McFlare92

Victoria from reddit is probably helping him with the AMA and read him the question. She then transcribed his answer which is why he said "Victoria". That's my guess, anyway.

I'm not an infectious disease expert but I am working on my PhD in biology so maybe I can at least partly answer this. A mortality rate of 70% is without any proper care. The thing about Ebola is that we have no effective treatment, but if we can manage the symptoms you can outlast it presuming that you're relatively healthy. If you have access to first world medical care and advanced hospitals you can fight like hell and make it through. It won't be pretty but symptom management is extremely critical and in places like Liberia there are simply not enough resources available.

What level of function do you have in your arms? Is your condition getting progressively worse or staying relatively stable?

Phenylalanine is one of only a few amino acids that has a ring structure (the others being tyrosine, tryptophan, and histidine (although histidine's is a tad different)). In PKU the body can't metabolize phenylalanine to tyrosine due to a defective phenylalanine hydroxylase enzyme. I'm sure there are other similar disorders but PKU is easy to identify and manage when you catch it at birth.

Edit: Terrible spelling

St Thomas is not Somalia... It's an island paradise. OP is eating, drinking, getting a full refund, a discount on another cruise, and spending every day on the beaches of St Thomas. It's a US Virgin island, you can call your family at home with your regular phone plan. Overall, he got stranded in a great place.