When I threw on my pack this morning, the pain in my shoulders and hips reminded me of the 14 miles we had hiked the day before, and the 4,500 foot elevation gain we had made in the 8 hours that we hiked yesterday. With the pain, I also had an immediate flashback to being in Nepal, and the second day of my trek. I tried to console my sore spots this morning by remembering by the 3rd day or 4th day, my body had gotten use to the pack, and I wasn't sore. But sadly, this was only an overnight trip.
Friday night Cecile and I drove down arriving past dark, to find that Thomas had set up a tent and had a fire going. The stars were out in full force, the moon hadn't yet arisen, so as the fire died down, we decided to just thrown the sleeping bags outside and sleep under the stars. The only danger was the possibility of rain (it had been raining all week) and the almost softball size pinecones. But risking head injuries from falling pine cones and rushing into a tent were well worth it, as in the end it turned out to remain cloudless, and only one pine cone came close to hitting one of us, and we were greeted with a sunrise and a perfect day.
The goal, was Mount-Aux-Sources. Many months ago, David and I did some hiking in the Berg, and we hiked to the base of a waterfall, which was DRY! Well, this hike that we had planned was a 14 mile hike, gaining 4,500 ft in elevation, which included 2 chain ladders going up a few stories of a mountain face, to the plateau at the top of the Drakensberg Amphitheatre. It was a cloudless day, and a perfect hike. The views were incredible.
It was great being away, and having periods on the trail to just think about what's been going on lately.
I thought about how I'm still pissed that GT died. I wondered why DM hasn't returned from his weekend pass, which he got the weekend before. I keep thinking I should find his file in the clinic and see if we have a working telephone number for him, and call him and tell him to get back ASAP. I worried about VM-the patient I wrote about recently who looked so great after finally starting TB treatment, who I saw in the clinic and is all of a sudden not doing well, and had been mismanaged a few days ago, and was sent home instead of being admitted. I thought about JC, and how Saturday was his birthday, and was glad that he was home on a weekend pass, to celebrate with his wife and daughter--I am learning JC's story, and it is inspiring. While thinking of these patients, and many others whom I have not written about I vented multiple times to Cecile (who is in medicine as well) about my frustrations.
I reflected on what it has been like to be so far removed from the lives of family and friends, and colleagues, and to have missed special occasions etc. And what it will be like to return. I find myself bringing this up more and more with a few friends who are perpetual transplants in this world.
I felt guilty for enjoying the weekend. I know my consultant does an incredible amount of work on the weekends, part of it has been on a project I am involved with. And I envision him sitting at the computer doing some work, and there I was watching hawks fly overhead, making false goals to come home on Sunday (tonight) and to complete the 20 chart audits I have brought home for the weekend, as well as the database which I had hope to have revised by tomorrow.
I didn't enjoy wondering if we would encounter "Bandits" who are known to roam these parts and "steal hiking boots" and other things at night while people sleep in their tents. But it made me think how dire things must be if people who live in the surrounding areas can only survive by occasionally borrowing from persons who can afford the luxery to have fancy outdoor equipment and come invite themselves into their backyard. I had taken what I had hoped would be plenty of bribery money so that if I was awoken by strangers at night, I could give plenty of money so I could keep my boots. Hiking back today, I was glad to have my hiking boots.
As we approached the car, I couldn't help but think about how hectic tomorrow will be. Yet, I didn't find myself dreading work tomorrow, I found that I was actually eager to get to the wards, and see that my patients are doing ok.
Time to wrap this up. There'll be no weekend warrior next weekend, as it will be a frantic weekend getting caught up from the two previous weekends spent away.
I must add, though, that I was very distressed to learn that ibuprofen (aka wonder drug) is only sold by prescription here. I can consume ibuprofen like tic-tacs at times, and could really use some tonight, seeing as how I depleted by ibuprofen stock months ago. I actually had to ration them in Nepal. And had I know, I would have stocked up there for the return trip.
Cheers.
PS: photos coming up soon.
-
