Wednesday, 19 August 2015

Zambia day 2

I'm loving Zambia! Today I went to the Zambian side of the falls which was great. I'd read a lot of information before, but I think the numbers involved are so huge that they start to lose meaning. I was viewing them from the other side of the gorge, and the spray I felt was welcomely refreshing! I don't think anything can prepare you for the size and the power of the falls, but I'd urge you all to put it on your bucket list! Unfortunately my little gadget which lets me transfer photos to my iPad has broken so I can't post any more photos until I get home. 

Whilst walking through the forest to get to the Falls we saw monkeys... lots of monkey. There were baby monkeys being groomed, and then riding on their mothers back. I was walking along a path with my hands by my sides; holding a water bottle. An adult monkey came up to me, swiped my bottle out of my hand, and then started to drink from it. I didn't realise they were that clever!

As for the Crohn's situation: I think I'm making a (tentative) recovery. My pulse is still consistently >110bpm, but it's heading in the right direction - pulse there are so many other factors which could be exacerbating this (heat, dehydration, not eating much) that I'm no longer worried. I've not needed steroids, and I've got codeine and morphine with me (both are painkillers with a constipating side effect; win-win!) for when the pain gets really bad. I'm finding the new sensible mindset re. my medical conditions quite strange. When my B12 and Hb dropped to life-threateningly low levels, prompting my pernicious anaemia diagnosis, I knew that I'd been badgering my GP with symptoms for months and the outcome wasn't affected by anything I did, or didn't, do. The same applied to Crohn's and sepsis: I presented at the hospital early enough for antibiotics and steroids to do their job, and the only long term issue was the Crohn's diagnosis - which entirely incidental and no-one could have prevented. However, with transverse myelitis, I often wonder if I could have prevented it by taking the meningitis symptoms seriously earlier. Maybe if I acted on my excruciating headaches earlier, and acknowledged the uncharacteristic behaviour changes, I might have been diagnosed and treated sooner, which could well have stopped my immune system going crazy and creating a spinal lesion. Instead I kept thinking "I'll go to my GP once I've finished moving", or after I'd had some chats with James, or finished a string of 12.5hr shifts, and now I'll live with reduced leg function, neuropathic pain, and a broken bladder for the rest of my life.

Because of the Crohn's flare I didn't get to go to Devil's Pool, which is a shame. I spoke to some people who managed to do it and they said it was terrifying! I had a mental image of a nice little rock pool where you could float, have a cocktail and marvel at being so close to the edge. Wrong. I was told by the others that you spend all the time in there fearing for your life, so maybe it's for the best that I didn't do it!

I'm heading to Zimbabwe tomorrow, so I'll be off grid for days at a time. From now on I'll post blog entries as and when I have internet access, not straight after I've written them.

Love Emily x

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