My eyes became bloodshot from an irritant Monday afternoon while building a makeshift home in the boondocks of El Nido. 24 hours later, I was hooked up to an IV hanging on for the ride of my life…..Giardia. 
Presenting with symptoms of profuse vomiting, high fever and cold sweats my teammates rushed me to the local doctor. We walked down a steep embankment, across a dirt lawn filled with livestock, ducked under multiple clothes lines, and finally sat down in the waiting room for the doctor. By waiting room, I mean a slightly enclosed porch with a folding chair.
To treat my massive dehydration and most likely parasitic infection, I needed an IV.
No power. No problem. My iventive island care giver opened up a drawer, extracted his head lamp with no battery cover, slapped the 6 exposed AAAs against his head and proceeded to put in my IV.
No bed for your patient. No problem. Just throw a sheet on a board laying on top of a box and you have one.
No IV hook. No problem. Hang it from a potted hanging plant. It works just fine.
No nurse. No problem. Your doctor’s mistress can serve that position just fine.
No tylenol. No problem. There is a never ending supply of morphine on the island. As I snoozed on my make shift bed, I was pumped full of medicine after medicine, which made the Great Dane in the living room transform into many things while under my medicinal hallucinations.
.
No ambulance. No problem. Here on El Nido, old Chevy trucks serve just fine as make shift hospitals. Sometimes, however, your teammate has to stand in the back holding your IV bags while you ride with your hand out of the window in order to get home safely.
No way back to the doctor. No problem. El Nido doctors make house calls. 4 in total to be exact.
Well I am almost back to normal. And will be heading to Malaysia in a few days.
