Dengue Delirium and the Sisterhood of Women Travelers
Well last off I felt like hell, no kidding.
What happened was after we left out hotel in El Remate, We-we being the three of us, Jackie, Moira, and myself-went to Flores. originally our plan had been to head back home from Flores that very night, while Jackie was planning on heading to Belize the next day.
What actually happened was much different..on the bus to Flores, I felt terrible, like I was going to pass out. When we got to Flores, Jackie ran up and rented a hotel room for herself-a rather grim room, painted hospital green with an airless feel despite a window. Somehow I passed out in there, I don´t remember much.
When I came to, Moira and Jackie were there. I was..very disoriented, very delirious I had an incredibly high temperature.
It was the Dengue, full throttle. I was so out of it, and somehow these two women-one of whom I had only known for a day-took care of me. I had the fever for 6 hours, and got blisters all over my body. I thought at one point I was in Italy, at another point that there were trees in my room.
There is a reason they have another, more descriptive name for dengue fever-its also called breakbone fever. And..now I know why, because it feels like someone is crushing the bones in your legs, your arms, and your face. It is very terrifying pain.
These women kept me covered in wet towels, calmed me-I was hysterical and crying, I was so hot, crying for my mother at some point-and these two women were angels of mercy. They rented the room next to mine, checked on me all night long, once the fever subsided, and barely got any sleep. They sought medical help, they made sure I drank water-which i had had an aversion to for some time since I threw up everything anyway-and they got me malaria medication, on the off chance it was malaria.
The following morning, it was over, the worst part at least. I could hardly walk at all, and was exhausted. I lost 20 pounds.
I still could not eat, but drank alot aof water and gatorade.
Jackie felt confident I was healing, and left me withMoira, who, for a 25 year old, was remarkably clear headed and helpful to my every need-which were many, since I was pretty weak.
I am so very grateful to these two women, who helped me when i confronted my worst fear of traveling, that of being really ill on the road. I am forever in their debt, and I truly believe there is a sisterhood of women travelers out there!
After I was well enough to walk and eat, I made the decision Tto head back to La Esperanza. the 15 hour, two bus journey was agony-no bathroom, absolute discomfort-but I knew once home, I would heal rapidly. Moira bore the journey beautifully, in spite of having to pee for hours. The one bathroom along the trip was in a bus terminal, and went I went in it was the very worst bathroom i have ever seen in my life-you had to wade to get in. So we just held it in for hours. Additionally, we took a night bus, and were freaking out we would get robbed. we didn´t of course-the bus was going 90 miles an hour, careening along, which made it impossible for any robbers to hop on board!
When we finally got to Xela, the town close to La esperanza, we ran into the supermarket-the only place with a decent bathroom around the area we were in-and we probably were in there for half an hour!
We took a cab home-a spulge, but a neccessary one-and after tidying up a bit, I promptly fell asleep for basically two days.
At this point, I am recovered. A bit tired, but that is to be expected..eating a bit, but not much, still not much appetite.
So no worries, everyone who wrote in-I am well!
gg
