The Travel Doctor

Yesterday I visited Dr. Adkins of AdventureMD ( www.adventuremd.net ) who is a travel doctor with a ton of travel experience himself. It is his job to make sure I am medically prepared to travel to high altitudes in an area that may not have the cleanest of water and food. He's a great guy and I actually really enjoyed this trip to the doctor! The first thing he did was give me a red thumbtack and ask me to stick it where I am going on a large map in his little shoebox of a clinic at the Kroger at Ansley Mall. Naturally, I stuck it right into Mount Everest - there wasn't another tack there so that made me happy!

Dr. Adkins went over a ton of information with me. He had me get a bunch of shots - all in my left arm. I had the following immunizations:

• Hepatitis A (first in a series of two)
• Typhoid
• Tetanus/Diptheria
• Polio booster

After that my left arm was completely useless. I had to get myself a Starbuck's hot chocolate to help it feel better (sorry Jarrad - but I got it with nonfat milk!!). It's still pretty darn sore today, although the movement is much better now. I'm surprised that I have recovered as well as I have.

Dr. Adkins also gave me a TON of prescriptions to fill. I may or may not need all of them but I know that if I do have a reason to take some of them, I'll be glad to have them. He gave me the following prescriptions:

• Acetazolamide - aka Diamox. This helps lessen the effects of altitude sickness. We already know I'm susceptible so this will really be helpful to me.
• Dexamethasone - aka Dex. I will use this if I come down with High Altitude Cerebral Edema (HACE). HACE is the result of swelling of brain tissue from fluid leakage. Symptoms can include headache, loss of coordination (ataxia), weakness, and decreasing levels of consciousness including disorientation, loss of memory, hallucinations, psychotic behavior, and coma. It generally occurs after a week or more at high altitude. Severe instances can lead to death if not treated quickly. Awesome!
• Nifedipine - I will use this if I experience High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HACE). HACE is swelling and/or fluid accumulation in the lungs. It leads to impaired gas exchange and may cause respiratory failure. It is due to either failure of the heart to remove fluid from the lung circulation. Nice!!
• Z-Pack - In case I catch some infection or run a fever and we can't figure out what the hell it is.
• Ambien - In case I can't sleep!!
• Zofran - In case of nausea.
• Medrol - To fight allergic reactions that can't be handled with Benadryl.
• Epinephrin - aka an Epi Pen. In case the Medrol doesn't work either!
• Malarone - To stave off malaria, although I shouldn't be at risk for it as high as I'll be.
• Albuterol - In case of wheezing or I can't breathe at rest.

I'm going to be the most popular girl on the trip! Dr. Adkins gave me a few extra of everything in case I have friends that get sick and don't have medicine. I thought that was nice. Some of it I may not have to get filled (ie, the epi pen) if our expedition leader has it on hand. That would be great because this many prescriptions will get pretty expensive. Stormy gave me a great idea to check the Wal Mart and Kroger list of $4 prescriptions. Maybe some of them are on there. I took three to Publix today to get filled. I figure I'll do it in stages.

I'm exhausted so I think I'll go to bed. My arm is pretty achy; I'm hoping it will be better tomorrow. Good night!!!