As some of you may or may not be aware, the main reason why I have been so inactive over the last month is in no small part due to having just spent the better part of June in and out of hospital with a very nasty bowel condition known as diverticulitis. Whilst I will not go into too much detail as to the ins and outs of the condition, I will say that it was excruciatingly painful and gave me a new found appreciation for water sanitation and plumbing that is in working order.
You may be asking how this relates to hiking or even survival. I haven't yet touched on urban or wilderness survival in this blog, but it a keen interest of mine and something that is always on the forefront of my mind. This was especially evident when I was first informed that I would be required to spend the night in the hospital in order to receive a course of IV antibiotics. The first thing I thought was "Great, this is how all the zombie movies start.", though thankfully there was no zombie apocalypse. But in order for me to tell the story of lessons learned, I first have to tell the story of how I came to be in the hospital in the first place.
It started on a chilly Saturday afternoon at my nephew's birthday party, he was turning twelve and had never had a birthday party before so my mother in-law decided to throw one for him at her place. We ordered pizzas for lunch, all of the kids were having fun playing games, the birthday boy was enjoying his presents and we were all eating way too much. This was up until I began to double over in pain from a long, dull pain in my left-lower abdomen. Due to what I had been eating, I assumed it was my gall bladder but figured it may also be my appendix. I thought I would be able to last the afternoon out then head to the hospital when all of the kids went home. When it quickly became apparent that the pain wasn't going anywhere I made my way to the Emergency Department at the hospital.
I waited a couple of hours in the emergency room, they poked and prodded, loaded me up with pain killers and sent me home with instructions to come back first thing in the morning. Cue the next day I came back in with even worse pain than the day before, once again they loaded me up with pain killers, poked and prodded me, took some blood, did a CT scan and the diagnosis came back as diverticulitis. I was promptly admitted, given IV antibiotics and discharged the following day with two courses of oral antibiotics.
This worked to an extent, the pain reduced however it didn't entirely go away. I returned to work and when a co-worker noticed I was doubling over in pain throughout the shift, she rightfully expressed her concern to charge nurse and when I came to work the following day in cold sweats, I was sent home by the same charge nurse. It is worth mentioning at this point that I had been awake the night before with nausea, diarrhea and vomiting.
I took the day off, slept it off and went to the doctor's the following day for a doctor's certificate, hoping to return to work the following day. He poked and prodded, ummed and arrred, then told me to head straight to hospital. Once again I went to the Emergency Department hoping for a quick examination, but a few litres of IV fluids and a CT scan later I'm being informed that I have a three centimetre(or roughly one inch) abscess on the left side of my large intestine. Once again I was admitted, given IV antibiotics for the better part of four days and discharged with oral antibiotics.
Now that you're up to speed on my situation, I feel that it is important to list what I have learned and how it relates to survival as a whole.
Australia has one of the best healthcare systems in the world - I believe that this is something that we as Australians tend to take for granted. It is a simple concept, free and accessible healthcare for every citizen. Aside from the days off work that I have missed, I am only forty dollars out of pocket, which is the cost of the medication that I needed after discharge. When I see so many people preparing for civil unrest and economic collapse by stocking up on guns and knives, it boggles my mind that those same people do not make the connection that free and accessible healthcare is a step towards preventing both of those things.
It doesn't matter how prepared you are, illness will still get you - Once again this ties into my previous point, people like to romanticize the idea of a SHTF situation or even worse TEOTWAWKI. The idea of the lone survivor traveling the wasteland, his dog in tow, nothing but a shotgun, a knife and handful of bottle caps(or maybe I'm just a little too excited for Fallout 4) is something that far too many people think is both realistic and achievable. No matter how many knives you have, how much ammo, food or water you have stocked, how many Bug Out bags you have, how many caches you have along your Bug Out routes, it is all useless if your bowel decides to pack up and go, if your appendix decides to burst or if cancer decides to rear it's ugly head.
Being prepared is not just about external disaster - I learned that I need to be more prepared for things to not only go south in nature, though living in a high risk area for flood and fire will do that; but to be prepared for things to go wrong internally too. Survivalists don't often speak about less testosterone-driven endeavors such as ensuring that your have enough cash on hand to live on if you're unable to work for a few weeks. This is a harsh lesson to learn, however it is very valuable.
Nurses make the worst patients - Not so much a survival lesson and more of a personal lesson than anything else but I have no doubt that I was an absolute pain to take care of. Constantly asking questions, checking my med chart and butting in when the nurses were talking, they were extremely patient with me but I have no doubt that I annoyed them.
All in all the biggest thing that a stint in hospital has given is a newfound appreciation for my freedom and good health. Nothing makes you appreciate good health more than having it taken away from you. I will be happier when I am finally able to return to work and hit the trail once more, but for now I have no choice but to rest and heal.
