More oxygen, please

HACE – High Altitude Cerebral Edema is a severe form of altitude sickness. It is the result of swelling of brain tissue from leakage of fluids from the capillaries due to the effects of hypoxia on the cells of the blood-brain barrier. The symptoms can include headache, loss of coordination, weakness and decreasing levels of consciousness including disorientation, loss of memory, hallucinations, psychotic behaviour and coma. Severe instances can lead to death if not treated quickly. This is what killed Marcel, and Stephen was now suffering from HACE. I was thankful that he was in Eliakim’s capable hands.

Our medical checks were much more intense that evening. It was decided to give Amélie oxygen as her headache had returned, although she insisted that she didn’t want or need oxygen, they gave it to her anyway. I asked if I could have some too and when asked, “Why?” I replied, “Because I’ve never had it!” “But you don’t need it.” “But I want to see what it will do for me.” Eventually they relented to my whinging and at bedtime Malya appeared in my tent with an oxygen tank. Wow! What a great boost! I felt energised and very clear headed. I only had it for about 10-minutes and I fell straight to sleep. I awoke for my first “Diamox break” around midnight. Our tent has two zippers to contend with and these had been constantly jamming with the volcanic dust of the mountain. However, with my totally clear, oxygen filled head, I managed to un-jam both zippers! It was the first time they had ran smooth in a week! I did my business and before returning to sleep, I looked up at the trail of headlamps as another group plodded their way to Uhuru Peak.

I awoke again just before sunrise. When I finished my toilet chores I looked about and could see Mount Mawenzi poking up above the surrounding cloud layer. It was a scene from Lord of the Rings. Mawenzi is a spire filled, straggly mountain peak and the cloud layer was thick and spread totally around and below us. It appeared solid enough to allow us to walk across to Mount Mawenzi itself. Sitting on a rock up ahead of me was Amélie. I crawled up the rocky layer toward her and we sat beside each other in the cold. It was a totally awe inspiring moment as – wordlessly - together we watched the sun rise up spectacularly first from below the cloud layer and then behind Mawenzi. Not a word was spoken as we eventually turned and smiled at each other, arose and hugged, and then descended back into our tents. A spiritual moment we shared that I’ll remember forever.

A few hours later we were all in the mess tent for breakfast. Stephen still looked rough but the shaking had gone and he had only a mild pounding in his head. He was hungry, so that was a good sign. Martin was still having stomach problems and found himself on the toilet far more frequently than he wished. Amélie and Ramona were both feeling quite good and Kevin, well does he ever feel bad? I was feeling pretty good although tired. After breakfast we broke camp and started down the mountain in the damp, misty rain.