Sick!!!

The Doc

So it took me one year and three months to become properly ill in South America. I guess thats not bad going. I mean of course I have had a dodgy stomach from time to time - everyone does. This is Ecuador - where once a year every local gets tested for parasites. Living among both travelers and Ecuadorians alike, I have seen it all here; backpackers having food poisoning and stomach infections, weird plants that can somehow, if touched, allow a fungus to grow inside your skin; altitude sickness; and a whole host of other horrible things. The Amazon Jungle especially is a place where you can catch the weirdest of nasty, body-infesting bugs. That place is so full of life (and transferrable life) that you cant even take a wee in an Amazonian river. You have to be careful in this part of the world.

Normally I wouldn´t soley devote a blog about becoming ill - but it did take up three weeks of my life and will affect it for many more months afterwards. The thing is I didn´t really have any symptoms. Yes I had a dodgy stomach, which I believed started in the Galapagos - but everyone gets a dodgy stomach there - its the place to get ill. I assumed it would eventually go as it usually does - but this time I was wrong. After two months - I went to see a doctor. I can´t exactly tell you what I had - my doctor wrote the names of all my problems on a piece of paper, but doctors are renouned for having indiscernable hand-writing and this was also in Spanish - I mean what chance did I have!!! The main problem was spelled out to me as a liver infection - and I don´t even drink that much - I promise!!!

I think I got my liver infection from dodgy food or from the water as my doctor later told me part of it was caused by the Hepatitis virus - Im not sure exactly which one but I think it was A. Whichever it was it had caused all sorts of havoc in my body. As a result I was instantly put on a course of hard-core medication. I will very briefly bulletpoint everything that I went through over the space of a three week period;

1. Injections (x3) - into my arse!!!
2. Pills (x93) of five different varieties - some where the size of a small rodent!!!
3. IVF drips (x24) of three different varieties. Possible medical reason for IVF treatment - to make my urine glow in the dark. Probable other medical reason - not specified!!!
4. Liquid medicine (x1) - Tasted like Calpol - so nearly overdosed!!!
5. Electrolyte drinks (x3) - coconut flavour.
6. Unable to eat anything (x50 hours). Early Yom Kippur........complete!!!
7. Blood / urine tests (x2) - taken by abnormally small Ecuadorian doctor. Note to others: he may be a child - no way to tell!!!
8. Money (x US$750) - its lucky I couldn´t eat or drink much during this time - I couldn´t afford to!!!

After basically all that - which could easily be thought of as more medical procedures and medication than would be needed for open heart surgery, I proved to be a perfectly healthy individual in the end - at least I think I did!!! There was some repercussions though. I am now not allowed to eat fatty foods (eggs, pork, chips, chocolate) for the next 3 months and booze of all varieties is also out for 2 months too. How im going to survive without these basic food groups is beyond me. Drinking is the only way to get through an Ecuadorian day. If it wasn´t a liver infection I would have asked for another IVF drip of pure vodka to be administered into my other arm!!! Actually, Im not a big drinker and despite my physical craving for chips and chocolate - I should be able to get through the next few months unscathed. Im glad my body is now healed. I think the problems started from eating something dodgy but I can´t be sure. Still you have to be careful what you eat out here - you don´t want to end up getting something nasty. Hmmm, Im hungry - I think I´ll have fried Guinea Pig tonight.........................