Hola fellow would-be-travelers! Thank you for vicariously tagging along with our groups activities through our blog posts! I write this post in response to the age old question (or at least the one my mother asked me the most before I left) “what happens if you get sick in the jungle?”
All was well when we embarked for our first village visit on Wednesday, July 13th. The team I was with was traveling to Tamanco (a one-hour rapido ride to Mazan followed by a 1.5 hour peke-ride). Once we arrived, we spent the day administering surveys to randomly chosen houses, setting up meetings for Thursday, and engaging in Shelby’s favorite pastime; getting our butts kicked in volleyball by the local youth. That we had a crowd of teenagers who gathered in our gazebo around 6:30pm (remember, it is pitch dark then) to talk to us, and eventually encourage us to throw an impromptu dance party complete with American top 40 music. The kids were floored, and we all found out that Igor has horrible taste in music.
Thursday morning we had a meeting with the higher-ups in the community to talk about working together in the future. During the meeting, I started to feel COLD. This was shocking to me, as I have been sweating through every piece of clothing since I arrived in Peru. After the meeting, Jess Miller and I went to talk with the healthcare promoter and review what he had learned from our training. His vital signs skills were put to good use on me. He dubbed my 38.0° C (100.4° F) temperature as “muy peligroso!”, but decided I was not significantly dehydrated since my pulse was not elevated and my blood pressure was normal (114/78). Finally, we could see our curriculum in action, and it was working!
The rest of the afternoon was a blur of Shelby insisting I eat Pringles because they are salty, Igor feeding me Advil, and Jess forcing me to drink Oral Rehydrating Solution (ORS). A side note on ORS: we instructed our healthcare promoters at the trainings on how to make this solution from scratch, since the packets are expensive and not readily available. I was drinking the packets, which were supposed to taste better. In reality, they do not. They are incredibly salty, with an acidic aftertaste.
Since I couldn’t drink the ORS and was in a semi-somnolent state I became very dehydrated overnight. Coupled with the fact that I started vomiting and having diarrhea I was ready to “go home” Friday morning. Our healthcare promoter insisted on driving me and Jessica M. back to Mazan on his peke, since he was so worried about me. Upon returning to Nativa Apartments in Iquitos (or Monica’s, as we all fondly call it), Dr. Dick Anstett took one look at me and said, “you should probably go to the hospital.” Fortunately, we still had people in Iquitos, so Jessica B. and Blair accompanied me to Clinica Ana Stahl, which is the sister hospital in Iquitos run by Centura Health Care out of Littleton, Colorado.
Once we got to Clinica Ana Stahl, things started to look up. We had made some friends at the beginning of the trip when we did Saturday clinics with members from Ana Stahl, and we ran into Carmen, one of the doctors from the clinics. She set me up with my favorite nurse’s husband, who performed a physical exam (temp 38.4° C = 101.1° F; BP 90/60) and had me get a urine, stool, and blood sample. While I was messing with that in the bathroom, he got on the phone with his wife, Cynthia, and said, “guess who I have here?!” Cynthia came and took me to the Emergency Department and started me on a liter of electrolytes. Once my tests came back they decided I had a GI infection and administered an IV dose of Cipro as well. After the fluids, I was feeling much, MUCH better.
After that ordeal, I returned to Monica’s to drink fluids and rest up. Saturday morning I received my second dose of IV Cipro, and from that point on I have been spending the weekend solo at Monica’s while my team is out tromping through the jungle and saving lives. Monica and her mom have been feeding me chicken soup (it cures all your ailments both in the USA and abroad), tea, and my new favorite drink, a “hot banana milkshake,” or HBM for short.
I’m feeling nearly back to 100% and I’m excited for our last village visit coming up at the end of this week, followed by the health fair in Mangua. Before coming down, I wasn’t sure what would happen if I got sick in the jungle. However, I am more at ease because I know that I am traveling with knowledgeable team members. Furthermore, we as a group have made valuable contacts who have turned out to be compassionate friends and healthcare providers in Peru. So for the future, mom and dad, that is how you get sick, and recover, in the jungle.
Ciao for now!
~Alia Broman, MS2
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