Acute Mountain Sickness!!! Tengboche

Team No Limits: Evesest Expedition team: Larry, Doug and Matt. The guys who helped me out and the guys who are climbing Everest!!


Yesterday after 6 ½ hours on the trail we made it to Himalayan View Lodge and Restaurant in Tengboche.

I had an absolute pounding headache all the way up and when we finally got there I felt completely ill! I decided to eat some rather unappetizing garlic soup. I really didn’t feel up for but it’s supposed to be good to mountain sickness, so I forced it down. As soon as I could get it down I crashed for about 2 hours. When I woke up I was feeling even worse. At this time I was extremely nauseous, dizzy and weak, on top of my splitting headache. I knew I need to make a move to the dining room where there were other people present.

As soon as I got up the nausea hit me even harder and I ran to the outhouse and vomited loads! Just as I tried to leave I began vomiting again! I thought I had HACE (High Altitude Cerebral Edema which is very very serious sickness brought on by high altitude and can be fatal. It involves swelling of the brain) I was scared b/c I was sure I was dying. I even cried a little between puking, especially b/c of the stories I had heard. I was like, “I don’t want to die on the way to base camp!!!” How lame would that be!

After I finished vomiting I slowly made my way to the dining room and told the boys what happened. They all stared at me for a minute… not sure what to do. There were 3 American guys sitting near us and Evan said, “do you want to tell these guys what happened? One’s a doctor?” I just sat there, all I wanted to do was cry. Finally Gary went ahead and told them and they were absolutely so great and helpful!!

First they told me I was experiencing AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness) and asked me if I had Diamox (a drug to help acclimatize) and Tylenol. I had neither so they very kindly gave me Diamox, Tylenol and Ginko from their own supply! Enough for 4 days worth. I was incredibly grateful although still feeling extremely ill.

I popped the drugs and within 10 minutes I was outside vomiting all of it up again! I came back in and told the Americans what happened. They told me to take another dose and practice deep breathing. For the next 40 minutes I felt like absolute sh-ite but was able to keep the pills down and I finally started feeling better.

Once my condition had dramatically improved I felt up for being sociable again. I asked the Americans where they were going (I had a feeling they weren’t just going to base camp) No. Definately Not! They were climbing Everest! Their names were Larry (a doctor from Tennessee) Doug (a lawyer from Colorado) and Matt (a teacher also from Colorado) They are Team No Limits and gave me their web site to check up on their progress. Hopefully (if I get to basecamp) we can say hey to them.

This morning before Team No Limits was off I got a photo with them in front of Everest! They were so nice and helpful to me! Doug even wrote out some info on Diamox and AMS and some tips for me along with their website.

We’re staying an extra day here to help me acclimatize. Like I said before… I am sooooo lucky to be traveling with Gary, Evan and John. They are the bomb! They are all so nice and concerned. Great solid lads they are. Tonight Evan said our team name should be Walk the Line. He’s Johnny Cash and I’m June Carter. John and Gary are our backup guitarists. Haha. They loved that one.

I’m going to Jacksonville….

PS. I just checked out Team No Limits and they mentioned me in their Everest news! The young lady with AMS… to remind them of the perils of high altitude sickness! Haha.