One thing that I did not anticipate going on the race was how often I would be getting sick. Sure, I expected to have a case of travelers diarrhea or an upset stomach every once in a while but doctor visits were very unexpected coming from the girl who hardly ever got sick at home.
In Bolivia, I got sick with 2 different things: an intestinal infection and sun poisoning.
First was the intestinal infection. I had the same symptoms as Shannon (team Fearless Laughter) who had been to the doctor and got diagnosed, all I had to do was go to the pharmacy and pick up some cipro. We traced it back to potentially a bad street hambergusea.
Being sick meant I had to miss some ministry. I could not make it out to our last English class to say goodbye to Miluan, one of the little girls I really connected with.
Talk about being bummed out…
The sun poisoning came towards the end of the month. It stemmed from sun burn that I had got at the beginning of the month that never went away. It kept me up all night scratching and tossing and turning. Needless to say, when I got to the point of exhaustionI made the decision to go to the doctor. Who would have thought one could get sun poisoning when the temperature barely hit 50F each day!! The doctor laughed when MC, my teammate and translator, told him that everybody had been calling me sausage fingers because of how swollen my hands were. I was prescribed 2 burn creams and anti-inflammatory pills.
Peru was the next adventure of being sick. About 2 weeks after going to the doctor for sun poisoning in Bolivia, I got another upset stomach. I attributed it to being in a new country and new foods and having a wiped out system from my first round of cipro so I took another round of cipro and started some probiotics. During that time a cold had been spreading through the squad like wildfire and I had not caught it!! The next week, when everybody was getting over it, I finally caught it. It started with congestion and a sore throat. A couple days later my cold turned into a sinus infection. I went to the doctor to get a prescription to clear it out. The process took all day. I had my initial consultation with the doctor, had to get an X-ray, go to the ear, nose and throat doctor, and then go back to the original doctor to get a prescription. The funny thing that took so long was that the doctor I originally saw got occupied in the middle of my visit so I had to either wait for or come back in 3 hours.
When all was done with, we headed to the pharmacy in the hospital. I found out the hard way that medicine is expensive especially if they don’t have the generic. I ended up paying $4.07 USD per pill. Needless to say, it hit my bank account hard.
The rest of the month I stayed healthy.. or so I thought. One thing that I ad just come to terms with was having diarrhea/loose stool because I figured that was how my body was going to react. I had already taking cipro and did not want to take a 3rd round. I just kept taking probiotics in hopes that it would clear itself naturally. The friday that we were leaving Peru for Ecuador I got intense stomach pains and a lot of stomach grumblings. Just what I needed for a long bus ride.
My whole first week of Ecuador was filled with urgent trips to the bathroom and sleepless nights. Monday my team urged me to go to the doctor yet again so I packed my bag, got on the bus and MC and I headed to the doctor. This experience was very pleasant and reminded me of the doctors office back home. For the first time my vitals were taken and they followed the order that you arrived in. I was there for an hour tops.
The doctor treated me for a potential amoeba or parasite but the lab work will not be in until Friday. Yesterday (9/9/14) things took a turn and instead of the medicine helping it felt as if it was making things worse. Today I called the doctor back and informed him of my worsening condition. Not having the lab results back he was unsure of what to do so he prescribed me another medication that will wipe out anything it could be.
Missing ministry and not being home has been the hardest part about being sick on the World Race. Not being home is extremely hard for me because I do not have that comforting touch and knowledge of what to do or eat around: no warm chicken broth waiting for me or no ice water to cool me down. My teammates are family but its nothing like curling up beside my mom and going to sleep. Missing ministry has been difficult because of the connections that are made. This past week MC and I taught 2 English classes together at the school that we are at this month. Even though we are not teaching English anymore the 3 “troublemakers” had asked the team where we were at and why were weren’t there that day. This just confirmed that the relationships we have been building have been making an impact in their lives.
I am still $4,711 away from being fully funded but I am now fundraising to replace the money that I have spent out of pocket on doctor visits and medication. My budget for the race was $100 a month but i have already spent $250 on medical expenses alone. That is 2 1/2 months budget gone. My goal is to raise $500 for medical expenses; half to cover what I have spent so far and 1/2 for future medical expenses (because I guarantee you that this week was not my last time). To support me in medical cost on the race you can donate to
http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/medical-expenses-/232141
or by paypal: [email protected]
