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.......must have kissed a witch in a past life.......ok, here we go......
a half hour after getting to the hotel room in cusco - fri lunchtime, altitude sickness comes back with avengeance even though we are now 400m lower than Puno.
John asks D to call for a doctor. Within 3 mins of doctor arriving, we're in the ambulance, no mention of packing an overnight bag - you're going into hospital NOW.........
In Manchester the lights would have been going and the sirens too but here in mote gentile surrounds we trundle down the cobbled streets and through the many town squares at a purposeful but more discreet pace, to the medical centre.
Long and short of it is that my blood Oxygen reading was 64 - should be 95-100. 64 is critically low and is not sustainable. The headaches for the past 5 days have been my brain swelling out of it's cradle............and we had been treating it with coco-leaf tea......! Also developed endema in the lungs and all sorts of other issues...........possibly the toilet issue too........?????? (still not resolved .....?????).
John goes straight onto oxygen machines, into oxygen chambers, on drips, blood tests (no diabetes in me.....), pills and injections, visits from specialists - the whole shooting match.....and he's thinking - I just need a quiet bloody sit down, this is supposed to be a dream holiday......????....!!!
John's blood oxygen level (BOL) eventually gets to 85 (still low) but an air ambulance is permanently on standby to fly us to Lima at a minutes notice, Lima being the safe haven for John of zero-level altitude.
Eventually things stabalise, water in John's lungs reduce and spirits lift. It becomes apparant that this condition has been with John since arriving at altitude a week ago and has been progressing ever since.
We watch the champions league final from our suite at the hospital, and endless rounds of MTV. Food is delivered in (no guinea pig.......), is excellently prepared, and Denise has a bed in the suite and is delivered 3 meals a day so is happy.....she spends her time between the town and the hospital and our hotel keeps the room open in case John is released.
Machu Picchu begins to fall off the agenda and preparing for an early return to Lima becomes the focus, but John decides to not give up just yet.......................
Backwards and forwards to the oxygen chamber at another hospital (6 sessions in total................!!!!!) and confidence builds.
When the doctors hear we are from Manchester, we take on some sort of celebrity status in the hospital.................questions change from lungs, headaches and Machu Picchu.................to Rooney, Ferdinand, Ronaldo, and David Beckham....................................needless to say I told them everything they were sooooooo hoping to hear................and I am photographed from my sickbed with all the doctors.....................!!!!!
Cusco is a town which attracts the outward-bounds set.............if you like the Lake District or the Peak District or the Dales................this will be your Mecca. There is a wonderful array of traditional craft markets around the town's cobbled courtyards, streets and alleyways...............it's quite beautiful, especially at night. The bars are very chilled out, though I'm only allowed to look in from the outside on this trip....!!! It does have a harder edge to it, away from the "old town", but doesn't everywhere.
Our hotel is boutique, and after they hear of our troubles in Puno we have been upgraded to a mezzanine suite....................which is very kind of them, pity I have been in hospital for most of the time.....!!!
Puno - oh yes, nearly forgot......................remember we left in the early hours of Friday morning......................the protestors turned real nasty on Friday and began burning buildings, increased the looting activity, smashing up hotel windows and foyers..............................there are no tourists left in Puno now. The military have been called in to restore order..............................Mary knew what was coming, and did the kindest thing for us, she knew we weren't safe....................the Peruvian authorities did not act quickly enough, and although adventure is an integral part of any trip to South America, genuine danger, particularly in a large urban environment is not part of the deal.
ok...................Monday afternoon, and John begins to get restless now - time for action. Discussions with the medical team become more direct, and with their agreement, John is allowed to go back to the hotel, with a bedside oxygen ventilator, an oxygen tank to go in his backpack, pills and potions, and 2 x emergency oxygen "blast" cannisters. Sounds dramatic, but in reality it is quite manageable. I am wired up in the night, but in the day I check my blood oxygen level every 30mins, and regulate it with deep-breathing chest exercises........................learnt a lot about the respiratory system throughout this episode.
It's Tuesday morning and Denise and I are currently putting together the arrangements for a train ride to Machu Piccu for tomorrow...............(hopefully).
Don't worry about us................we're fine. We've given up trying to fight the tide of this trip now, it'll just go down as the one that (slightly) got away from us.....................still an experience though, and that's what travel is about to us..................it's not about the beaches, the hotels, the sights.................it's the way you have to adapt to fit in to different ways, cultures, and lifestyles as you travel around the planet, and the way you adopt the local way of living.
Just checked John's BOL.....................it's 90, that's fine......................back in charge and back in control.
JC + D
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Daniel Black
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Get well soon John. What tales you have to tell when you get home!! We're thinking of you from the other side of the world. Daniel, Megan and your MNTV friends