i need major advice about africa

[anonymous]

i am thinking about going to tanzania, africa for 12 weeks (may-august) this year. i would be volunteering.

1 things are stopping me:

my health/worried parents and other relatives




I have had a rough year with 5 hospitalizations and like 50 ER visits, so my family is quick to think that maybe i can't handle this sort of trip (espically because it would be in a tropical temperature zone and heat+me=bad.

the thing they dont know is i've been depressed and for much of the year haven't done my meds.
i cant tell them this of course, or ill lose their trust, but to me, it seems like since i've decided on going, i've been happier, and so i've been doing my meds all the time.

i think that i can do this. my PFTS were 88% last time, but that was an all time low (and i hadn't done my meds in a month...i know i'm stupid.)

so anyways, my PFTs are high, everything is clinically wonderful, when i went in for a bronch in november my doc said "i can always tell when i am doing a bronch on a cf paitent, even without seeing their face, but with you, if i didn't know it was you, i wouldn't have known you had cf"<<that made her think maybe im depressed which = not feeling so hot. i didn't like the idea at first but i really was depressed but i haven't been for like a week now, in fact i'm more excited then i can ever remember...

africa was a place i always wanted to go, but supressed it because i thought i would never get to. ive done that with alot of things (i think because of the cf). so when i looked at this volunteer trip and saw myself actually going, well lets just say i literally cannot sleep at night, in the past 3 nights two of them i have spent lying in bed with my mind racing about all the things ill see and do, and how much the experience will change me (for the better, i hope). i lay in bed until 4 or 5 and get up and come downstairs and look online at more information about tanzania, the serengeti, anything and everything i can.

i know that my doctors will not be happy, and i dread telling them but i am so convinced i am supposed to do this (im not religious i have no clue if theres a god). i just feel like it will make my life so much better. i know that i could permanantly damage my health/cause the crash that leads to death but i feel like if i dont do it i will always regret it. i will always wonder and dream about it. i feel like it's a risk i have to take. i dont want to live just for the sake of having another birthday, i want the birthday to mean something, i want to accomplish things before i die. because i could very well sit here and wish i had gone to africa and catch cepacia and die. it could happen, obviously i dont know if it will, but i dont know if my health will permanently fall from going to africa either.


i guess i just want opinions...i am settled in my mind, i feel like im going because im meant to go, i need to go, but im just not sure how to justify it to worried relatives.

i fear that with my health track record over the past year the only thing to make them believe is for me to actually go and come back...

maggie 18w/cf

 

[JazzysMom]

There is a lady from South Africa that comes on here. I cant remember her name, but I am sure her daughter has CF & her daughters name is Michelle. They are from & currently living there. I am not sure what area you want to go to compared to where she is, but I would think she probably is the best one to advise you. I will see if I can track down her posts so you know who you are looking for.

 

[anonymous]

Hi Maggie - its me - Joanne from South Africa

What type of volunteering are you going to be doing? I ask this because if you're going to be working with people I would say dont! because coming into contact with people who have Aids could lead to you getting serious infections. Another thing to be careful of is TB which is extremely contagious, especially for someone with CF. The tropical climate isn't so bad (you'll just need extra salt and a lot of liquids).

South Africa is a long way from Tanzania. I know that the medical care there is very primative and that my Sister in law who lived there for a while had to come to South Africa when she needed surgery.

It would be a wonderful experience for you but you need to be careful with your health. Think of your parents too, they must have taken really good care of you for you to be 18 already. They deserve some consideration.

I'm sure that there must be some very needy organisations in the USA that you could voluteer to help and still be close to a good CF doctor.

I hope you will think carefully about this.

Joanne - mom to Monique 21 wcf

 

[JazzysMom]

JOANNE.....I knew you would find this. Monique is your daughters name. I was close, but I remembered you so that should count LOL!!

 

[Mockingbird]

12 weeks is a long time. I myself went to China a few years ago for 5 weeks. I know how you're feeling, wanting to go so bad. Before I left for China, I was wishing it was for at least five months. I mean, you feel like there's not much you can do in just five weeks.

Trust me, after four weeks, you will be ready to go home. Just for the first time, at least, I would say only go for three or four weeks. That is probably going to make your reatives and doctors a lot happier, and by the end of the trip you will be glad you did. You can always go back, and the second time you will probably be able to go even longer. But for now, my advice is to take it slow.

Your body is going to be worn out. It is being introduced to a whole <i>world</i> of new infections that it is going to have to fight every day. Not only that, but your digestive system is going to be upset because it is not used to the different kind of food day after day. (In China, it didn't matter how many enzymes I took; everything came out liquid) I don't know how your stomach will react to the food there, but I'd say bring lots of toilet paper.

So, that's my advice. It doesn't matter how much you love Africa, after a month your body is probably going to need a break. If you do decide to go the whole 12 weeks, then at least plan to take a week off every now and then. I do believe you will enjoy Africa very much, but it will certainly take its toll.

 

[anonymous]

I agree with Mockingbird...you never know what might happen when you are over there, so you might want to leave your options open or think about going for a smaller amount of time. Plus, if you ever got really sick you wouldn't WANT to be there, you'd just want to be home. I do not however think that you shouldn't go, regardless of the risk, if it is something you really want to do. Life is too short! It really is.

You are pretty healthy, and even if something awful happened and you got "less" healthy, it is still your best option to go now, than say, 5 years from now when you might not be as healthy. As a weird analogy- we wouldn't sit around in a plastic bubble even if it meant we could live to be 100, no one would.

This is something you really want to do, so you have to figure out a way to do it that works for you, because in a lot of respects it is just as important as your health.

Caitlin
22 w/CF, cepacia

 

[wallflower]

It sounds like you are saying that your health is very good as long as you take your medicines? If this is the case, then I say go for it. There are a lot of things you will have to do to prepare and protect yourself, but if it is something you truely want to do, you will find a way to make it work.

In my last year of college, I spent a semester in Scotland that I wouldn't trade for anything in the world - however, it was also a lot safer/healthier place to be than where your going. I didn't get a whole lot of support from my family - I remember telling my mom a couple of months before I was to go that I needed to go get luggage for the trip, and she said in a surprised voice "What? Your really doing that?" My family was very worried, but I called them a lot and that seemed to help.

I only got sick once when I was there, and I admit it was a little scary. It was only an infection I needed an antibotic for (pill, not iv), but it was scary to be in a strange place not knowing what doctor to see or where to get the medicine from.

Make sure you have any meds you would need for the whole trip in advance (and that you have a way to store them properly), a letter from your doctor explaning your illness and prescriptions (this comes in helpful at the airport in screening as well as when you get sick and need to see a doctor), transportation of your therapy equipment (it is likely you will need voltage adaptors, and if there will a place for you to use this equipment - when I went to Scotland the vest company gave me a tempory vest to use over there with the correct voltage cord). Talk to the place you are volunteering for and explain fully what your needs are and what will happen if an emergency occurs where you need help.

Keep in mind that you will be on your own as far as doing your therapy and meds - your family isn't going to be there to nudge you along. Do you think you can keep up with your routine on your own? There will be a lot of distractions for you in Africa, which make it more challenging to get that stuff done everyday. If you get there and find it's not what you wanted, what is your backup plan?

The most important thing is to not keep it a secret from those you are working/volunteering with that you have cf and what that means - you will need help along the way, its best they know up front to help protect you from any health risks.

If you were planning on going and not bringing your therapy/meds, then DONT GO!!

 

[anonymous]

Thank you all so much for your comments, I'm going to reply to everyone here...

Joanne and Mockingbird, thank you for the information, and opinions, I will definitly take them into consideration before i decide whether or not to go.


Caitlin,
"This is something you really want to do, so you have to figure out a way to do it that works for you, because in a lot of respects it is just as important as your health. "
i completly agree! you made me feel a lot better, thank you.


Barb, thank you for the comment, I will definitly take your advice about getting a letter from my doctor, the proper adapters for my equipment. and i will be completley open and honest with the people i am there with, they will know everything. and i wouldn't dream of going without my meds!!


thank you all again

maggie 18w/cf

 

[JazzysMom]

I would hate to deprive anyone of such an awesome experience. I personally would be afraid to do it, but that is me. If you do it responsibly and educate yourself & those you will be around & think of EVERYTHING u need then I say go for it. Your family is just concerned, but they will support u no matter what even if they arent pleased. I say prove them wrong in their worry!!!!!!!!!! LOL

 

[anonymous]

melissa,

thank you so much for the comment!!
i will prove them wrong!

maggie 18w/cf

 

[Faust]

AS the lady from South Africa said, don't go. I had family in South Africa and I had lived there for a short period of time. Anything north of South Africa is pretty crazy in many ways, and can result in your death either in a violent means or a slow infectious means. Africa isn't just lions and elephants + poor people who need help. It's a real nasty place, and north/central africa is the worst. There are organisms and parasites and diseases there that you can't imagine, and certainly don't want without or especially with CF. Not to mention many of the individual countries and local governments all over have crazy warlords who hoard all the peoples resources for himself and let his people suffer, which brings about many armed conflicts. And if any of the guerilla fighters knew they had an American citizen near them, you would be a very prime target for kidnapping and ransom, and most likely a gruesome death like they have been doing to Americans/alliance citizens in Iraq for a while now.


If you REALLY want to help people who need help, it's already all around you here in the U.S. (or any industrialized country for that matter). There are homeless adults, homeless children, abused women, abused children, abused elderly, drug addicted people trying to clean themselves up, and countless other people in need of charity at home. If you are dying to go to Africa (no pun heh), and you absolutely must go, go to South Africa and stay at some of the more safe areas. My family who lived there all their lives finally said screw this, and moved away to New Zealand because even South Africa had gotten VERY bad with racial violence, and even though they had a very strong family business there and loved the place with all their hearts, they had to provide a more stable and safe environment for their children to grow up in, and that wasn't the place.


Remember this. You have CF. You are VERY sensitive to new bacteria/organisms, I mean VERY VERY VERY sensitive to them. Bacteria and organisms in general change from region to region, and even normal healthy people from one place can go half way around the world to another foreign place and contract a REAL nasty bug that kills them in very short time. Now imagine the chances of it happening to you, who already has a very compromised immune system, battling atleast several bugs now. Theres a chance nothing will happen, but theres more of a chance you will have something very bad happen to you in one way or another. Charity starts at home man, if you want to help others, help them at home in your area.

 

[anonymous]

Hi,

I have been in Kenia/Tansania 4times in vacation, each time from 2-4 weeks and I also did 2 safaris. I liked it very much but:

-the heat is ok for me, if I drink enough , have a real good sun-protection and: don´t have to work... I think working will be extremly hard with that temperatures!

-if you go: be shure, to get every necessary vaccination on time as there is: yellow fever (Very important!!!), typhus, Hepatitis A and B, maybe rabies ( if you are in contact with animals), tetanus,polio,meningitis,maybe also cholera and tuberculosis
If you don´t have any vaccinations yet, maybe you can´t go in may!!!

- the next thing is: malaria! By staying only for some weeks I always took "Lariam" during the whole time, but if you stay longer you should have the pills with you in case of emergency and be aware of moskitos and flies: use lotions against them, sleep under a moskito net etc

-it depends, where you will stay, but often there could be no electricity for some hours, so that could be a problem for your medication, especially Pulmozyme or Insulin and you can´t do any therapy at this times

- don´t get in contact with sweet water in lakes,ponds,little creeks because of billharziosis (I hope thats the right word in english...)

-I did only once get diarrhoe and fever during my travelling, also all the other people around me got sick everytime. I think, because most of us do always take oral antibiotics, this helps to prevent diarrhoe, because they kill most bacterias

-I think it will also be difficult to take all your medication plus emergency medication for such a long time...

-if you have diabetes: because of the heat and the different meals you will need different amounts of tablets/insulin

-make shure that your insurance will pay for emergency or even a transport back in the worst case

- in Nairobi/Kenia there is a measles-epidemy at the moment, Tansania is the neighbour-state, so think of a vaccination too


My next vacation will be Thailand for 2 weeks in February!
Keep us informed

Uli,43,Germany,cf/cfrd

 

[anonymous]

** MESSAGE HAS BEEN REMOVED **
** USER HAS BEEN BANNED **

 

[anonymous]

Well ,
I would say you can never be shure not to get some "ugly" germs or feel totally safe ...
There is rabies,Borreliosis, Dengue and West-Nile-Fever also in the United States,also pest occasionally and how many people do have aids? Some years ago there had been Hepatitis A in (as far as I remember) California because of imported strawberries from Mexico.
There are also racial problems and you can´t feel really safe in some parts of some towns.
A friend of mine once got a very bad infection while being in Florida and she says she will never go there again.
There are poisonous snakes and spiders and if you don´t have the right (or no) insurance you may also get not all necessary medications...
Terrorists can be everywhere also and the US do also have many murderers, there is kidnapping, people are shot with legal weapons at school,there are drugs and so on...
Most cepacia/MRSA infections you seem to get in your hospitals..

Why go to Africa: because its a beautiful country with beautiful landscapes, interesting animals and many friendly people!!!

Uli,43,Germany,cf/cfrd

 

[Faust]

<blockquote>Quote<br><hr><i>Originally posted by: <b>Anonymous</b></i><br>Well ,

I would say you can never be shure not to get some "ugly" germs or feel totally safe ...

There is rabies,Borreliosis, Dengue and West-Nile-Fever also in the United States,also pest occasionally and how many people do have aids? Some years ago there had been Hepatitis A in (as far as I remember) California because of imported strawberries from Mexico.

There are also racial problems and you can´t feel really safe in some parts of some towns.

A friend of mine once got a very bad infection while being in Florida and she says she will never go there again.

There are poisonous snakes and spiders and if you don´t have the right (or no) insurance you may also get not all necessary medications...

Terrorists can be everywhere also and the US do also have many murderers, there is kidnapping, people are shot with legal weapons at school,there are drugs and so on...

Most cepacia/MRSA infections you seem to get in your hospitals..



Why go to Africa: because its a beautiful country with beautiful landscapes, interesting animals and many friendly people!!!



Uli,43,Germany,cf/cfrd<hr></blockquote>


HAHAHA ok dude. A large city in America is *EXACTLY* like north/central Africa in it's potentialness to contract bad bugs and be killed because of your race. I want what hallucinogenics you are taking please.

 

[anonymous]

I did not talk about one city, I talked about the United States in common and I talked about some examples and that life is a risk, no matter where you are. I have been to African countries, the United States and several other countries several times and luckily did get no "bad bugs" anywhere and I will continue to "explore" other countries, because I like it!!!
Oh, and I don`t take any drugs...and I don´t understand why one has to be aggressive just because someone else has different opinions...

Uli,43,Germany

 

[Allie]

It's up to you, Maggie. How much does this trip mean to you? If you think it would haunt you for the rest of your life not to go, regardless of the consequences, I say go. Of course, get vaccinations, be prepared, etc. But a lot of people do things that could, possibly, adversely affect their health. (for example, CF women giving birth to children) and no one calls them down. It comes down to personal choice, and what you want to do and not do.

It sounds like this trip means a lot to you, so I'll leave you with this "For of all sad words of tongue or pen,
The saddest are these: ?It might have been!?" -Johnathon Greenleaf Whittier

 

[Faust]

What about tetse fly sleeping sickness? I've been to Africa too, and if I had to I would visit north/central Africa, but that's if I "HAD" to. I wouldn't do it for recreational/altruistic purposes. I didn't say he/she would go to Africa and instantly die, or would necessarily get real sick/die due to some alien parasites/bacteria, but that chance exponentially increases when you travel to far away places that are vastly different from where you currently live, especially when you have a compromised immune system. Yes life is all about taking risks, but some risks just seem a tad off balanced in the wrong direction. If I choose to visit Germany (i've been there also), I don't have to go down a huge litany of vaccinations/medications to take just so I avoid the more common horrible bugs/parasites, but I would have to do just that for north/central Africa due to it quite literally being a completely different world when compared to most industrialized modern countries like USA, Germany, France, England, and most if not all of Europe. Iraq would be a similar example, but at the same time totally different in some dangers. Yes it is very possible that I could go to Iraq and walk around and never be kidnapped and killed, or blown up by constant suicide bomber attacks, but in the risk vs reward scale, i'd rather stay home and not take those type of risks, and just watch documentaries on Iraq if I had a big meanon to go there. And this is coming from a generally crazy American who walked around some of the most dangerous places in South Africa, at night, alone, with just my trusty blade as company, and had one or two encounters with natives trying to mug/kill me, and I stood my ground. I've also been in some of the scariest places in Miami. I still wouldn't go to north/central Africa unless a family/close friends life depended on me going there. I'm more afraid of the micro organisms than I am the macro bipedal organisms. If I wasn't so bored, id start listing all the different extremely nasty bugs/parasites that are very wide spread in that area, and how easy they are to contract, but i'm too lazy. Yes you can get bugs and parasites in advanced industrialized cities outside of Africa, but those other places have a very good graps on general higenic practices.


Oh never mind, screw it, go to Africa.

 

[Mockingbird]

<blockquote>Quote<br><hr><i>Originally posted by: <b>SeanDavis</b></i><br>AS the lady from South Africa said, don't go. <hr></blockquote>

Joanne never said that. And I don't think Maggie deserves the disrespect you are treating her with. You've said why she shouldn't go to Africa, which is perfectly valid, but don't treat her like an idiot just because you don't understand.

To Uli, right on. I think you've said it better than any of us.

 

[anonymous]

Wow,
I can't believe some of the shallow- "american" -fear- filled- nonsense I'm hearing. Yes, there is much need here at home, but at least most orphans, homeless, and hurricane survivors have services and opportunities here in the US. In Africa we are talking NOTHING. Many of these people have no hope, no food bank to run to, no welfare, no social security.
Stop being so ignorant. My goodness, we have so much here, but many want to keep it all in.
I'm not saying that Maggie should go.
By the way, Maggie, I think you have a beautiful heart. This is a good goal, but you are not ready. I think you should say, 'ok, for the next 6 months I am going to do ALL my meds and treatments, and if I am responsible, at the end of 6 months, provided my pft's and health is stable then I'll do it.
Think about it this way...on an airplane, before you take off, you get that annoying emergency demonstration, remember? Why do they always say to put YOUR air mask on before your neighbor's, even if its a child? Because you can't take care of others if you are incapacitated.
Keep your selfless goal, just be responsible and care for yourself first. How can you help these people in Africa to stay strong, to keep going, to take care of themselves and their children if you aren't even caring for your health?
Commit to it!
Christian