I awoke at 1:30 am and never went back to sleep. Surely, that’s a result of napping on and off all day which with this bacterial infection it’s hard for us not to do. Yesterday, Tom napped for three hours straight, but he could sleep during the night, although he woke up several times while I mindlessly played scrabble with strangers on my phone.

Yeah, I know the deal about “screen time” at night, but after countless tries without it, I still couldn’t get to sleep and just gave up trying. Worrying about not sleeping doesn’t help. I resigned myself to this reality and beat the heck out of several players, one after another. At least if I was going to be awake, I might as well enjoy some lively competition.

Before bed, we continue to watch Outlander on Netflix. We are on Season 3 with two more seasons to go. What a show! But in our weakened state the past several nights, we had an awful time staying awake, later re-watching the portions we’d missed. Tonight, I’ll have a heck of a time staying awake after dinner. If I take a nap today, I’ll ask Tom to wake me up after 20 minutes.

Last night, Tom drove to Jabula to get takeaway food for us. Doc Theo suggested I eat lean meat and pumpkin which is easy on the digestive tract, so I ordered roasted chicken, and butternut which is comparable to pumpkin. It tasted so good after not eating for a few days. For the first time in days, I was hungry. Tom enjoyed his chicken, rice, and creamed spinach, and the meal sat well with both of us.

As we were placing our food on plates since we don’t like to eat out of styrofoam containers, Danie showed up at the door. He said, “Hey, man, are you guys ok? Doc Theo was trying to call you Friday night and he’s worried that you didn’t answer”  I had left the phone on, next to me Friday night. He didn’t have the correct phone number for me.

He told Danie if we weren’t feeling better, please go to the hospital for IV solutions and more treatment and not wait until Monday when we could see him again. But, we were feeling better, drinking plenty of fluids, and felt like we were turning the corner. Danie called Theo back to tell him we were alive, improving, and thanks for worrying about us. It was almost 7:00 pm, 1900 hrs, on Saturday night, and Theo was worrying about us. Bless his heart.

Where in the world would we ever find such a doctor who cared this much? Nowhere we’ve ever been. After all, Theo diagnosed my painful jaw as a dangerous indication of heart disease and a potential immediate heart attack or stroke. Good grief! The man saved my life, and here he was, once again, providing a level of care that is rarely found anywhere. We are very grateful.

Feeling a little better today, although we still have a way to go tonight; we’ll make chicken breasts on the braai with rice for Tom and sauteed mushrooms we have on hand. It will be an easy meal to make. All I will do is season the chicken, after which Tom will place it on the grilling rack, then cook the rice and the mushrooms in garlic and butter. It’s great we have a gas stove and oven in this house. When there’s load shedding, we can still use the stove.

Louise offered to cook for us, but we insisted we’ll figure it out, and we have. Here again, is it any wonder we love being in Marloth Park? Our friend’s and medical professionals’ love and kindness are enough motivation to be here.

We haven’t seen many animals the past several days since we’ve been hunkered down in the bedroom resting day and night. However, this morning, Mom and Baby warthogs returned, along with a first for us, a Mom and Baby duiker. What a sweet sighting.  Of course, we took a few photos we’ll share here soon.

Every so often, we check outdoors as we continue to rest and recover. We won’t hesitate to offer pellets to any of our visiting new friends. Many more visitors will stop by once we are better and can spend all of our time on the veranda.

Have a safe and healthy day.

Photo from one year ago today, May 29, 2021:

I wish we’d never have to write about being sick. But, with our commitment to always “tell it like it is,” we feel compelled to share every aspect of our lives of world travels with our readers. Even if we didn’t travel, we’d be sick from time to time. Would it be so unusual for a senior citizen to get sick once or twice a year with a cold, flu, or a virus? Certainly not.

Of course, some people never become ill, and we surely envy their sturdiness. But, we aren’t quite so fortunate. Why? We don’t know. We certainly strive to live a healthy lifestyle. Tom is considerably less likely to become ill than I am. He takes no medication and has no known conditions in his almost 70 years.

But, I don’t see him doing anything more diligently than I do, yet I fall prey to various illnesses throughout the year. This frustrates me, the person who has strived for good health all of my life through a healthy diet, exercise, and positive attitude. I guess I am missing something, or perhaps, genetics plays a more significant role than I’d thought.

Our recent bad bout of Omicron left us both reeling with exhaustion and lingering effects, most of which continue to subside day by day. Tom had fully recovered from Covid pneumonia. We both only have a tickle of cough on occasion.

When we arrived in Marloth Park on Tuesday, although exhausted from the long journey but we both knew a few good night’s sleep, we’d recover from the two-day trip from Las Vegas, Nevada, back to South Africa, the last leg of which was a 15-hour red-eye in the coach. We each only slept an hour or two, sitting straight up in our seats. The remainder of the time was spent watching movies on the entertainment screens at our seats.

Once in Marloth Park, we were excited to complete the recovery of Covid while resting from the long journey and being fit and chipper to cherish our time back in the bush. But that was not the case.

On Wednesday, we both started experiencing severe diarrhea and stomach pain. I was feeling nauseous and very ill, Tom less so. By Wednesday evening, I had a fever and lay under four blankets on the bed, shivering all night. I took two Paracetamol (Tylenol) every six hours to keep the temperature down but never slept a wink due to the constant need to run to the bathroom and the awful feeling of having a fever.

Thursday, I never left the bed other than to shower and run to the bathroom. Tom was struggling as well, but not quite as bad. I couldn’t eat, knowing the result would be more trips to the bathroom, but I didn’t have an appetite. By Thursday night, we acknowledged that we needed to see Doc Theo as soon as we could get an appointment, hopefully on Friday with the weekend coming.

Our appointment was scheduled for 2:30 pm, 1430 hrs, but we arrived 30 minutes earlier, and he could see us. At that point, I could barely keep my head up. We told Theo about our awful bouts of Covid and Tom’s pneumonia. He explained that Covid weakens the immune system, which is most likely why we’d both become sick at this time.

He diligently examined each of us. He ordered blood tests just for me since, most likely, we had the same affliction. He noted my case was much worse than Tom’s since he’d been on antibiotics for pneumonia only a week or two earlier, which provided him some lingering protection.

The testing lab is across the street from the doctor’s office. There was no way I could have walked, so we drove. We went back to Theo’s office to await the results. In no time at all, he called us back into his office and said I had a severe gastrointestinal infection, either e-coli or salmonella. Tom has a lighter version. How did he know Tom’s was less? From palpating our stomachs. Mine was tender to the touch where Tom’s was not. Plus, Tom’s symptoms were less severe.

He prescribed a litany of medications for each of us. Tom didn’t need antibiotics which was good since he’d recently been on two. But, he prescribed Cipro and other meds for me. Cipro is commonly used in Africa to treat bacterial infections which is what I have.

When we arrived at the pharmacy i brought the prescriptions inside and handed them to the pharmacist. But moments later I could no longer stand and went back to the car, asking Tom to go inside and collect them when they were ready. By 4:00 pm, 1600 hrs., we were back at the house, began taking our meds while I headed back to bed. We had scrambled eggs for dinner, the first food we had eaten all day. But, within minutes of eating, the rushing to the bathroom began again.

This morning I am a little better, and so is Tom. We are hopeful we are on the mend. How we got this dreadful infection is unknown to us. We went over everything we ate and drank, and there is nothing we ate the same except for the dinner we made at the house, salad (unbagged), rice (for Tom), and meat, nothing that should have caused an issue. But one never knows. It could have been either the salad or the beef, which was fresh when we cooked them.

So, that, dear readers, is why we didn’t do a post yesterday, nor did we take any new photos. I’m still not up to sitting outdoors and watching our animal friends visit. But that will come in time, and for that, we can hardly wait.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, May 28, 2021:

Tom had dental surgery yesterday, which included moving bone between his gums and sinuses to create a bridge for two implants. It will need to heal for over six months, and once we return in December 2022, Dr. Singh in  Malalane will permanently make the crowns sit atop the metal implants.  In the interim, he still has the noticeable gap on the right side of his mouth, which shows when he smiles.

Why not get it done sooner than 13 or 14  months from now? The foundation won’t be ready while we’re in the US, and if all goes as planned, we’ll be on the move in many countries outside the US. It will be best to wait. He’s fine with that. Also, the cost for the two implants is 70% to 80% less in South Africa than in the US.

After the 45 minute procedure, he came out to the reception area and looked fine except for the wad of gauze he had in his mouth. Comparable to when his teeth were pulled, he has to be extra careful not to disturb the site while it heals by eating on the opposite side, avoiding brushing in that area and not touching it, or playing with it with his tongue.

Surprisingly, he had no pain after the anesthetic wore off and had no trouble eating a bacon-wrapped fillet mignon and rice for dinner. He passed on vegetables and salad but will have them tonight with his pork chops cooked on the braai. He says he’s feeling fine with no discomfort at all.

When I had my tooth pulled recently, I suffered dearly for three weeks with a dry socket and a few days ago noticed a bone spur sticking out from the gums in that area. Oh, good grief. My appointment with Dr. Singh was before Tom’s, and in no time at all, he numbed the site and, using a laser while I wore special glasses, he filed down the bone spur.  The area will heal in a few days. Thank goodness, no pain or discomfort from this easy procedure.

But, all of this brings to mind how different Tom and I are when having an illness or medical procedure. Tom recovers without incident, and I go through hell with complications that can haunt me for weeks, if not months, after I have any medical issue, surgery, or procedure.

The vast difference is in our genes is that Tom’s family members are robust and healthy. His mother, Mary Lyman, lived until almost 99, and before her final days, she wasn’t on any medication. Tom takes no medication other than a few vitamins. I envy how fortunate he is but am grateful we don’t have to deal with any medical issues.

On the other hand, my family’s genes are a mess. Many suffer (mainly on my mother’s side) with diabetes and other metabolic diseases, obesity, heart disease allergies (such as asthma and hay fever), cancer, and more, all inflammatory-type conditions. Thus I’d have diabetes if I didn’t eat such a low-carb diet. I have coronary arterial disease and am riddled with many allergic conditions, including asthma, hay fever, and a high propensity for reacting to allergens with hives, especially in South Africa.

As mentioned a few days ago, the usual dust mite invasion in the bed, typical this time of year, causes me an outrageous amount of massive, crazy itching welts. Most mattresses and stuffed furniture, bedding, and pillows have dust mites in them. Most people don’t react to these nasty invisible mites unless they are allergic to their presence, as I am.

Unbeknownst to me, this past weekend, in one night, the dust mite invasion happened as the weather had heated up, and in the morning, I had red, raised welts all over the entire left side of my body. I lay on my left side, barely moving all night long. This is not new to me, as mentioned previously. But, by the time I had developed the welts, it was too late. The itching typically lasts for two to three weeks.

Louise was all over this. She arranged for Zef and Vusi to make an all-out attack on the dust mites in the mattress by washing all the linen in scalding water and drying it all at high temperatures. Then she purchased an ultra-thick mattress cover which was added after they vacuumed every inch of the bed and sprayed everything with a particular non-toxic chemical, specifically for this purpose.

This was all done yesterday on Monday. The hard part was that I already had the welts, and last night, I had no way of knowing if what they’d done would be beneficial. I can only wait until the welts heal. The itching is unbearable. My Fitbit says I slept for only three hours each of the last two nights.

With several types of cream on hand, cortisone-based and antihistamine-based, I got no relief after slathering it on every few hours. The itching only lessened for an hour or so after I got up during the night and took a hot shower. The heat seemed to help as opposed to advice online saying heat would only make it work. Dr. Google isn’t always right, although I did find a few entries stating heat could be beneficial for some types of allergic responses.

Of course, I took two different long-acting antihistamines, 12-hours apart, with no relief whatsoever. Today, I am trying to do things differently. I haven’t used any cream yet. This morning we went to the little store, and I purchased calamine lotion. I determined that touching it every few hours was spreading the welts. Tonight, before bed, I will take another shower and then gently apply the calamine lotion with a cotton ball. I am not scratching at all, as tempting as it is.

Then, around 11:00 pm, 2300 hrs, I will take two 25 mg Benedryl, which we have on hand, hoping this will help the itching and put me to sleep. I didn’t use any Benedryl yesterday since I had taken two other non-drowsy antihistamines, providing no relief.

I keep looking at the time, for once, hoping this day passes quickly. We’ll busy ourselves in the bedroom after dinner streaming a few favorite shows to distract me. We’ll have the aircon on since today is the hottest day we’ve had here since we arrived last January.  Right now, it’s 104F, 40C, and rising by the minute. It’s too hot to sit outdoors or even in the lounge.

With it so hot, the animals are hunkered down at water holes and in the shade. There have been no more comments about the lions, but we’ll keep you updated.

Have an excellent day! Please check back tomorrow!

Photo from one year ago today, November 16, 2020: