I prepared myself for the likelihood that in 27 months in-country, I would most likely get extremely ill once or twice. What I did not prepare myself for is a giant list of medical woes and two Medical Evacuations 'MedEvac.' For your amusement and to finally document this, the following is a list of my medical crap from the past year and 3 months of being in Belize. Please do not pity me or think that EVERY PCV experiences something similar to this. Many Volunteers barely get a cold during their 27 months, while others do have some pretty interesting medical tales.
July 2015: Three weeks into Pre-service training I began having bad diarrhea. This went on for about 1 week before I suddenly began to feel REALLY bad. In the middle of Spanish class one day, I had a 101 degree temperature and began vomiting. After speaking with Peace Corps, we agreed for me to take Tylenol and go lie down. Long story short, I got very dehydrated with over 15 episodes of diarrhea in one day, and my fever went up to 103. Peace Corps picked me up from the village that night and I spent the next 4 nights in a private hospital in Belize City. A stool sample determined I contracted that parasite Giardia. Reference July 2015 blog post for more detailed story.
November 2015: Bad reaction to food or water and 48 hours of misery
January 2016: Scabies! As my friend Michelle likes to say, "Scabies is it's own kind of fiery hell." This is definitely true. Imagine not being able to eat, sleep, work or anything because your body is so damn itchy. That was a fun two weeks.
February 2016: Dog Attack- This was definitely one of the worst experiences because of the mental and emotional after effects. Like any other normal day in the village I was walking to school when all of a sudden a GIANT (think the Sandlot...ok maybe not that big) dog and one smaller dog came running and growling at me. The big dog is usually chained up and somehow got loose and was clearly ready to exact revenge for her imprisonment. As they came showing teeth and growling towards me, I didn't have time to react so I just turned my back and screamed incredibly loud...loud enough for half the village to hear apparently. After being initially bitten three times (though thanks to adrenaline, I wasn't sure I was even bit until later), I came to my senses enough to open the umbrella I was carrying onto the dogs. Thankfully this spooked them enough to take off.
The family came to apologize and even offered to take me to the hospital, but peace corps protocol is for us to come into the capital to be given shots. Later that day, someone even brought me a cupcake! We later found out that the dog was beginning labor. My CHW (and 2nd Mom in the village) loves to laugh and tell me I was the dog's Doula and helped with her pain!! haha. Even to this day, I am asked weekly if I was really attacked by a dog or people make a joke about it! haha. I think it took about 20 minutes for the whole village (450 people) to hear the story about the screaming gringa being attacked by a dog. Unfortunately, I still walk past this dog (now chained) every day. Every time, my heart beats a little faster as I take those twenty steps with the dog's bark obviously saying, 'I will get you next time, white girl'...
March 2016:1st MedEvac! Since February I was having a pretty bad toothache. The tooth problem was due to a complication with a root canal. After seeing the dentist a few times and consultation with the Peace Corps medical team in DC, they determined that the tooth needed to be pulled.
MedEvac, or medical evacuation is when Peace Corps feels that our needs and level of care is beyond what can be provided in our country of service. Therefore every region has a 'hub' where volunteers are sent for medical care. For central and south america, Panama is the country volunteers are sent to. So off to Panama I went- with 2 days notice....
Little did I know that this would be a three part process- pulling the tooth, a surgical implant, and getting a crown. The pulling of the tooth was moderately traumatic (and had complications during the procedure), and I very quickly gained a great deal of appreciation for sedation during dental procedures and pain killers after. Thanks peace corps for the useless 'extra strength tylenol' given to me. Despite that, I felt very well taken care of by peace corps and the oral surgeon. The hospital was a branch of the Johns Hopkins Medical System. Unfortunately, during the recovery, the antibiotics combined with the anti-inflammatory caused a horrible stomach reaction. I was diagnosed with gastritis and had lasting effects from that for about a month. The best part about the trip the three weeks in Panama was spending two of those with my mom!
June 2016: As mentioned above, the tooth extraction procedure was a multi-step ordeal, which required an additional Medevac. Unfortunately that was not the only issue I was dealing with. Since around my time in Panama (3 months), I was dealing with HORRIBLE UTI (Urinary Track Infection) symptoms. However, test after test came back clean. They even did a urine culture and ultrasound, which showed no problems. Some days were better than others, but I was getting to my breaking point with being in constant pain and discomfort. With no infection present, no ideas of the problem, and with my inevitable 2nd dental procedure...Peace Corps decided to send me on my SECOND Medevac (which means I officially joined the super rare club of 2 Medevacs). I do not have enough appreciation and gratitude to give to Peace Corps for deciding to send me home for medical care and not back to Panama. Within 4 days of being home, my symptoms quickly dissipated, which lead me to believe it was environmental (later confirmed when I went back to the village). Thankfully, I have figured out how to prevent the problem. Also, while I was home, I had the anticipated dental implant, which was a BREEZE compared to the extraction in Panama.
October 2016: At the end of September, I started to present with a soar throat and slight nausea. I thought very little of this, ignored it, and took extra vitamin C to try and stay healthy. I knew cough and soar throat were going around the village, so I just thought great, now it's my turn. However, after 4 days with a soar throat, I was getting nervous because I was going on vacation two day later. While in the office on October 3rd, Jackie, our PCMO checked me out. My throat looked clear but I did have a low grade fever of 99.4. She gave me some psudefed and tylenol for the journey home. We both laughed at the 'comical' fact that ANOTHER thing was wrong with me. The next day, travel day, I began to have left side chest pains. I was also extremely anxious for many reasons, so I convinced myself I was just having a panic attack. Wednesday and Thursday, the chest pains got worse. On our way to a wedding, I didn't want to burden anyone so I didn't make a big deal of it. However, by Friday, stuck in Atlanta do to the hurricane and convinced I was in heart failure (slightly joking), I decided to finally go to the doctor. At an urgent care facility, they ran an EKG, chest x-ray, 12 different blood test, strep test, flu test, etc. Three hours later, I was told I have the bacteria- mycoplasma (walking pneumonia)! After returning to the village, I learned that we have had several cases of Malaria and Dengue Fever. As a pro-active response, Vector Control, came to the village to spray pesticides all over the village and inside the homes. This was less than 24 hours back in the village, and let me tell you- Pesticides and Walking pneumonia do NOT mix! Thankfully, I got out of the village really fast and am safe and sound in Orange Walk (nearby town).
I am happy to say that my situation is rather unique. I am glad that the majority of PCV's stay very healthy during their service, with often just minor little hiccups. I have been extremely impressed by the quality of care from Peace Corps and appreciate all the support I've been given by our PCMO (Peace Corps Medical Officer) in Belize. Thanks Jackie!
One of the primary reasons I decided to join Peace Corps was because I knew it would be challenging. I like the idea of placing myself in challenging situations and seeing the self-growth and reflection that takes shape. Though, of course the appreciation is almost certainly after the fact of such stressful incidents. And trust me there have been many stressful, insane, and crazy incidents. Despite everything medical that I've gone through and the added stress and anxiety because of it, I am still smiling. I still feel that San Roman is my home, the only home I have right now in fact. The people there are my family. Of course there are good and bad days, but there is absolutely no where I would rather be. I look forward to the next year of my service and doing so with a smile on my face!
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