. I can't wait to get home. ¶ 3/19/2006 01:09:00 AM 4 comments
I tried to eat a couple of bites of the food I'd ordered, and it came right back out within 5 minutes. It kept coming in waves - for 5 minutes I'd be sweaty and dizzy and nauseous, and then for 10 minutes I'd be just fine. Someone suggested I go to the hospital but I thought I'd be okay once I got home, so I said I didn't want to go.
We went home, I laid down, and over the next 2 hours I developed agonizing stomach pain, 100% liquid diarrhea, and I started vomiting bile. I tried to take an antibiotic but I threw it up instantly. Finally Solomon went to find a taxi and we went to the hospital.
I was so weak I could barely stand. They admitted me for the night, gave me 3 or 4 bags of saline to rehydrate me, tried to give me pills, which I threw up, and then they injected a different medication into my arm and I was half-asleep the rest of the night, save for a few trips to the bathroom. I got diagnosed with amoebic dysentery. I don't know how or when I got it, though it's likely that it's from the local water that I drank over 2 weeks ago.
In the morning I was in a daze, but better. The doctor gave me pills, which she said to take with some food, and let me go home. My poor mom stayed up all night in a chair next to my bed.
When we got home I had two bites of food, my pills, and some other ones she gave me for stomach pains. I slept all day after that. I got up for a couple of hours in the evening, had a bit of food, and went back to sleep for another 12 hours.
Today I'm better, but completely exhausted. I can't wait to get home. ¶ 3/19/2006 01:09:00 AM 4 comments
