I owe a couple of posts about Elizabeth and I traveling from Ecuador to Peru, but I’ve had too much happening to be able to take time to write. I fully intend to write those posts sometime soon.
Elizabeth and I arrived in Lima this past Friday, March 25th. On Saturday morning I developed a fever. I knew that developing a fever so soon after finishing a course of antibiotics was not a good sign, so I went to a health clinic. I explained my concerns and the doctor got out his stethoscope and listened to my breathing. He prescribed something to help my lungs clear up a little more, but overall they sounded fine. He completely ignored the fever, which was my main concern.
I went back to the hostel and the fever intensified. I had three blankets piled on top of me and still couldn’t stop shivering. I asked the front desk to get me a thermometer, and when I took my temperature it was 39.5 degrees Celsius, or 103.5. I immediately decided to go to the emergency room.
All in all, the visit to the emergency room was not great. All they did was give me a few tablets of Paracetamol (basically aspirin), and after about 30 minutes my fever subsided. I again voiced my concerns about this being a bacterial infection, but after listening to my breathing, the doctor felt confident that the bronchitis was not coming back. They discharged me and I went back to the hostel.
Then the diarrhea started. The less said about that, the better.
I started looking online for my symptoms and ruled out most of the scarier mosquito-borne illnesses. I wasn’t able to sleep very well because the fever kept coming back, or I’d have to run to the bathroom. It was so hot in the hostel room that even when I wasn’t shivering from the fever, I couldn’t sleep. I decided to book a hotel for a couple days in order to have a bathroom of my own, air conditioning, and privacy.
Sunday morning rolled around and I tried to take it easy. Since it was Easter Sunday, Elizabeth and I could hear singing and church music in the distance. Around noon I packed everything up as well as I could, stopping to take breaks to rest, and asked the front desk to order a taxi for me. They did, and the taxi took me to my hotel. I picked up some more Paracetamol on the way, and used it as much as possible to keep my fever down. Unfortunately, it would only work for a few hours and then the fever would return. I spent most of the day huddled under my covers and shivering.
Nighttime rolled around, and I kept having to get out of bed to run to the bathroom. I must have visited the restroom at least 20 times. It was awful. I must have gotten a few hours of sleep but it didn’t feel like it.
Around 7:30, I took some more Paracetamol and took a taxi to the same health clinic I went to on Saturday. I saw the same doctor and described my new symptoms. They had me college a stool sample (oh what fun that was) so they could analyze it, and then hooked me up to an IV in order to rehydrate. I took advantage of the downtime to doze, and eventually the doctor came back. He said that he thinks what I have isn’t just normal traveler’s diarrhea; he thinks it’s a clostridium difficile infection.
If you’re not familiar with C. Diff, it’s a nasty infection that can be life-threatening in some cases. It lives naturally in your intestinal flora, but when you take broad-spectrum antibiotics (like I just spent ten days doing), it can wipe out a lot of your natural gut bacteria. C. Diff is pretty hardy, though, and in the absence of other competitors it can flourish, leading to all the symptoms I was experiencing. If not caught in time, it can permanently change the way your intestines work. In some cases it can cause organ failure or even death.
As soon as the doctor said he thought it was C. Diff, I got scared. I knew how serious it could be. The doctor sent off my stool sample to be tested for C. Diff, but since it can be such a terrible illness he was going to start treating me for it anyway. He should have confirmation in a few days.
I asked some questions about what kind of diet I should stick to, got my meds, and came back to the hotel. I took my first dose of meds and have been taking it easy. I’m finally starting to feel a bit better and got up enough courage to have a light meal.
I’m planning to stay in Lima until I’m 100% better. Unfortunately, this probably means that Elizabeth is going to have to leave before I’m ready to go since she’s planning to hit the road on April 1st.
Elizabeth seems to be having a great time. She knows a family here and has been spending time with them. She just moved into a hostel near the beach and is keeping herself busy.
I’ll update with more when I’m feeling a bit better.