Paralyzed on the Annapurna Circuit
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Tiger Balm Tales Volume 9
What started as a slight headache the night before had manifested into my complete paralysis the next morning. My head was throbbing, but worse than that, my body felt like it had gone through a medieval bone crusher in the middle of the night. Every movement I made ached, and my body felt as if it were a punching bag.
My sleep was restless, so I was already lucid when our alarm went off to signify a new day of trekking towards the pass. I rolled over to look at my dad, and ironically I felt as if I were the one who was 73 years old.
A tidal wave of illness had hit me. Immediately I knew what this meant. I tried to put it out of my mind…but the headache kept reminding me…this had to be altitude sickness. Having battled altitude sickness before, I knew the signs. A wave of anger swept over me – why me…again? I did everything right this time; we went very slowly, and I hydrated. Why did this have to happen?
My mind continued spiraling into the abyss of trekking failure. Yet my emotions were magnified as I had brought my father this far; if anyone was supposed to struggle, I expected it to be him. But he lay there slowly waking up, and he seemed just fine. I was going to be the one to ruin it for us. I was going to be the reason we had to turn back.
During our ‘rest day’ yesterday, we went to the free Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) talk provided at the little medical outpost, which was manned by American volunteer doctors. We learned about all of the symptoms and what can be done to ease them. However, I was well aware of the symptoms based on my past experience, and I also knew the only real cure – to descend.
In the talk, we also learned that I had another thing stacked against me; if you’ve had AMS before, you are more susceptible to getting it again. However, on a brighter note, we also learned that the older you are, the less likely you are to get AMS. If you are over 50 years old, your brain actually starts to shrink and therefore has more room to expand in your skull as you go up in altitude; good news for Dad.
Altitude tips
Altitude can be a challenge for visitors to Denver. The city sits at 5,280 feet (hence the “Mile High City”), which is a significant change for most people stepping off the plane.
Common symptoms of mild to moderate altitude sickness include:
The good news is that there are steps you can take to ease the adjustment and minimize side effects:
Give your body a little time, stay hydrated, and you’ll be better prepared to enjoy everything Denver has to offer.
As I lay in my bed with my head swimming in a sea of disappointment, I listened to everyone departing past my door with a sinking feeling. All of the new friends that I had made the days before stopped at our room door and said farewell to me as they took off trekking again. Everything was moving around me, and I was standing still. Whereas the day before I loved standing still; today I didn’t. This was unplanned. This would get us off our schedule. This could be the demise of our goal.
Some of our trekking friends loaned us a thermometer, and Dad came back to take my temperature. Of course, the temperature was in Celsius; therefore, my dad, the retired engineer, had to try to figure out the conversion to Fahrenheit so that it made sense to us Americans! He jotted away with his pencil in his little notebook, multiply this, add that, carry the 2, and presto – my temperature was 101…shit.
Luckily, I happened to be sick in the only town that had a medical clinic. Somehow I mustered up enough energy to shuffle over to the clinic with my dad’s help. We had decided I’d better see a doctor. I felt as if I could barely walk, my head spinning, feeling as heavy as a bowling ball. I was imagining my brain swelling due to hitting the sides of my skull, causing me this immense altitude headache. I handed over my $35 USD to see a young doctor. I sat on the cot and told him my symptoms.
He took notes about the length and itinerary of our ascent; he took my temperature, looked in my ears, and listened to my lungs. He put down his clipboard and said, “I don’t believe you have AMS. I think you’ve caught some virus and have a sinus infection.”
What’s that…did I hear him correctly…no AMS…hurray!
He proceeded to give me antibiotics, nasal spray, and Panadol and told me to consider resting for a couple of days before going any further to see if the antibiotics would take hold. My dad and I shuffled back to my little guest room; I took all of the drugs and promptly fell back asleep.
I dozed in and out of consciousness for the next 18 hours. My dad was left to play nurse, waking me up to give me medication, watching over me, and putting tiger balm on my aching back. He continued to watch my temperature climb, peaking at 103 F. I lay in my little sleeping bag cocoon, barely poking out my head or opening my eyes.
When I did come to every so often, I would poke my head out and see my dad watching me. The tables had turned – I was the one who needed him. I thought back to my childhood, and could never remember a time when my dad had to take care of me. It was always my mom who brought me 7Up and soda crackers, watching over me. In my feverish haze, I marveled at my Dad’s ability to care for me. Once again, I was reminded how happy I was that he had decided to come on this trip with me.
In addition to my dad watching over me, our guide and porter (Bishnu and Deihl) also took caregiving roles. They would bring me bowls of noodles, trying to get me to eat food, and they would refill my thermos of tea. Eating the noodles pretty much used up my energy reserves, and I would fall back into my sleepy haze.
I complained about how my body ached, and Bishnu came back with another pad to put on top of my current sleeping pad, trying to make it a bit more comfortable for me. After all, our guest room was pretty bare-bones – a little wooden bed with a 3-inch-thick mattress and my sleeping bag; not the most comfortable conditions to be sick in!
I could only hope that with the three of them caring for me, my bag of drugs, and more rest, I’d be able to be back on the Annapurna trail again soon. Only time will tell.
No real surprise, but there were no pictures from this day!
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Read the Tiger Balm Tales Series
Get better soon! Being sick on the road sucks.
I had always wondered if we would ever make it over Thorung La Pass, and I always thought it would probably be due to my ability. However, on your bad day in Manang, I forgot about my ability and was concerned about you. I felt chipper and ready to go after a day of rest, but now I thought maybe this is it. We had to help you recover as it was that or we would all go back. Once the Dr. said virus I felt much better as maybe a couple days delay and we would be on our way again.
You described the day well. Everyone was trying to make you recover, particularly me! We had gone this far and I wanted to complete the circuit! Dispensing pills, playing nurse, and encouraging the sick are not my strong suits. Converting temperatures are more in my line. But we do what we have to and you were a good patient. It finally occurred to me that I had come on this trek for more than my own enjoyment. Encouragement and supporting one another was also a part my duties. This was more of a team sport than I had realized. This probably made all 4 of us (Bishnu, Deihla, you and I) a better team
I really like the photo of “Manang Villager at Work”. Complete with the weed temporarily snagging her dress hem.
DAD
Thanks for the comments dad! It’s great to hear your voice too as this is all my perspective so far! I love your comment about team work…there’s certainly a lot of that yet to come too!
Ummmm – what was that I said about thinking I could do this??? On the other hand, I am over 50….. I battle with hoping this series will go on forever and thinking – can’t you just write it all out – I want to see what HAPPENED!!
Ha…yes – sorry I’m dragging it out…but I like suspense! It’s kind of like getting a couple chapters of a book a week I guess.
that really sucks. I hope you get better and make it all the way
Thanks Matt! You’ll have to come back and read the next installments to see what happens!
Fever of 103, headache and body aches- this was not a sinus infection. You had H1N1 flu. Sounds like you did fine though!
Wow – I never thought about H1N1 – doubtful that it could’ve been the case…but you never know! I figured I caught something from the millions of germs that I came into contact with on the trail via kids, and guesthouses!
I can really relate to your feelings of worry and disappointment thinking you had AMS. My girlfriend and I completed the circuit in 2005. We didn’t have a guide or porter and accidentally walked through the village before base camp where we meant to stay the night. By the time we realized what we had done it was getting dark, so we couldn’t turn back. When we arrived at base camp, I knew I had gone too fast and not acclimatized properly, I had pounding headache and dizziness (mild AMS). I spent a horrible sleepless night worrying whether I was going to be able to go on. In the morning – feeling slightly better, I decided I needed to attempt the pass and I some how managed to get over it! As soon as we started to come down to a lower altitude I felt better. It’s an amazing trek and one of the best travel experiences of my life. I looking forward to your next installment, I hope you made it over the pass!
Wow – congrats on making it! I agree, it is amazing that when you simply descend to 10,000 ft you feel better…best medicine in the world!
Sherry,
As a fellow AMS sufferer I am enjoying this tale very much, knowing that it is something that I personally have no desire to attempt. It is encouraging to hear that AMS symptoms become less intense as one ages. Since I get ill above 9,000 feet that’s good to know!
We are going skiing in New Hampshire in a couple of weeks. I am such a bad skier, but I’m curious to find out if my lack of ablility has anything to do with altitude! What a crushing blow if it turns out I am simply a klutz! (not really, I already I have a pretty good idea about that…)
Keep me posted on the skiing! Whenever I went skiing in Colorado I would have horrible headaches. However the excessive beer I drank while there probably wasn’t helping my case!
Sounds bad – I heard there are some drugs for altitude Sickness that you take before you go up as a precaution – wondered whether they’d ever been helpful to you
Yes Heather there are. However they aren’t proven to work. I actually took them when I climbed Kilimanjaro and I still got deathly sick, so this time I decided to simply try it au natural and go slow which is normally the best way to combat AMS.
This is more gripping than a Le Carre novel. Hang in there and hopefullyt return to your journey and goal.
Just catching up on this – crazy! At least you’re ok though.
Whoa! What an experience, and I’m sure you’ll never forget this. I forget about altitude changes and what it can do to the brain and it does give me pause before traveling now that I have Mr. Miyagi in my noggin. Sigh.
Glad you’re better and it was just sinus problems ;0)
Ahhh, I remember when I had altitude sickness on this very hike! It’s awful. And there really are no words to describe it. I didn’t realize you did this hike. Can’t wait to read the rest of your posts! If you’re interested in reading about my Annapurna Adventure, you can find post one here:
http://lostandfound-bailee.blogspot.de/2012/05/annapurna-nepal-day-1.html
Safe travels!
Bailey