Health Care in South Africa

So I apologize to all 3 of my devoted readers. I have gotten way behind in my blog and I promise that I intend to catch up and fill you in on the last couple weeks when I have a chance. I actually meant to do it this weekend but got fairly sidetracked. Perhaps I should start with that story...

On Sunday I went surfing with 3 other girls in my group. We took the train and had a professional lesson so it was pretty great. We got like a 2 hour lesson and wetsuits all for 20 bucks. Surfing was absolutely amazing. But apparently the beach that we were at has a lot of shark problems. There apparently are shark sightings there everyday. But the place was packed with people, so we weren't too deterred.

Surfing was so much fun. I could definitely do that everyday while I am here. I got up on my first try and after about an hour I was catching waves and getting up without the help of the instructor. So I was really proud of myself. However apparently I was too proud. As the day was coming to a close and we were getting ready to leave I had some trouble in the water.

I was standing in the water holding my board , I had just come in off a wave. All of a sudden my whole body felt like it slammed into something. I shook my head and sort of looked around, very confused. It was like I ran as fast as I could into a rock, but there was absolutely nothing around me. Then I thought maybe I got stung by something. All of a sudden it happened again. The most intense pain of my life, like my whole body being thrown against a brick wall, but I was just standing still in the water. I quickly realized that my defibrillator had just gone off for the first time. I knew I had to get to shore and I started to make my way in when bam! I got shocked again. I called for help and my instructor was nearby. He put me on the surfboard and started pushing me in. Bam! again... I fell off the board and stumbled into the beach calling to my friends for help as I was shocked 3 more times.

I made it out of the water and was able to tell my friend what happened and that I needed to get to a hospital. We made it back up to the surf shack and I walked on my own the whole way up feeling a bit faint but fine overall. I sat down up at the shack and got some water as I explained to them what had happened and asked about the nearest hospital with a cardiology unit. Luckily a man at the shack was headed that way and offered to give us all a lift. As we were sitting there getting everything together to leave I started getting really dizzy. I wasn't sure if I could make it across the street to the car but my friends helped me over and we headed on our way.

In the car I started getting much sicker. I was dizzy and my chest started to get tight and I couldn't breathe. I knew that I was close to passing out so I told my friends what meds I was allergic to and warned them that I was close to passing out. All of a sudden I lost my vision and couldn't handle the moving car. We got the driver to pull over and I immediately fell out of the car, threw up and passed out in the road. My friends and our kind drivers called an ambulance, the police, and also ran for help. They were all truly amazing throughout the ordeal and managed to stay calm and take control of the situation.

I got to a hospital in strange fashion and I had an interesting few hours at the first hospital they brought me to. (The first ambulance ride and hospital visit I will be happy to describe for people when I return home. However, I know if I post it now my mom will immediately insist that I come home for fear of my general welfare. But really mom, I promise that I'm fine).

I was transferred to a hospital with a cardio unit and a medtronic rep flew in from Joberg to read my device. Turns out that my heart got up to around 350-360 bpm and thats when my device kicked in. It had to shock me 6 times in order to calm me down. Apparently the problem was too much adrenaline... the doc told me basically not to do anything fun while I am still here, but that don't worry I can life a normal life. I just nodded. What do doctors think a normal life is for a 21 year old?!

I am fine now and back at class. It was an interesting experience in which I got a chance to experience first hand the health care system in South Africa, which I have some serious concerns with. I also got to feel the effects of my device and while incredibly painful, it was a good learning experience. I am slightly more humbled now and realize that the putting this thing in me really was for the best.

Hope this bit of excitement makes up for my lack of posts in the last few weeks.

And don't worry mom, I promised I'd come home alive and I don't intend on breaking that promise!