Rash from Hell

Well I've had a very uneventful 10 days or so since I last posted, although not out of choice. I think I said that I was going to visit the beach last Sunday and see the city of Inhambane, but that plan fell through when it rained all day Sunday.

Then Monday, I had another problem on my hands, as I had a rash that was growing on my legs. It started Monday, and by Tuesday it was covering both of my legs from ankle to knee just about, and had also started to spread to my left arm. By Wednesday, it was so bad that it was starting to become difficult to walk around without being in a whole lot of pain just from moving my legs. So that day we went to the clinic here in Cambine. They said it was an allergic reaction to a kind of grass that grows here, and gave me a couple of pills to treat it. But, by Friday, it hadn't improved at all, in fact in a few places it started getting worse. So, we went to a hospital in the nearby village of Morrumbene. This seems like a good time to mention the hospitals here. They're not good. There's a pretty creepy smell of disease everywhere close to them. Most are just a couple of really worn down looking buildings, and a huge crowd of miserable looking people waiting to see the very few doctors available.

Anyway, in Morrumbene they prescribed some different pills, and wrote down a lotion that I would have to take. We got the pills there, then went to Maxixe to find the lotion, but couldn't find it anywhere. Dieudonne called his son Chico, who was able to go to Inhambane and get the lotion for us from a pharmacy. Well, the lotion worked and didn't work. If there was enough of it, it probably would've been fine.

By Sunday, I was out of the lotion, because so much of my skin was now covered with the rash. I saw immediate improvement in the places the rash had started, on my lower legs and around my left elbow, but unfortunately at the same time it was getting better there, it also spread to my right arm, my shoulders, chest, stomach, and lower back. The good part about this change was that it no longer hurt so much to walk. The bad part was that it just started hurting more all the time.

So yesterday, Dieudonne went out to do errands, and while he was out went to get more lotion, and I guess a doctor reccommended a different one to him, which he brought back for me yesterday. And this one seems to be working the best, it has at least reduced the itching and pain a lot, which I'm very thankful for, because the last two nights I've had a lot of trouble sleeping, and I haven't been able to get out of the house much at all in the last week.

So, with my body appearing to be on the mend, I now have less than 2 weeks until I plan to leave Cambine behind. I'm surprised how quickly my time has gone by, but I'm also starting to get to the point where I feel ready to return home. But, I still have to see Inhambane, which I understand is a very interesting city, and the beach, and then after leaving Cambine I also have my safari to look forward to before I head home. I've spent so little money during the time here that I might try to treat myself to a little more luxury than I normally would when I go on my safari, as I'm pretty well under my budget at the moment. And after the last week, I feel like I deserve a little luxury!

Best wishes all