Caca

Warning: this post is not for those with a weak stomach.  It’s gonna get gross, because that’s how my last couple of days have been-super gross.

Yesterday when I got to school I started having stomach problems- major stomach problems. My Spanish teacher told me to go home, but I honestly didn’t think I could make it home without having to use the bathroom. So he called me a cab and told the driver to get me home ASAP. And I made it back to my house just in time.

The worst thing was that it didn’t stop. I spent most of yesterday alternating between lying in my bed and going to the bathroom. It was miserable. Last night I had some mashed potatoes and even that was a bad decision. So Martha and Francisco started getting worried. Martha told me that they had a student before who started out with the same symptoms I had and ended up in the hospital for a couple of weeks. Francisco kept telling Martha that they should take me to the hospital to be tested for parasites (they were convinced that I had a parasite from being in the jungle).  Mayfe, our Ecuadorean contact, told Martha to wait until this morning to make any decisions.

This morning nothing had changed, except that I had been up all night in the bathroom. So I texted a friend and told her that I wasn’t going to be coming to Spanish class. The next thing I know, Mayfe called me and told me that Martha is going to take me to the emergency clinic at the hospital and that she will meet us there. This is when I started to get a little panicky. So Francisco drove Martha and I to the hospital (all the while telling Martha that we should have done this yesterday).  I didn’t have to wait at all for the doctor and she was very attentive. She told me they were going to do some tests to rule out parasites or other bacteria. Right before the nurse came in to draw my blood, I had a mini-meltdown and Martha gave me a big hug and kept telling me that it was going to be ok because I wasn’t alone – she was there with me. (My host family is the best) Then I had a major language  barrier moment: the doctor gave me a cup and told me that when I needed to use the bathroom, to take the cup and leave a sample. So I did. I left a nice urine sample. Turns out that’s not the type of sample they wanted. But when the nurse came in to my room to tell me that they needed another, different sample, I didn’t understand her.  I told her “lo siento. No entiendo.” And she said, “Caca”. And I said “ohhhh, ok”. Sparing you all the poopy details- they got their sample later. Before we left the hospital I had to pay for my visit. I started to sweat a bit when I pulled out my credit card, but it only cost $62.68 without insurance! Pretty amazing.

Around 6:30 this evening we still hadn’t heard about the results of my tests and I was on a strict liquid only (tea, water, pedialyte) diet. I was feeling a little nauseated because I hadn’t eaten anything and had taken some pills the doctor gave me for stomach cramps.  So Martha called the doctor and she said that I was parasite free! Hooray.  So finally around 7, I had the best meal of my life (well, my only meal in the last 48 hours): chicken broth and rice. Yum.

I’m feeling a lot better now, but the last two days have not been fun. I’m planning on going to school tomorrow morning. Hopefully my stomach is done having its fun.