Who’s in the garden this morning?
- 13 warthogs
- 17 bushbucks
- 16 kudus
- 1 wildebeest – Broken Horn
- Frank and The Misses
Right now, as I write at 9:00 am, there are 13 animals in the garden, including Broken Horn (wildebeest), 5 kudus, 4 bushbucks, and 3 warthogs. As soon as this batch departs, a new batch will arrive, entertaining us all day long. Two of the warthogs, Fred and Ethyl, who live here, only leaving for short periods, return to sleep during the day and night.
They spend their days hunkered down in the garden in a favorite spot and deep into the bush at night. Then, each morning, when we head outside, they are there, nestled close to one another, waiting, in hopes of the first handful of pellets tossed into the garden. They spend most of their days hoping more pellets will be offered to other visitors that they can devour along with the others. It’s all delightful, every single moment.
OK, confession time. You all know how much I dread mentioning it when I am not feeling well, but our regular readers must surely suspect something is not quite right on this end when the posts are less enthusiastic and varied. The only reason I end up mentioning any issues is perhaps to share what it’s like living in foreign countries without access to an all-encompassing health plan and a regular doctor/clinic that knows my full history.
It’s embarrassing that as a lifelong health advocate, I espouse various protocols to maintain good health, and I would never get sick and require medical care. But, I suppose if we lived in the US a few times a year, something would come up; the flu, a virus, or an infection. Unfortunately, few of us are exempt from an occasional bout with these and other conditions.
We were no exception in our old lives, and we’re certainly no exception now, especially as we’ve aged and fallen prey to some conditions we may have acquired through our travels, indigenous to a specific area. So how I came down with this current situation baffles me.
To the best of my knowledge, I wasn’t exposed to anyone with a cold or virus, especially while wearing a mask, washing hands, and social distancing. But, who knows? It could have been anyone or any situation of which I’m not aware. This tells me I haven’t been as diligent in avoiding Covid-19 as I should have been if I “caught” this virus from someone along the way and could easily “catch” Covid in the same manner.
Last Tuesday, when we headed to Komatipoort for grocery shopping, I’d been experiencing a “tickly” type of cough and a bad sore throat for a few days. Of course, my first reaction was Covid, so Tom and I stopped at the medical lab in Komatipoort for a Covid test, getting the much appreciated negative results the next morning.
Knowing I didn’t have Covid was such a relief, I gave little thought to my symptoms, when over the week, very slowly they exacerbated, but not much more than a typical cold. I didn’t have a runny nose, a fever, and rarely coughed, mainly aware of the sore throat, but never giving it much of a thought.
We went about our lives, dining out, visiting with friends, and generally feeling only a little off. Then, late Sunday night, five days after the onset of the mild symptoms, I started having a terrible time breathing, so much so that I had to use my asthma inhalers multiple times to no avail. I barely slept, which I mentioned in an earlier post but didn’t go into the details about why I didn’t sleep. I couldn’t breathe. I didn’t want to whine here as I often do.
Over this week, the breathing issues and cough became unbearable, so much so that I began to wonder if I had a “false negative” and needed another Covid test. So a few days ago, on Wednesday morning, eight days after my first Covid test and feeling too sick to drive to Komatipoort, we drove to the new clinic in Marloth Park for the test. But, unfortunately, no doctor wasn’t on the premises.
Not only did I get the test, but the nurse practitioner wrote down all of my symptoms and vital signs and called the doctor. When she took my pulse oxygen, it was low for me at 89 instead of my usual 97-99. When I walked out the door an hour later (Tom had waited in the car), They told me to return the next day, Thursday, for my prescriptions. I’d asked for a different asthma inhaler that works better for me than the one I currently had, but I had not had any major asthma issues for a long time.
In the meantime, I was using a portable powered nebulizer using a drug called Pulmicort, which I purchased in India (no prescription required) in case we got Covid. It aids in breathing issues and, over the past several days, was my saving grace. I was finally able to sleep.
Yesterday, Tom picked up my prescriptions, and I was shocked to see the doctor had ordered 8 drugs for me. I’d only requested an antibiotic if my situation didn’t improve and a different inhaler that works better than what I had on hand. I’ll never understand why I was prescribed multiple sinus allergy and asthma pills (which I haven’t taken since a child) and even a narcotic pain reliever. I didn’t mention any issues with pain.
So as it’s turned out, I am well-stocked in the event of allergy issues down the road or if we become injured or have severe pain. But since I prefer not to take prescription medications unless they are life-saving, I didn’t even take the two different massive doses of antibiotics, after all. I started improving yesterday afternoon rapidly when the cough loosened up, and now I can say with confidence I am on the mend. The cough and breathing issue is still there but considerably better. The sore throat is gone. I slept 8 hours last night.
At times, doctors prescribe antibiotics with pressure from patients, when in fact, we may have a virus that is not aided by these drugs. Had I not improved by 70% in the past 24 hours, I would have taken them. But now, I am beginning to feel like myself after 10 days since the onset.
My comments here are not intended to suggest you don’t follow your doctor’s prescriptions and orders. But, I knew based on how much better I feel that I didn’t need all of these drugs. Yesterday, the second Covid was negative. Had it been positive, I everything would have changed, including my treatment plan.
We had to cancel a few social events this week with Rita and Gerhard, but I believe by tomorrow night, we will be able to go with them to Jabula for dinner.
We hope you are all feeling well after your Covid-19 vaccination if you so chose to have it. For those in the US, have a safe Memorial Day weekend.
Photo from one year ago today, May 28, 2020:
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| Pansies at the Connemara Heritage and History Centre appear to have little faces. For more photos, please click here. |