Thread: A sober reminder to drink water

Diary entry 10. Death by dehydration

As you recall, our wandering woman had continued on her journey to King Ash Bay after matching wits with the P38’s central locking. Although the car had no reason to treat her this way, it had decided to provide her an emergency entry practice opportunity, 200 km from the little village on the Gulf of Carpentaria. Lani had anticipated a hefty price to replace a side window and had set about to patiently gain entry by carefully removing the glass intact- her only tools being some bones and an empty beer can. A number of hours unprotected from the sun on the 40 degree day passed before she held the glass pane in her excited little hands.

It was late in the evening when she arrived at the fishing club village at King Ash Bay and made a bee line for the club house, being as she was hungry and thirsty and not in the mood to cook. After briefly explaining her afternoon’s odyssey to the lady behind the bar, she had to agree with the reply that she deserved a drink. The kitchen was closed so she had one beer before leaving for a shower. After returning to the club house feeling like a new woman, a few more drinks were enjoyed during the remainder of the evening. Still no food or water was consumed.

Ordinarily, although she rarely drank this much, she would not be greatly affected by the amount consumed. This night was to be very different however, for our unsuspecting heroine had made no allowance for the dehydration and sun exposure she was already suffering. Many a traveler from the south made the same mistake when heading north and their bodies paid dearly…dehydration and sunstroke are known killers.

Lani was unaware of what was happening to her. The drinks ultimately passed through her like a freight train, owing to her electrolyte imbalance. The alcohol however was quickly absorbed into her blood where its concentration increased due to her dehydrated state. This alcohol soon added to her dehydration, while she remained oblivious to the deadly works that were taking place within her. A combination of sunstroke and dehydration together with the unfettered alcohol saw the petite conqueror of desert, herself conquered. Three times that night she would lapse into unconsciousness before being able to climb into her bed at dawn.

All day she slept, stirring only occasionally. Her head ached while it continued spinning, as it had the night before, while her kidneys had stopped working. The confusion in her mind that accompanied these symptoms only helped to mislead the usually well disciplined woman into believing she was suffering a common garden variety hangover. This mistaken belief was taking her to her demise, for she slept on thinking all she needed was rest.

Meanwhile, her pulse and breathing quickened and her body temperature rose as the skin ceased sweating. It was only later in the afternoon as the muscle cramps screamed out to her through pain, that the real reason for her deteriorating state dawned on her. Lani knew she risked falling into a coma or death, both of which can be permanent, especially the later. Still, whether temporary or permanent, our hapless traveler wished for neither and began gathering the strength needed to get to her water supply. This only required her to get out of bed and open a rear side door- normally not difficult but in her weakened state it presented a huge challenge.

Eventually she was able to get to her water and sip a few small mouthfuls. After allowing this precious fluid to seep in, a little more water was drank but she was careful not to drink too much at once. With a little bit of strength restored she continued to rest until she felt strong enough to make her way to the local service station where she obtained some Gatorade, which replaced electrolytes, glucose and water. Later that night, although requiring energy she lacked, she managed to make herself a cup-a-soup, again containing valuable salts and fluids.

To be fair to our normally astute traveler, the very condition she’d suffered was the cause for her inability to realise what she was suffering. Traveling alone had revealed one serious drawback and if not for the muscle cramping, our sweet princess might easily have lapsed into a coma and death. Lani later learnt the village lost one person a year in this manner.

It was to be more than a week before she was strong enough to travel and even then it required her to call on reserves rarely used. During this time her abdominal muscles ached from the cramping, so solid food was avoided and she could do no more than rest. Simultaneously another northern malady was beginning its insidious work in her.

All the while that Lani had lain ill in her car; mosquitoes had been breaching the clumsily erected fly screens. Lani had placed netting in the car windows to afford her some ventilation but in her confused state of mind the make shift screens were installed inadequately. As she lay asleep or unconscious, the deadly parasites made continuous raids on her exposed flesh. The word quickly got around the insect world that a free feed was to be had and it wasn’t long before her arms and legs had more bites than a boat full of fishermen. Although she was later to dress the many welts with antiseptic ointment, two small sites between her toes were missed and commenced to form into tropical ulcers.

It was a sad and sorry woman road warrior who made her way south, nursing her wounds and chiding herself for being so naive. Her foolishness was made all the more stark by the fact she has studied nutrition and should have known better.

Notes: 1). It is known that dehydration can be caused and exasperated by alcohol consumption. In areas of high body fluid loss such as Northern Australia, greater care needs to be taken to ensure against dehydration and exposure. Lani’s lack of water intake over a 36 hr period combined with a few hours of afternoon sun exposure placed her in a vulnerable condition on its own. The consumption of alcoholic drinks initiated diarrhea and dehydrated her further.

2). It is reasonable to assume that our traveling princess learnt a valuable lesson on this leg of her journey- a lesson she felt she should share with others.

You've got a good point there Mac, thanks for that (is there a tongue in cheek emoticon?). And don't worry Deano, I will be keeping an eye on myself from now on because I have more adventures to write up and even more still that I haven't had yet- but I will

Regards,

Lani

Originally Posted by whiskey_mac

Lani, it was the beer. I only drink scotch and always put two ice cubes in every time thus keeping up my water intake. He He.