On Saturday, September 9, the Medical team was able to go on a game park safari and see Victoria Falls. Billy Hall and Sandy Morgan had to leave that afternoon to return to the states.
The rest of the team did the souvenir shopping thing, three of us (yes, that includes me) zip lined across a gorge and then had a nice dinner at a seafood restaurant. It was a good day until….. 
At about 1am my stomach starts to hurt. (it's not a result of the zip line!) I’m half asleep and I think to myself…is this a symptom of malaria? As I lay in bed I realize I need to be closer to the bathroom.
Now let me set the stage. We (Diane Long, Tammy McGarvey and I) are sleeping in a luxury tent. There is no door to the bathroom or toilet. I vomit like the girl in the Exorcist and return to bed. I think that I have not awakened my roommates. A few minutes (maybe seconds) I return to the toilet. It is not a good scene. Tammy pokes her head in to ask if I am okay. I have to laugh now because it was pretty obvious I was not. From 1am until around 5am I lay on the bathroom floor. I finally reach the point where I have a plastic dish so that I don’t have to raise my head. It’s not good.
At 515am Diane and Tammy make the decision to consult with Dr. Bob. Should we go to the hospital in Livingstone or go to Zimba where he and Diane have access to our own medicine? The entire team is awakened and asked to pack their bags. Everyone loads into the van and we head to Zimba. There is no one at the check in desk so a note was left so that they would know we would return to settle the bill. Zimba is an hour drive and you may remember from previous blog entries, not a smooth road. Lots of potholes… we made it in 40 minutes. Thank you Cleanwell (the driver).
I was given Phenergan and IV Fluids. I still continued to vomit. Another dose of Phenergan was administered. I remember very little about the day…
1) Angels singing in the van
2) A phone call from the hotel wanting to know where their money was
3) Different people checking on me
4) Seeing new people (the Rangi’s) walk past my room (that meant they had arrived okay)
Monday morning I felt better but did not fully recover until Tuesday. It was then that I realized how sick I was. I thought I had had food poisoning in the past but I have never experienced anything like this before. We still don’t know what caused it but let’s say I won’t be eating fish for a while.
Added note: two others from the team experienced the same illness although on different days so we have a hard time identifying what made us sick
At about 1am my stomach starts to hurt. (it's not a result of the zip line!) I’m half asleep and I think to myself…is this a symptom of malaria? As I lay in bed I realize I need to be closer to the bathroom.
Now let me set the stage. We (Diane Long, Tammy McGarvey and I) are sleeping in a luxury tent. There is no door to the bathroom or toilet. I vomit like the girl in the Exorcist and return to bed. I think that I have not awakened my roommates. A few minutes (maybe seconds) I return to the toilet. It is not a good scene. Tammy pokes her head in to ask if I am okay. I have to laugh now because it was pretty obvious I was not. From 1am until around 5am I lay on the bathroom floor. I finally reach the point where I have a plastic dish so that I don’t have to raise my head. It’s not good.
At 515am Diane and Tammy make the decision to consult with Dr. Bob. Should we go to the hospital in Livingstone or go to Zimba where he and Diane have access to our own medicine? The entire team is awakened and asked to pack their bags. Everyone loads into the van and we head to Zimba. There is no one at the check in desk so a note was left so that they would know we would return to settle the bill. Zimba is an hour drive and you may remember from previous blog entries, not a smooth road. Lots of potholes… we made it in 40 minutes. Thank you Cleanwell (the driver).
I was given Phenergan and IV Fluids. I still continued to vomit. Another dose of Phenergan was administered. I remember very little about the day…
1) Angels singing in the van
2) A phone call from the hotel wanting to know where their money was
3) Different people checking on me
4) Seeing new people (the Rangi’s) walk past my room (that meant they had arrived okay)
Monday morning I felt better but did not fully recover until Tuesday. It was then that I realized how sick I was. I thought I had had food poisoning in the past but I have never experienced anything like this before. We still don’t know what caused it but let’s say I won’t be eating fish for a while.
Added note: two others from the team experienced the same illness although on different days so we have a hard time identifying what made us sick
STAY TUNED THERE IS MORE TO COME!
