Beautiful, deadly little things...Australian Red Back spiders

The bite of an Australian Red Back spider won't usually kill you but the unbearable, sickening pain will often last for hours. Most victims will remember briefly noticing a tiny, shiny bead-like black spider  vanishing moments before the pain set in. They drop off postal sacks; they run over suitcases;  they hang, suspended behind television sets.  It's  characteristic vivid post-box red back - stripe on a  small, glossy body is the only warning you will get. The bite may simply make you feel a little unwell for half an hour and leave a terribly itchy, sometimes lightly blistered patch on the site. If it is unusually large, you may experience an overwhelming urge to just lie down and die. Relentless, unforgiving pain, slight nausea, a slight sweat and a high pulse are common symptoms. If the pain does not settle within an hour, you may face hours of agony at the site of the bite. 

Most rural nursing posts and hospitals keep Red-Back anti-venom. A doctor familiar with the symptoms can insert an intravenous bung and have an infusion of anti-venom running fairly quickly. The pain and any symptoms usually settle rapidly. In cases that I have seen, the pain has almost settled by the time the small infusion has completed and this can only be compared to heaven if you have suffered up to eight hours of agony from a previous bite. 

One of my patients told me of how he had been discharged from a hospital following a bite from an unfamiliarly large Red Back while working up North. Six hours after the event, he experienced ascending (slowly travelling up from the place of the bite to his respiratory muscles) paralysis and made a brush with death when he was unable to breath. Getting back to an emergency centre at the onset of the secondary set of symptoms can account for his survival. 

Red Backs love quiet spots like shed roof corners but they get inside homes and fence crevices and really, if you think about it…they don't have ethics or a conscience, so if they are there, there is always a danger of being bitten by this beautiful, deadly little  thing. If you are small enough and it is mature enough...remember....death is it's only intention.

Photograph: Young wild kangaroo.

This is a photo taken years ago on a small Fugi camera while on my way to a friend's bush wedding in Western Australia..

*the pixallation is from scanning the original photograph

If you ever considered becoming a blood donor...

Wildflower garment: five of us (students at W.A.S.A.D) did this as a group piece in 2003 for a one week outdoor exhibition at King's Park in Perth. The garment was constructed from tiny pieces removed from branches and Australian spring wild flowers. At the time, I thought it rather lovely and serene.

BECOMING A BLOOD DONOR

I have been donating blood since I was eighteen years old. The older nursing students came into the student nurses tea lounge and told us to go and have a look. As it was classed as our first visit, a simple blood test was done and a few weeks later our cards arrived with our blood groups on them. From then onwards, as we were now classed as "blood donors", it was simply a matter of  just going in to the next clinic (buses used to go to all the hospitals and clinics were set up). 

When I went flatting, the donor clinic was a 5 minute walk away. Every 12 weeks, a friend of mine and myself would walk over and give a pack of red cells. We never had any difficulty remembering in those days- it was usually when we were hungry. While the blood was filling up the bag on the side of the electronic chair, we would eat a plate of sandwiches, some cheese and crackers, some sweet biscuits and a cup of coffee or juice. As we were young, we had no problem accepting a second serving of anything that was offered. I only felt faint on one occasion. That was a few meters from the front door and my two 'Alternative' friends sat on the path with me until I had recovered. We just looked like a couple of punks hanging out on the pavement...except my blood pressure had nearly rendered me unconscious.

Before I went today, I had nearly ten glasses of fluids and six eggs for breakfast. I felt really good! Once at the blood donation centre, I completed a check-list and attended a brief consultation in an interview room. After a finger prick for my Hb (haemoglobin), a blood pressure reading and a final check that I hadn't been to Papua New Guinea, I was taken to the blood taking room. No more than about five people are bled at one time, each with their own nurse. With a soft foam ball in my hand to squeeze occasionally, the needle was taped and I could watch T.V quietly or listen to the patient next to me chat to one of the nurses while my blood filled the bag. This part only takes about 10-15 minutes. Once my nurse was happy that all was well and I hadn't passed out or felt unwell, I was allowed to go to the waiting area. Here, a tray with a warm cup of coffee was brought to me and I enjoyed a chocolate muffin (apparently, dark chocolate helps you keep your Haemoglobin up) and read today's newspaper. 

I can only say that it is usually a pleasant and peaceful experience. The blood products are used for post-operative blood transfusions, for burns and for emergency trauma. For the price of having  to sit and have a drink with a chocolate muffin, it is an easy commitment: a commitment that is exchanged for saving a couple of lives.

Budget for dreamers

What to do when you are broke and don't know what to do...

If you have to flip over every 5o cents a hundred times before you spend it, then practice  teaching yourself a few basic habits. Most people have been poor at some time in their lives. I have slept on a  wooden floor in a room with no curtains in a flat, with no fridge or stove, and no money. It has taught me survival skills that I cannot do without. Don't fall into depression because you are broke. Be smart- it is sometimes a matter of knowing what to do and staying honest that matters the most.

• When you get paid, pay your rent first…always. Look for the cheapest, the smallest and the safest place to rent. Don't worry too much about space when you are starting out. Use it as an opportunity to get yourself set up for something nicer, later. Really, your friends won't care if you use boxes for furniture. 
• Practice different ways of budgeting if you haven't learned how to do this. Some people start out putting a small amount into envelopes and keeping them for bills and essentials. Plan to have a tiny amount of spending money and don't spend it if you don't need to. The mistake people make when they are used to being broke is spending every cent in a few moments as soon as they get some: really, when you put some thought to it, would you walk around a shopping centre and just throw your money at anyone that looks at you then go home? No. 
• Spend a bit longer looking at shelves when you are shopping for food. Larger supermarkets often keep lower priced items on the lower shelves. Cheap bread can be frozen. Trays of chicken wings and legs are often cheap and can  be divided up into 4 or 5 packets and frozen. Bags of apples and bags of carrots are usually very cheap. When you see macaroni and rice on special, get a couple of packets. Forget the biscuits and forget the confectionary section.  

Many large food stores will sell some of their fresh vegetables cheap after 4.30 , especially if it is the day before a public holiday. Remember…rich people also buy "no-mame brands". Things like no name brand serviettes cost about a dollar; no one is going to worry about your tissue box; items like rice, bread, sugar and nappy soak are often much cheaper. You can empty them into other containers when you get home and no-one will know or care. The trick is to spread your dollar as far as it will go. New home owners, travellers and multi-millionaires do this all the time. 

• Stay away from booze and smokes….they are going to make you poor and they are going to make you sick. They can go on your lists when finances are better. When you can afford it, instead of more expensive cans,  a large bottle of beer is about $1.50 and can be kept in your fridge.  
• When making meals, let your food "go the distance". Noodles, rice, potatoes, bread: any of these will make food for one into food for five. 
• Let your family and friend's mothers know that you'll accept furniture and kitchen containers as donations if you are just starting out. There will be someone who would love to give them to you.
• If you don't have furniture, make your own cushions and cushion covers…big ones, small ones, it won't matter. A couple of giant cushions are great. Hunt for cheap fabric (remember, brightly coloured lining is often aound $3.00p/m and some cottons are often quite cheap). Calico (we used to ask for"K-sheeting") is raw cotton: this can be used for anything, including curtains. It usually costs anything from $1.99 to $5.00. If you don't have a sewing machine, just hand sew them at home while you are sorting out your budget. K-mart and Big W have small, cheap cushion inserts at about $1.80. Experiment and you'll be inspired.
•  Look in old second hand shops: a Burmese friend of mine bargains and somehow always gets a couple of dollars off. Sunday morning car-park marts or "Swap-meets" are sensational. They have treasures for a couple of dollars…I have come home with silver goblets and wooden bowls for a pittance. You may be able to source old sari fabric, curtains, wooden boxes, ornaments and small tables. Make an offer: often the sellers just want to make a sale; they don't want to pack up thousands of things when they are leaving.
• Ask a friend if they've got yesterday's paper. Read the news and look for events that have free entry. Most libraries have a newspaper room. Night clubs advertise what time entry is free and there are many, many free art moments.
• You don't need to go to Gym to get fit. Walking up every flight of stairs is a great cardiovascular work-out; telephone books and small, heavy items can be used for resistance training if you want defined arms. 
•  Have a list of 'things to do when I am broke and bored'.  Make things. It keeps you smart... Build a ship from matches or grow some little succulents from cuttings and then use them later for a cool centre piece on a box in your lounge. Get someone to paint a Toucan or an exotic butterfly on your lounge wall. 
• If you are starving and it is 2 days until pay-day, remember…make a huge bowl of salty popcorn. It is really cheap and filling.and it will always make you feel better when you are broke.

Day 4: Tasmanian Devils on the Run....

On Tuesday, Genghis, Scratchy and Itchy, three baby Tasmanian Devils,  managed to break out of Peel Zoo, not far from Perth. Inside, I have been cheering them on. This is a true test of survival. Tasmanian Devils, one of Australia's rare and endangered species, are faced with extinction in our harsh but fragile environment. This little trio are, however, still babies and the perils of a major highway, where kangaroos, boar and other wildlife have perished, is only a single factor in their chances of staying alive in the wild. 


News report:

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/three-tassie-devils-on-the-loose-from-peel-zoo-near-mandurah/story-e6frg13u-1226498579759



* All three babies have now been recaptured: on three different days, in three different places...two of them in late night escapades.  Scratchie chewed up a bathroom wall; Itchy escaped an animal cage ; while Genghis returned a little skinnier and  a little bit wiser after a little bit of rain and a lovely, sunny day on a golf course.

CPR 5:1

5:1

 One day while working on the ward of an Australian country hospital (Collie), I heard a man calling for a nurse from the Accident and Emergency area. I walked out into the corridor and saw a man, clinging to the limp, pale body of a lifeless child. When I reached him, I took the child and hit the 'cardiac arrest' button. Between giving the child mouth-to-mouth breaths while walking quickly, I indicated for the father to follow me and I said to the nurse that had run down, "Call the doctor and tell him I am resuscitating a little boy". As soon as we reached  the examination room and I had placed him carefully on the bed,  I began CPR on the child. Another nurse came and we did what we had practised after lunch every Friday with Sylvia. 

The seven year old boy finally took a few quivery, weak  breaths and made a small movement after what seemed like an eternity but was probably a  long, tense twenty minutes or so. In the background, the distressed mother had told us that they had been enjoying a day at the Collie River and the kids were swimming while the adults relaxed after  lunch with a few drinks. She was in tears, distraught and preparing for the worst. When I told her that he had started breathing, she could hardly speak with emotion while we  had to concentrate on our job and  bite back tears of relief. She pointed out a  stranger, a dark haired man in his early thirties, who was in the waiting room. After hearing the alarmed parents calling for assistance, he had  had started mouth to mouth resuscitation out on the river-side without any hesitation. His face  looked tired and fearful.

The mother kept thanking us profusely for saving her son but  I remember thinking how scared they must have been. We had been scared too- not of the resuscitation but how to deal with failing to save him. If my whole career was based on saving a single  life: I wouldn't have that career if it wasn't for the many strangers that  had done exactly what he had done that beautiful, calm summer's afternoon, amongst people he had never met before, and in the most awful of circumstances. When the doctor had decided that the child was stable enough to go to the ward for observation, I was finally able to go out into the waiting room,  where the stranger was sitting on his own. I remember standing in front of him saying to the boy's mother, "We weren't the ones that saved your son….this man here saved him." Then I went home and cried and resolved never, ever to go through that again. 

We did go through that again but in more awful circumstances. A few months later, a car pulled up in front of the hospital and a distressed fourteen year old boy ran in saying that a tree had fallen on his father, crushing his chest. Somehow he had got his father from under the tree and into the back of the car. This would have been bad enough if four men had tried. Distraught, he ran somewhere in grief, to be alone...away from the hell that kept unfolding.  With Keith Meadows' help, a local G.P, I managed to climb in through the window and unlock the door so we could pull the boy's  father out of the back seat of the car. I started CPR while we pulled him onto a stretcher and ran in to A & E with him. I vaguely remember the weight of one of the wheels as someone drove the trolley over my foot while we were still running. After a long and difficult attempt at saving the man, we finally called for all to stop. That was a terrible day and that was one life we were not able to save. If my whole career was based on one single life: I wouldn't have that career if it wasn't for the boy that brought his young father  in so that we could try, at least, to save him.

If you are lucky enough to visit Alice (Alice Springs).

A few years ago, I was delighted to find some beautiful bars of Russian chocolates in a twenty-four hour shop in Claremont, Perth. Unlike the sweetness of Australian chocolate or the fineness of French chocolate, I was touched  by the beauty of the magnificent full-sailed ship pictured on the paper it was encased in. 

Some years ago, Andie, our one and only astronaut, didn't fit into his suit when the time came to return to our humble planet. After clever negotiation, the Americans were able to extend a government contract with the Australians and Andie was fitted with a new suit. If you are lucky enough to visit Alice Springs, you may be privileged to discover the reason behind the deal. If you are anything like me, however, you might consider hiding your photos under your house for a couple of years.

If you do travel to "Alice", there are many things you can arrange before you get there: this includes chopper flights across Uluru, transport and accommodation. One of the most wonderful things that you could do, though, is go ballooning one day. This time of the year is ideal. You will get picked up at about 4:00 o'clock in the morning in a small bus before,  out in the desert, in the dark, you find yourself unfurling equipment off the back of trucks. The sound of flames shooting across before you and the feeling of smallness as, one by one, the balloons drift off next to you into the cool, painted sky will grace you. When you get back, you will repay the ferryman by packing and folding the blood red coloured balloons up in the sticky, sweltering, unforgiving heat. 

The only thing that I can equate this journey to is a ride on a tall, majestic sailed ship, like the one on the chocolate I once found. It is quite likely, you will never have the chance to do it again. Be scared...be very, very scared.