Before you read this blog, know that I am alive and feeling 400 times better than the last week of unfortunate events.
As many of you may know, I get pretty sick very easily. I could be crying over the latest episode of This is Us and end up with a crazy cold in the morning or get myself too stressed out that my body just crashes. So the fact that I had a stuffy nose since we left the states was not concerning to me at all!! I had just gotten over a sinus infection before we left and figured it was just some left over stuffiness. As time went on in Costa Rica, my little cold kept getting worse. So when a few other girls were going to the doctor last Wednesday, I thought it might be a good idea to go and just to check out how things were looking.
So we hopped in an Uber- me, Brittany (Squadmate), Tennessee (Team Leader) & Cassie (Squad Leader)- and headed to take on the world. As we pulled up, I was little shocked because we were at the hospital! In my mind we were going to doctor so I was feeling confused & excited to take on my first foreign HOPSITAL experience! This place was pretttttty niiicceee, we walked in and the first thing I saw was a cute little coffee shop!! The real struggle was finding out where we were going due to the language barrier. After talking to many different faces, we found this man who spoke English well & who was willing to help us! We ended up at the 7th floor which was alllll for the ear, nose & throat specialist. After waiting a little while, Tennessee was up first. Brit & I just hung out until Tennessee came out laughing. She told us that they made her pay 60,000 colones which is around $105 USD. At that point I was like ohmygoodness what am I doing here!?! I’m not going in there no way & right at that moment the nurse called “ Katherine- Helen Katherine”. So I walked in PRAYING that when I walked out my total wouldn’t be that large. Unfortunately, our doctor did not speak English well, but she did know the basics. So as I explained to her in Spanglish what was wrong, she lead me to this dentist like chair in the room where just a few moments later I found myself with a large poll vacuum cleaner up my nose. I felt it down my throat and into my brain- it was UNCOMFORTABLE. God likes to do that though, make us uncomfortable. After the polls, I found the next few words terrifying.
“Surgery, you need”.
My mind was running in every direction. Surgery??? What do you mean I need surgery!! I started to shed some tears in panic. I had literally been in this country for a week and a half ago and you are telling my I need SURGEY?? After doing some investigating- turns out I have a deviated septum which causes me to get sinus infections very easily and this in fact can only be fixed with surgery. My mind wondered to the eight doctors appointments I had before I left the US, wondering how that was unseen. The other news she gave me was I had a sinus infection, swollen lymph nodes and a $105 dollar check waiting for me outside the door.
The next day Brittany, Gabby (helps run the AIM base in Costa Rica) and I headed to the local pharmacy because our hospital trip didn’t come along with any medicine. From the time at the hospital to now, my lymph nodes had grown 5 sizes. I looked like a turtle. Think about two medium sized stones replaced where lymph nodes are. That was my neck. I didn’t think it was real life. In the moment it was a sensitive subject, but I wish I would have taken a picture of it because it was really funny.
We were at the pharmacy for a little while because our friends at the hospital prescribed us with medicine that was over $100 and we were trying to find an alternative. Gabby being the amazing person she is was successful and I got a 10 day supply of monster pills for a sinus infection.
At this point in my journey I was feeling sick, but not too bad. The kinda sick that you still do everything and function properly, but you just need to blow your nose every few minutes. So for the next two days I went to ministry and played some rock paper scissors with my best friend Joshua!
At Lifting Hands on Saturday mornings we get to work in the thrift store/ garage sale area which I look forward to doing. This Saturday, Paige & I did some shopping and working at the same time and bought some sweatshirts!!!!
However, last Saturday night was when it all went down hill. I found myself at Da Noi, a local gelato shop, with some of my squad mates. The walk there is about 6 minutes but we have to walk over this pretty busy road that is on a bridge. As we were crossing I started to feel really exhausted and just overall not good. As we walked in the door of the house I saw one of my teammates and just started crying, I didn’t feel like I had a sinus infection anymore yet in that moment- I had never felt worse. I laid down in my bed around 6 and just slept. People kept walking in and out and I was just so frustrated that the only place I wanted to be was home. Sundays are days for rest and I think that is all I did last Sunday. I occasionally would make an appearance somewhere in the house to get some water or find more medicine but at this point I had a fever, chills and a stuffy nose and still just wanted a hug from my mom.
Monday was a hard day. I was headed back to a clinic. I woke up with a fever and heavy emotions. Luckily I still wasn’t the only sick one, Cy also came along for this journey. We hopped into another Uber with my squad leader, Emily, and we were off. This clinic was at the boys ministry site, The Abraham Project. When we arrived, we filled out some paper work and I went in first. The doctor spoke English extremely well and was super kind. He looked at the throat and simply said “you are very, VERY sick”. After a few more tests I found out I had strep throat and a bacterial infection. The funniest part was he told me to stop taking the huge pills that the hospital prescribed me :’). Then he told me he was going to give me shots. I went into panic mode because shots make me very nervous. I laid flat on my back assuming the shots would be in my arm or in my leg. Boy oh boy, was I wrong!!!!!! He asked me to flip the other way and I was confused so I asked where I was getting shots…
I got two BUTT SHOTS.
They were painful and long.
After some more tears, I walked out with lots of prescriptions and very confused about what just happened. Cy went in after and he had a sinus infection… he didn’t have to get shots. We hopped back in the Uber and went to the pharmacy to pickup our medicine. From the time period of the clinic to the pharmacy, I felt 3 times better!! I was finally hungry and didn’t bend over as much as I walked. All I have to say is, butt shots work miracles.
My pill line up was pretty huge. The first day I was sick I had to take 16 different pills.
Over the next few days, I slept a lot and tried to recover. I wasn’t allowed to go to ministry until Friday which was really hard. Everyday that my team would leave I felt like I was wasting my time staying at home. It took me a few days to be ok with the fact that if push myself to hard, I’ll never get better. I found a lot to do at home to encourage my team mates and make life easier for them as they had for me. Day by day my nose got less stuffed and my lymph nodes grew smaller 🙂 By Thursday I was pretty much fully recovered!
Over my time being sick, I felt extra homesick and down. I would cry a lot randomly during the day and think about my family all the time. There is something about being sick that makes you want to be wrapped up in a blanket at home surrounded by family.
The thing about being sick in community is you have 52 other people who want to help and serve you. The first few days I was sick, I was asked by every single person in the house if they could get anything for me or if they could help me with anything. I soon learned that in fact, I WAS wrapped up in a blanket at home surrounded by family.
I was so overwhelmed with love that it took away from the homesickness that I was feeling. My team was constantly looking out for me, going to the store to buy me soup & gatorade and doing everything in there power to make me not feel sick or sad anymore.
“No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” 1 John 4:12. I found fullness and comfort through my teammates and squamates whose main focus was loving me.
God works in us in so many different ways. For me it took being really REALLY sick to realize that my family is already all around me!!!
It is now Monday and I am back to being me !!! Please pray for my health and that I continue to stay healthy. If there is ANYTHING that you have on your heart that you need prayer for please leave a comment or email me !!
FUNDRAISING UPDATE: I’m so thankful for all the love and support that all of you have shown me! Im currently only $3,200 away from my goal wahoo!! If you feel called to support financially you can donate through the link in my blog!! Another way to help is to pray. Pray for my squad and I as we work in ministry, for our hearts and friendships and of coarse, for our health ;-).
THANKS FOR READING THIS !
Make today count,
~Helen <3
