Spinning Our Wheels in Zim

Before the vacation photos start flying to feature the highlights of our freshly-taken trip to Gonarezhou, I am surprising even myself by interrupting for a few family updates.  This is because while en route to returning from this week's adventures, we suddenly discovered that we are taking another trip tomorrow... this time to South Africa.

For those of you who don't follow the gory details of my Oregon Trail life, I have been on, in, or on the floor next to, the toilet for the last four months.  I have lost almost thirty pounds and spend most days like a half-zombie with food poisoning.  After nine doctors visits, three medication attempts, five trips to the lab, and one week of mistaken identity with someone else's labs (in which my -former- dr accidentally put me on anti-suicidal medication),  it is time to fly south.  We are migrating to Johannesburg for a week involving drs appointments and "exploratory surgery" on Wednesday.  My -new- doctor and I are hoping that I have an African parasite-induced colitis, the only curable kind of colitis.  I would prefer this option, but after that I really would just settle for any ol' solid answer someone can give me.

Our travels sound unusual, but welcome to life in Africa- where flying to the doctor is sometimes the only option.  Our local friends often like to say, "There is nothing more challenging than living in a third world country that likes to pretend it is a first world country." Though they are usually talking about electrical supplies and traffic, nothing could be more true of the medical world in Africa. Though Zim is full of competent general-practitioner doctors, the labs and testing can only take things so far and specialists are limited. (Oh, that, and the competency of lab technicians and support staff can be questionable!) We are told there is a stunted ability to do histology here, and that should we actually have discovered the issue, often the necessary medicine is in South Africa anyway.

The good news is that South African clinics are used to having their patients fly in from all different countries.  And often, as in my case, they will set up an entire week of consultations, tests, surgeries, and labs during one phone call, all crammed into one action packed week.  Talk about service.  It is a relief that at this very time next week, I may be five times farther in the process than I am right now.

In the meantime, we are finding humor in another piece of the puzzle... the day after we return to Zim, our visas and TEPs expire and we will no longer be allowed in the country.  Unless these passport stamps are sorted at the last minute this week while we are away, we could be flying back out to South Africa the day after we return to Harare for week -and trip- number three! Like flying to the doctor, this would not be atypical, either. We'll keep you posted, and in the meantime, perhaps even get to some of those Gonarezhou stories we are itching to tell!