Truthful health update

As I write this I am sitting in a little cafe in Wellington trying to find a comfortable position where my arms don’t feel like they are going to fall off. After my skydive I ate something which didn’t agree with me and spent all of New Years night in the toilet of the place I was staying in Cardrona in the South Island. Not to go into too much details but come the morning I was void of any moisture I had left in my body.

As a result I have been left pretty wiped out and rather than recover in a hostel I drove back with my friends Ruth and Ozen to Wellington to sort myself out.

I also underestimated just how busy it would be at this time of year in the South Island. The only part of my trip that was ever really planned was when I started my trip volunteering with Raleigh international in Costa Rica. Everything else I’ve just figured out along the way which includes accommodation and excursions.
I found myself in a position in Queenstown and Wanaka where I couldn’t find a single hostel to stay in. Everywhere was booked up. I’ve never experienced this before but it made me realise that I may need to plan my time in NZ a wee bit better than I have in other countries.

So I’m back in wonderful Welly staying at lovely Ruth’s place and renergising with healthy green veggies and juices. I think the whole one kidney and half a bowel thing might affect me a wee bit more than others when it comes to this sort of thing. In Buenos Aries I ended up in hospital after another bout of food poisoning (culprit-fish) after passing out on the toilet. Dehydration seems to be the thing that affects me more than anything else.

Although I know that my body has just taken a beaten from sickness and diarrhoea my thoughts still turn to my nemesis. I question why I feel this way and I start to feel every twinge in my stomach area wondering what it is. I hate this feeling as I begin to feel like a fraud. How quickly I crumble when I don’t feel well. Fortunately I realise what I’m doing and do something about it. In this case and in most cases come to think of it…I turn to writing.

I’ve gotten up on my tired bum and come to a little coffee shop on Cuba street in Wellington and started to write. It always makes me feel better and I find I can think more clearly in amongst the hustle and bustle of a cafe. When I read it back it seems like someone else has written it and like most people I seem to be able to advise others better than I can advise myself. It is because I wrote it down that I know what I want to say to this person; Just rest, Listen to your body, Eat well, drink lots and whatever you do don’t worry about it as this will exhaust you even more.

I’m often very hard on my body. I believe that if I’m cancer free theI should be able to do anything. Unfortunately it doesn’t quite work like that. Not for me and I’m sure not for anyone else.
The truth is I’ve been feeling more and more tired for a while now. In Sydney I went to hospital to get checked out as I struggled to even get up of the couch. They did the usual tests and all was well. Although I was at home for a short while before I left for Oz it wasn’t the relaxing time I wanted as I was all over the country for weddings, christenings and seeing friends and family. It was more exhausting than travelling.

Anyhoo, I wasn’t going to disclose any of this as I didn’t want it sound like I was moaning but a friend suggested that you guys might like to know how I’m really feeling.
I became frustrated when reading cancer survivor books when I was ill because they made it sound like life was worry free after cancer. I’ve never felt like that. I still worry, I still get tired and I still have to reassure myself that all is well. I never wanted 101 Things To When You Survive to portray anything but the truth when it came to my blog.

So here it is…. I feel a bit rubbish at the moment. The good news is this is not the first time I’ve felt like this on this trip. Any long term traveller will tell you that sometimes searching for a clean pair of pants at the bottom of a bag gets a bit tiring!:) Add a bout of food poisoning and you’re about ready to jump on the next plane home.

I was about to write ‘moan over’ to finish this off but it’s not a moan. I think it just sometimes good to remind ourselves that we need to listen to our bodies more and that being tired doesn’t mean you’ve got cancer but it’s always good to get checked out anyway! After writing this I have once again convinced myself of this fact.

Truth update over. I’m off back to the couch!:)

X