Little did I know when I wrote my last post about Chikungunya that I already had it.
Started with some joint pain in my thumb. Then my entire spine hurt, then hips. Crappy, searing pain.
Last night I went to bed at 10:30 but didn’t sleep until about 1am. P woke up and wanted me to lay by her until she fell back asleep. I was in such pain I almost couldn’t get off her floor!
Fever, horrible aches…I couldn’t even make a fist.
This morning I put out a cry for help. We don’t have any doctors in place yet. We just got our health insurance cards only last week! I texted every Puerto Rican I had the number for. It’s such a blessing to see how people rally around you and try to help.
Yanira, my neighbor came to the rescue again. She’s the one who diagnosed P’s ear infection and prescribed antibiotics in her living room. She was working in a clinic today and said she’s take care of me.
I did feel taken care of. I had to lay in the clinic for an hour and a half with an IV. When I didn’t sleep, I thought. I thought about no matter how old you are, you can still want your mama to wrap you in her arms. I thought about how blessed I am to be able to provide those loving arms to my kids. I thought about how we’ve managed to carve out a support network here in Puerto Rico. How I’ve only lived here 3.5 months and I already have a tropical disease. How confirming that I have chikungunya would actually be a relief. Sometimes labels are good things.
No matter how crappy I feel, there’s always a little energy for taking selfies!
Loaded up with prescriptions I headed home. Thankfully the kids are patient with the out-of-it mama. There are some plus sides.
-I will be immune to Chimichanga (as I call it) from now on.
-Symptoms should go away in 7-10 days, Better to get this now than over Christmas.
-I’m not really contagious. I suppose a mosquito could bite me then bite someone else, but this disease is giving me the chills so I’m more likely to wear pants and long sleeves.
So so sorry to hear one of those nasty little infected mosquitos bit you, but equally relieved to know the angel (doctor) sent to watch over your family was there when you needed her. With good health care and your own strong immune system, I expect you’ll be feeling better soon.
I’m so sorry to hear that you are ill. I hope everything goes well and that you recover quickly. I know what you mean about wanting your mother, I have felt the same the last few months. When I was a child in Cuba, they used to come around at night and spray DDT and we thought it was fun to run after the truck. It was because of the malaria; maybe they could use something like that in P.R.
Get well soon
Senora B-K
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