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Hospital, the end

So it was all night long with the IV bags, getting them changed every few hours. It didn't bother me though, I slept right through the whole thing. The lovely M stayed by my side the whole night, sleeping in the airplane seat (and ending up with a sore neck for days). Some interesting/scary things about the hospital: no soap in the bathrooms, no toilet paper in the bathrooms, no windows in the room.

The next day, I was discharged in the late afternoon and told to come back for the next 3 days and get some more antibiotics. It was decided (by me) to leave the IV port in and not get shots in my butt instead. Actually, when we were originally talking about what my treatment would be, the butt-shots were an option, but that it would be really painful and over a long period of time. The doc convinced me that 24 hours in the hospital would be better for me - with the obvious benefits of no painful shots.

The doctor also gave me some prescriptions for different drugs to help my intestines and other parts recover. I went straight to the pharmacy to get the scrips filled and was (relatively) shocked again when I was told that the prescription HAD to be a mistake, as they never,ever give that drug for a week. In fact, they never give it for more than 2 days.

Great. In the end, I asked a couple other doctors (including the husband of my spanish teacher) and was told that, indeed, just 2 days of that particular drug was the correct amount.

Absolutely confidence inspiring.

So one day of antibiotics in the IV - no problems. Two days, no problem. On the third day, I go in and it seems there's a problem with the IV - it got blocked up somehow. Well, I wasn't ready for a shot yet, so I suggested to try to put an IV in the other arm...and no go.

Turn over, the nurse says, this one's gotta go in your behind.

Whoa! But, but, but...to no avail...I rolled over, bit my shirt, and walked out with a bruise the size of an orange and couldn't sit for 5 hours.

¡Mikey's Here!

If it's not one thing, it's another

Last week, it was typhoid. Yesterday, our internet was down. I tell you, what a country!

On top of it, the only person ever to be early, is the guy who picks up the laundry. They says to me, they says, "As long as you drop it off by 3pm, no problem". Well, I show up at 2:58pm (yes, cutting it close, but nothing's ever on time!) and they guy came and left 15 minutes early!

Man.

Anyway, about the typhoid. So, pretty much since I got here, I was having bouts of sickness to varying degrees. A little vomiting here, some runs there, nausea, some more runs over there, and so on. I figured that there were a few possibilities (none including a disease famously contracted by Abigail Adams and Charles Darwin), like getting accustomed to the food, the altitude, a flu of sorts, or just whatever. At one point, as avid readers will know, I went to see a doctor at the Santa Elena Hospital who prescribed anti-biotics. They seemed to help for a week or so

Finally, after one memorable all-nighter of vomiting and not being able to keep down even small amounts of water, we (go M!) decided that I should go back to the doctor and see what the heck was going on. It just didn't make sense that I was so sick, so often. I am rarely ill back home, so what's the deal?

At the doctor's office - with the help of Arturo from the language school - we discussed various things, and finally he recommended a blood test. I agreed, and minutes later, a large man busted in the office all out of breath with a needle in one hand, a vial or two in the other, and nary a glove in sight.

Hm.

Ok, I thought, as long as I see him open the needle package, at least there's that. I don't see any open sores on his poking hand, so I should be ok.

Turns out, they aren't much for gloves in the hospital here - a fact made more ironic by the doctor telling me that the biggest reason they have problems with typhoid and other similar illnesses is because people aren't careful with washing hands, etc.

Great.

I did actually see some gloves in use as I walked by a doctor's off this week, but unfortunately, they were being used by the person cleaning the windows. Ah well.

So, they take my blood, and about 20 minutes later, the guy gives me a sheet with a whole list of different diseases with X's next to them, and one big check mark next to Typhoid. There's some numbers too, and the doctor looks at them, looks up and me, and then checks the numbers again. These are big numbers, and I have lots and lots of typhoid.

He suggests that I immediately start with a shot of antibiotics in my butt. Well, I wasn't so sure. Ok, he says, then you should come stay in the hospital overnight and get antibiotics by IV. Eh, I thought, I wanted to get another opinion. I told him that I needed to talk to my parents (which isn't crazy - they're both nurses) and that I'd either come back that day or the next.

After consulting with my parents, my doctor back home, and the internet, we decided that I'd try cipro for a few days first. It felt good to have a plan. Then we heard from the tropical disease specialist that M went to before coming, and he said that I should listen to the local doctor and immediately check in to the hospital. Oy.

So back to the hospital we go and we tell them that I'd like a room for the night.

It wasn't the cleanest hospital room I've ever been in, but it was big, private, had cable tv, wireless internet and M could stay over too, in a big fluffy chair straight out of the first class section on an airplane. Truth is, it was bigger than our studio apartment.

I changed into my backless gown (muy elegante) and jumped into bed. Within minutes, the nurse (oops! student nurse!) was trying to get an IV needle in my arm. After succeeding in only creating a bubble of saline solution under my skin, an actual nurse was called in. She managed to hit the vein this time, and I was floating away on a cloud of liquid antibiotics.

More later!!

well!

What a week and a half it's been. Here's some of the things you'll be hearing about over the next couple days -

my bout with typhoid! and the subsequent hospital stay.

an annoying birthday party in the country.

a cool meeting with migrant workers to discuss their rights.

our so-far futile apartment search.

and much much more, so stay tuned...

Some Pig!

Mucho mejor, gracias.

I'm feeling a heck of a lot better...it was a bit swinish there for a couple days, what with the shaking, the sweating, the chills, the weakness, the loss of appetite, general malaise, etc.

The good doctor at the Santa Elena Hospital listened to my stomach and declared that it was hosting the latest revolucion en Mexico and prescribed some antibiotics. I'm supplementing with some Malox stomach-soothing chewables and starting to feel normal again. He also said I was really dehydrated due to various discharges and said I should drink a couple liters of Pedialyte every day for a while.

I don't know if you've ever tried Pedialyte, but it's really disgusting. It's basically Gatorade with less sugar and lots more gross. After the first bottle, I switched to Gatorade (limonada flavour) and haven't looked back.

Class has been good this week, except for the fact that M is no longer going full-time, but rather just 2 hours a day, in private lessons. We got a couple new people, a cool guy who happens to live in NYC, and a girl from the LA area. My skills are definitely improving and I can't wait to read Shakespeare in the original Spanish.

post called on account of illness

I'm suffering from some kind of sickness for the last 24 hours or so - achy body, slight fever, alternating cold and hot, etc. so forgive the lack of posting.

Come back soon...

You must eat tacos!!

M interviewed some potential clients this morning for a possible action, and afterwards was forced into an epic taco-eating session.

She acquiesced in order to avoid an international incident. A true hero of the movement.

Continuar...

That little waterfall below was the final straw (so far!) with this house we're staying in...I love the people a lot, but the house has been a bit difficult to deal with. Ant infestations, flooding - that was just the video I was able to make. I've spent a lot of time mopping and using a bailing bucket to empty out water from the roof. For some reason, the roofs are built like bathtubs, but not as waterproof. The plumber has stopped by a couple times, but is coming to actually fix the problems mañana.

Mañana, popularly translated as tomorrow, is actually a mythical day that will happen sometime in the near future. Like those who pray for the coming of the Messiah, many Mexicans (and some long-staying US'ers) pray for the arrival of mañana, when all leaks will be fixed, all cleaning-ladies will come, all water will be delivered, and many other wrongs will be righted. Amen.

Anyway, we're going to be moving out of here in the next week, hopefully. We're likely to move into an apartment that owned by one of the hostels here in town - the Villa Colonial. The places are small, but rent is pretty low, 3500 Mexican Euros, as our Dutch friend Auk calls them. That comes to around $265 US, including all utilities, so not bad at all. We'll spice it up a bit with our own decorations and it'll be just fine. It may happen that we'll have to hop around a bit in different apartments till one opens that we like, but as I said above, mañana.

I do just want to finish up about our trip to Real de Catorce that I was talking about earlier. The second day, we decided to take a horseback trip up to the top of one of the mountains overlooking the town. I hadn't been on a horse for more than 5 minutes since I was a kid (if that) and was a bit apprehensive starting out. However, within a short time, I was sold on the whole thing. It was really cool and I can't wait to do it more. My backside wasn't as pleased as the rest of me, but I'm sure it'll come around. We rode up a windy trail for about 45 minutes, until we reached a bunch of ruins that were from when the silver mines were working. We parked the horses (not the proper term, I'm sure, but applicable) and walked around for a bit with our guide. He spoke no english, and our spanish isn't quite ready for prime-time, so we only understood a few words in every sentence. It's likely that there was a steam-engine house that drove the something-or-other and there's a covered mine shaft that goes on for either 300 meters or is a shopping mall. Or something.

He took us into the entrance of a mine for about 100 feet or so, and it was really really dark. I can't imagine having to go down in those mines and working. As the poet wrote, "it's dark as a dungeon, damp as the dew, where the dangers are double and the pleasures are few. Where the rain never falls, and the sun never shines, it's dark as a dungeon, way down in the mine." The only pleasure I had was getting out.

We rode back down the mountain to spectacular views of the town, the surrounding mountains, and the fields way off in the distance. The town is at about 10,000 feet and we rode up about another 2500 or so, so we were definitely up there.

After we returned the horses, it was more walking around. We found the old bullfighting ring, which for some reason I thought would be more exciting. Turns out, it was just a circular wall made of stones. In a circle. I wish I could say more about it, but that was about it. A couple more hours walking around, and we got back on the road to Zacatecas.

A funny thing we saw on the way out was this awesome marriage of old and new (click for biggerversion):

I think it speaks volumes.

Look for more pics in the link on the top right.