The Sphere Effect

Hi everyone

Just thought I’d let you know that I went to see my kidney specialist again this morning for the very last time. He tells me that he doesn’t need to see me again, that all of my blood stats are 100% in normal limits, and that he does not foresee a recurrence in the future. He says that I have the same risk of an episode of HUS that I had before I got sick. This is a very good thing

I discovered that I still have a multi-trip travel insurance policy, taken out in March this year, which doesn’t expire until March next year, so I need to take advantage of it. (No issues with pre-existing condition, as I already had the policy before I got sick). I am thinking very seriously about a short trip away over New Year - I will probably go and join up with Kel in the UK and go ski-ing in France. So for all my pommy mates - please don’t go away over Christmas and New Year….

It’s been a long time since I updated anyone as to what’s happening with me.

I’ve been out of hospital now for just over two months, and progress has been excellent. I was certified fit to work by my GP a couple of weeks ago, and I have started working on a contract basis with WorleyParsons Engineering. I am working on the new Pluto Project, which is a new LNG Gas plant that is being constructed in North-West Australia. I am still based in Perth however, so I don’t get to have much fun playing somewhere else in Australia (dammit!)

With regard to my plans in the future, I have resolved not to make any plans until next January, as everyone seems to think it best that I recuperate for at least six months before making plans. I bow down to the combined greater wisdom of my family, friends and medical practitioners, although I find being planless incredibly frustrating.

It does look as though I will have some issues getting travel insurance at any time in the near future, so it seems that my hopes for getting back overseas have been well and truly dashed. At least in the short-term – I am hoping that as I stay well, I will have more chance of convincing some travel insurance agency that I am a good risk.

My sister Kellie will be travelling overseas for a few months later this year, leaving in about 4 weeks time, so I will be looking after her house, her car, and her cat while she is gone (I do hope the cat survives… and the car too I guess. And actually now I come to think of it, the house may also be in danger of not getting cleaned quite as often as it does now )

So I will be living on my own, which will be interesting… If anyone fancies coming to Perth for a visit, please do let me know as I will probably be desperate for some company before long…..

I wonder if I will rue the day that I gave my family access to my blog? Goodness me, I think everyone in the world knew more about my condition than I ever did until very recently. I guess I am glad as without the prayers of all of my wonderful friends around the world I might not be here right now to write about it!!

Hello everyone! It’s me!! Really me writing this all by myself! I am home from hospital much earlier than any expectations, and I am finally managing to drag myself onto the computer to let everyone know how well I am doing.

I am told that I should still be in South Africa Hospital for the next 3 weeks before I will be stable enough to come home to Perth and then possibly another three months in hospital in Perth before coming home to Mum and Dad’s house so you can imagine my relief to find myself in my parent’s home only 3 and a half weeks after being diagnosed with HUS. Especially after also being told that I nearly died several times except for a series of miraculous interventions on behalf of God! I cannot say that I am feeling well, but much better than I was, and I hope for a full recovery in a very short period of time.

I have to apologise to all of my non-religious friends for the overwhelming amount of religiousness in all of the previous posts (and this one) but you see, I have special insight now and I know that an awful lot of you were shooting of prayers left, right and center when you knew what a terrible situation I was in. I have to say thank you, thank you, thank you, because God listened, and he answered, and I am here today because of it.

I know that many of you will have lots of questions about what happened, and probably about MSF too, but I don’t think I will have the energy for all of that just now. I will briefly explain about the illness and will spend some time on what happened in Itang a little later on. That is all a little painful at the moment as I need to spend some time working on just how I feel about being ripped out of my dream job and country and sent back home where I feel I don’t really belong just now.

I first got ill with diarrhea around the 19th May. I didn’t think anything of it as everyone gets these things when one visits a foreign country like Ethiopia. It didn’t effect my daily work and lasted about five days. After this it turned into bloody diarrhea with abdominal cramping and severe vomiting. I was working in a Health Centre and the doctors were trying very hard to work out what was wrong with me, but any samples showed no parasites or bacteria. I was getting sicker and sicker and they decided that they needed to send me to the capital Addis Ababa to a hospital for further attention. Unfortunately this isn’t so easy as there are only 3 flights a week, and the next flight was full.

Luckily for me, one of my close local friends was good friends with the ticketing officer of Ethiopia Airlines and managed to get me on a flight. If he hadn’t, I’m told I would have died.

When I left Itang, I thought I was leaving for about three days. I barely packed any of my things, and I didn’t really get the opportunity to say goodbye to all of my friends. I have never seen them or spoken to them again, something that is very painful for me to deal with.

I was picked up and taken straight to the best private hospital in Addis where I remained for a week. I didn’t realise that I was getting sicker and sicker but the MSF people in Addis did, and it was the Medical Director who made the call to have me Medi-Vacced to Johannesburg. If he hadn’t made the call when he did, I would have died within a day.

I have very little memory of the events after I arrived in Johannesburg. It is a maze of machines, and tubes, and blood transfusions, and oxygen and no-one told me how sick I was, or that there were several times I was within hours of death. It was also a time of being uplifted and knowing that I was being held in the hands of Christ. Every day emails were pouring in from all of the world telling me that people were praying for me, and that angels surrounded me. People I knew, people I didn’t know, churches I had never heard of. This was the one thing that sustained me through all of the pain and the sickness.

There were several times where I heard the quiet voice of Christ assuring me of healing, and usually it was the next morning when some miraculous breakthrough would have happened over night.

I don’t know why I was ripped out of Itang and sent back home. I don’t understand why God would let this happen to me when all I have ever wanted to do was serve him. But throughout this all, I remain convinced that he is sovereign, and that his plans will be served not mine. I will do my best to follow him no matter what the cost.

I am not yet at a place where I can consider the future, but I think it will come very soon, and I will let you know when I start walking down that road.

Thanks once again for your amazing support without which I wouldn’t be here.

God bless all.

Heidi
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