In sickness and in health
We - and a fair few of our friends - have been struck by a virulent stomach bug, taking out Joaquim and then Eva. Of course, it happened just as Paulo was leaving for a work trip to Zimbabwe. The little ones are now apparently recovering, but it has not been much of a laugh.
Last night Eva woke up every two hours or so, and what small periods of sleep I managed in between were punctuated by Utama noisily dispatching a bush baby (seems she's got a taste for the local wildlife), and Sebastian crawling into bed with me at some murky point in the early hours. As such, I was fast asleep at 7am when Rafina turned up for work and she had to shout from the locked gate for about 5 minutes to be let in. It was a bit of a scramble to get Sebastian to school (Joaquim pleaded for another day at home), and I only made it through the morning by taking my coffee with me. Let's hope tonight is a bit better.
Here are the two invalids on a happier day - notice a family resemblance?
Labels: Eva, illness, Joaquim
Milpark Hospital, Johannesburg...
...is where I’ve been living for the past 6 weeks. Joaquim had a horrible accident: on the 21st of September he fell into our rubbish pit where for two days previously we had been burning lots of garden waste: branches, leaves etc. As a result the pit was full of hot coals and he ended up with 3rd degree burns on both feet. It was horrific, I don’t want to describe it. We flew to Jo’burg where an ambulance was waiting for us and we checked in at Milpark. At which point a lot of very competent and caring people took over and Joaquim began to recover. We avoided skin grafts, just. The plastic surgeon was great, keeping me informed about progress at every dressing change (first 48 hours then 72) and then at the end allowing me to stay in theatre so I could have a look. By then the worst had long passed, and I could see the skin healing at 3 day intervals.
Joaquim was amazing. Once the pain had gone (about 2 weeks) he was cheerful, uncomplaining, patient, playful and positive. He went off to theatre for dressing changes with a smile, put the mask over his nose and mouth and took deep breaths – pausing to tell me it was yucky – and passing out with minimal fuss. He didn’t try to walk until the doctor said he could, and then was brave enough to put his feet down and have a go. Once he could leave his bed we went to the zoo (4 times), the park, shopping malls and so on. And we made some new friends: Chris, Dez and Mekyla, a lovely South African family who took us in with open arms and took us out for week-end “jols”: picnics, candle dipping, monkey park. Joaquim loved it and Mekyla in particular, who, although 12 years old, was incredibly sweet and lovely to him. Meeting them and the 10 day stretch that super-maman (that’s my mother for those of you who don’t read Marie’s blog) spent with us to give me moral support, were the highlights of our stay. And the only other good point was that I read more in six weeks than in the last six months. Apart from that I spent a lot of time playing with plastic dinosaurs, cars, plasticine and mega-blocs, colouring in and reading children’s books.
We were both very happy to be back in Pemba last Saturday, and were met by a very excited Sebastian and a beaming Paulo. Home at last. Joaquim is very nearly better. His feet are still bandaged to protect the new skin, which is thin and fragile. I change his dressings every three days. In about 10 days we’ll progress to socks and slippers, and a few weeks after that, if he’s comfortable, soft shoes. For six months we have to be very careful with the sun, and the surgeon says that although they will look healed, they won’t actually be fully healed for 12-18 months. It’s a long and slow process. Nonetheless, he’s already walking with support and playing with his friends at nursery (he was determined to go back on Monday and his teacher says he’s doing fine) and at home. I reckon when the bandages come off he’ll regain full mobility very quickly. On the whole, we’ve been very lucky, he should have no or minimal scarring and hopefully no long-term trauma. Although he’s a little sensitive (cries easily, easily startled), he’s generally happy and cheerful so I think he will soon be fine, if very wary of matches, candles, stoves, hot drinks, etc. (maybe not such a bad thing). So the long-term perspective is very good.
And now we both want to move on and get back to normal, so I will not be saying much more on the subject here.
Labels: illness, Joaquim
3 weeks...
... is a long time not to post anything here and expect people to still be checking. I guess Iºm an optimist.
So, a quick run down of what Iºve been doing whilst not blogging.
We all went to Ibo for a long week end 23 to 25 June, as there was a public holiday for Independence Day. Lovely as ever, and doubly nice not to be working and staying in luxury at the wonderful Ibo Island Lodge. Joaquim, what a surprise, was more excited about the plane ride than anything else.
A couple of days later I went off to the bush, to Meluco and Ningaia to kick start some community tourism activities. Both are now moving a bit, which is progress. I also finally saw an elephant in the Park. He was a very long way away but he was a beautiful big old tusker. More importantly, I left Sebastian behind. Yes, cold turkey. He is now weaned. I paid for it with a week of agonisingly sore and swollen boobs, but I am free! Hooray! (Yes, OK, I do miss it a bit.) As if by magic, he started to sleep through the night, waking only at 4 to get into our bed and sleep on to the usual 5 or 5.30. Hooray! (No, I do not miss it.)
But, Joaquim got sick. Coughing, temperature, headache, vomiting. Not malaria, pneumonia. Just for a change. A bit scary, but heºs getting better thanks to large doses of antibiotics. Heºs not very keen on them, theyºre very yuk apparently (I believe him), but he takes them. Not long after his diagnosis, Sebastian started to cough and then he got a temperature too, although othewise heºs fine. We didnºt wait very long to take him to the doctor, for obvisou reasons, no pneumonia yet but definitely an infection, so heºs on antibiotics too, and guess what? We have to wake him up in the middle of the night to take them. Oh, the irony. When will I sleep again?
Labels: Ibo, illness, Joaquim, Sebastian
Unusually worried
It’s been a while since my last post, for various reasons. Firstly, my laptop is on the blink, the e key either doesn’t respond or types eeeee incessantly. I am using an external keyboard but it doesn’t solve the problem entirely, as sometimes the e’s intrude constantly and make it impossible to type. I’m trying to buy a new keyboard in the UK, any helpful suggestions?
Then I was out of the ofice for a while, at a fantastic workshop looking at the relationship between tourism investors and local communities and how to draw up contracts so that both parties benefit. OK, so you might not think that sounds thrilling, but it’s central to my work and it was a very dynamic few days, with lotsof input from experts in various fields and excellent discussions. I left with my head reeling and loads of new ideas for my projects.
Thirdly, and most unfortunately, we’ve had a run of bad health. First Paulo, who called me back from the workshop because he was rushed to the clinic at 4am in agony. Sand in his kidneys (the makings of kidney stones), and while you’re at it, another dose of malaria. Injections, drips, quinine. He’s now better. Then Joaquim. Malaria again, and I’m very unhappy about this, plus – while you’re at it – a very infected tonsilitis. Penicilin injections, paracetamol and malaria medicine. He’s now mostly better, but still has diarrhea. He’s taken 2 courses of metronidazole (remember the ameobic dysentry post) and we don’t want to give him more as it destroys all your gut flora, plus we’re not sure if that is still the problem. We’re watching closely and if necessary will go to Maputo for tests.
All that was a bit stressful, as you can imagine, and as always brought up the old “should we really be here” debate, and in general got me worrying about all sortsof things. I am not a worrier by nature, those who know me would probably say that I am the opposite of a worrier in fact.e Beuet heeree I am worrying. So I have decided to draw up a list of things that I worry about and things that I don’t to see how the balance is looking and perhaps put my mind more at rest (based on the asumption that I am correct in worrying, or not, about these things). In no particular order, and with varying degrees of untensity.
Thins I worry about:
- The kids’ health, and in particular MALARIA.
- Whether Joaquim watches too much TV.
- That we should be living closer to our families, and that Paulo’s parents are quite old.
- That we will never readapt to living in Europe.
- That my kids will never be fully integrated into their English family because I am selfishly keeping them away.
- That I am not good enough at my job, and that working motherhood is a mistake.
- That Joaquim’s teeth are going to rot because he sometimes falls asleep without brushing them.
- That we don’t have a properly balanced diet.
- Climate change.
- That I’m losing my old friends.
Thaings I don’t worry about:
- Whether my kids are happy.
- My marriage.
- My weight.
- Whether we get enough fresh air and time outdoors.
- Whether the kids get enough time with their dad.
- The kids’ mental and physical development.
- Breathing polluted air.
- Pesticides in our food.
- The effect of super-consumerism on my kids’ social education.
- My environmental footprint.
So, how does it look? Unsurprisingly enough, kids register high on both lists, but perhaps the non-worries for them outweigh the worries, apart from the malaria. There are some hefty non-worries, which is good, but some equally valid worries. I’d really appreciate some comments here.
Labels: computer problems, illness, malaria, worries
