Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

The days are flying by, and after last night, I really can't be sure what day it is...I think we were all thrown back into the twilight zone.It all started with a fairly normal day - Deb and Ann got their credentials for the barns, and Deb walked Tee while I did his stall and got things ready for the day.  Several are not feeling well - a flu bug maybe - so fairly quiet in the stables - Meg and Stewart ended up going to the grooms' rooms to take a nap because they really didn't feel well, and it was our hottest day yet - low humidity (only about 60%) but VERY VERY HOT with a bright sun.  After lunch Jim and John, with Jan, Cheryl and Kathy (me) went for a drive to see some of the trails and water stops - Grace took the toaster can with Ann and Deb to drive them around for a tour of the water/crew stops.

  At 2pm we met back at the stables to take a training ride in the god awful heat.  We saddled up, and Deb hand-walked Meg's mare for her - we hosed down the horses after saddling them, and off we went in pairs (Jan and I, then Cheryl and John, Flavia following on Flame solo).  We met Annand Grace at the first water stop on our loop for practicing the bucket brigade...using plastic scoops and pots.  Off we went at the trot to the next water stop on our loop - where Jim and Becky met us with more scooping of water on the horses.  Jan was having a little trouble with her GPS - we traded units to see if it was her unit or her transmitter - I am convinced that the huge power lines and transformers affect our GPS's....My unit didn't work well for her either, so we swapped back.  Got back to the stables, hosed horses and cooled them down - pulses and respirations are awesome on our horses right now...they are handling this heat much better than the poor riders are!  You all would be very pleased with the horses if you were here - they are eating and looking fabulous.  Our stable security chief, Peter (South African) thinks our horses are "very very fit"

So, Meg was back with us at the stables, feeling marginally better - but Stewart was not - and Meg told Cheryl that he was really feeling ill.  So Cheryl took off to find him and take him to the clinic (our M.A.S.H. unit here at the venue) - but he had already gone to the clinic on his own (we think - we are still not too sure about the chain of events at this point) and Cheryl came back to tell us that he had been transferred to the Klinik Batu Rikit - about 15 km from the venue.  At this point, Dewayne Brown arrived and he was taken to the office to get his credentials, and Cheryl was trying to find out where her husband was.  In the end, Becky asked me to go with Cheryl, since I know a little about the lay of the land ...off we go in the toaster car, with Deb in the back.  We get to the Batu Rikit clinic and with much difficulty find out he's been taken to the General Hospital.  Really, the language barrier was very difficult for this - and toget directions on how to proceed to the general hospital was not going too well...in frustration I asked if it was near the airport - they said not really, but in town.  I then started saying hotel names, but nothing was clicking - then I asked if it was near the A&W Rootbeer place (don't ask me why I asked that for a landmark) and the light bulb went off, much smiling and nodding and saying KFC and AW (yes, folks - Kentucky Fried Chicken) and I asked if it was by the Primulae, and they again nodded yes...so off we went - and got to the large hospital just 1/2 mile from our own hotel.I had to call John and ask him to send Tasha or Lise (our hotel liaisons) to help us once we got the hospital, since it is about 12 stories tall and very very big, and we were again having trouble communicating.  In less than 10 minutes, both Tasha and Lise arrived to take over, and we found Stewart on the 7th floor in a men's ward with about 20 other men in various stages of disease and dying (no kidding - ask Debbie - we were appalled at the conditions) and all these patients were in puke green pajamas lying on metal cots with no AC - some small fans going - and the smell.....my eyes are still watering.  It was awful.

  Poor Stewart - he was on IV fluids...after much debating and calling in the doctor's assistant (the doctor was at an emergency) and much more discussion, the Organizing Committee had Stewart transferred to a private "first class" room with AC - we left the hospital around 8pm with Cheryl in tow to get some food - although we are allafraid of eating much of anything at this point - Stewart has food poisoning.  So, here I sit, at 5:30 am after being up since 4 am - and yes, I have a stomach upset going on right now.  Arggghhh - I don't think any of the other countries are having a problem - It's raining out right now, and I'm off to my room to try to get myself together for the day.  The hospital called me at aorund 9:30 last night in my room (Cheryl's phone doesn't work, and we were too brain dead last night to leave my phone with her, and the only number Lise and Tasha had was my cell phone) to tell me that Stewart had been transferred to a private room, and he might be ready for discharge this morning - so I called Cheryl and woke her up with the news.  What a night.so you wonder why I am asking if it's Tuesday????

Kathy 

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 Posted By  Kathy  to  USA: Kathy Brunjes  at  10/28/2008 05:37:00 AM

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Posted By  Endurance.Net  to  Endurance Riding: News  at  10/27/2008 02:38:00 PM