That was the week that was...

Although living on the beach in Mexico sounds idyllic, there are times when our self-imposed isolation has it's drawbacks. Having one's body invaded by potentially lethal microbes is one of those trying times. 


Sometime during the Christmas festivities I came in contact with some alien organism that brought me to my knees. On Boxing Day I started to feel tired and uncharacteristically crawled into bed, mid-day, to rest a bit. I was down for tn days. Even though it was 30C outside, I shivered uncontrollably under the comforter then soared to 40.3C (105F) with a fever. The fever made me weak and delirious...I'm not really sure what happened over those days. I remember seeing a couple of doctors who came to the casa to prescribe drugs.... and Meg dousing me with ice water to get my fever down, feeding me the medicines to try to combat the bug and picking me up off the floor when I passed out.

It wasn't much fun but there was one humourous event. One afternoon Meg left in Jann de Vann, heading to Armeria, 12 km away, to drop off     my stool sample at the local laboratory. Taking the scenic backroad route through the banana plantations, she noticed a trail of liquid coming from the VW ... stopped to find that the coolant hose had burst spewing out all the antifreeze. Needless to say there was no traffic on the road for an hour until a cowboy rode up on his horse, Juanita. He offered a rope and, with his trusty steed, pulled Meg and JdV 10km into Armeria. Meg said that from time to time, on the 2 hour journey into town, our buckeroo would look back at her at the wheel, sunshine reflecting off his gold front tooth, to give her the 'everything's okay' thumb's up. I wish she had her camera! 


To confuse matters, one of my doctors thought I had a bleeding ulcer while the other figured I may have Salmonella. My symptoms definitely pointed towards the bacterial infection and gradually I began to respond to the Cipro I was taking...I could sit up for more than 2 or 3 minutes and began to eat a little.  Friends sent over pots of chicken soup to aid my recovery.


This week I am feeling stronger but still tire easily. It's a bit of a rollercoaster ride. Meg and I drove into Manzanillo for more medical advice and more lab tests. To my surprise, the lab tech in Manzanillo discovered Entamoeba histolytica cysts, something that was missed in the samples taken to Armeria. Perhaps this and not Salmonella is the culprit...but it could be both...I may never know.


On the good side, I think I have lost a bit of weight...I have definitely lost my appetite and my taste for beer. With the help of Meg, friends, chicken soup and the miracle of pharmaceuticals, I am back to the land of the living.