So. What’s been going
on lately here in the heat of Guan?
Well, should I start with the heat, our Tico 25 trip to Manuel Antonio,
my birthday weekend in Tamarindo, or the fact that I got bit by a
scorpion? Let’s start with the scorpion.
I spent last Friday hanging out with a cluster-mate of mine,
Tara, in my site having a movie marathon and cooking delicious food for dinner
since we had just gotten paid and could once again afford groceries. All is well and I crawl into bed exhausted
after having watched both Silver Linings Playbook and Pitch Perfect. The next morning, however, I almost fall over
getting out of bed. My ankle is swollen
like a balloon and I can’t put any pressure on it. Also, overnight I had apparently developed a
cold? Odd, but it’s life in CR and I
don’t give it too much thought. After
still not being able to walk by the afternoon, however, fellow PCVs convince me
to call our Peace Corps Medical Officer’s Emergency phone since it was the
weekend and the office was closed. The
PCMO answers the phone and I list out my odd series of symptoms, she tells me
what meds to take from my trusty Peace Corps medical kit, and to soak my foot
in salt water 3 times a day, along with icing my ankle and walking as little as
possible.
Well, fun sidenote- Shadow had just been fixed on Thursday
and still required a lot of looking after since her stitches were still fresh
and I was already wondering how I was going to control and/or carry her when I
could barely walk myself.
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| Shadow not feeling too great... |
 |
| Ouch |
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| Snuggle party |
Well, in returns fellow PCV Tara with bags full of soup,
orange juice, tea, bread, cookies, and mac & cheese to save the day. And yes, it was actually Tropicana OJ and
Campbell’s soup….super spoiled. We have
a Grey’s Anatomy marathon in between my chicken soup and taking Shadow out
before Tara finds a SCORPION hiding underneath the sheets of the bed we had
been laying on the night before. My odd
ankle ailment finally makes a bit of sense.
I go to sleep and wake up somehow having gotten over my mysterious cold
in about 24 hours but with my ankle swelling even more with a bit of a
rash. I send medical new pictures and
they decide to wait until Monday to see how it progresses before deciding if I
needed a doctor. (Not that there would
have been a doctor open on a Sunday in CR anyway?)
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| Shadow not understanding why I stole her water bowl... |
Well Monday they do decide I need to see a doctor, so I get
a cita con medico general at the clinic in Santa Cruz. I take a cab over, see the doctor briefly, am
sent to go to the pharmacy to buy the shots (including syringes) that I need,
walk backkkk to the clinic, let the doctor shoot me up with the drugs, give me
another prescription for pills (why couldn’t I get them at the same time when I
just went to the pharmacy?!?!), I pay the receptionist 40 bucks and I’m on my
way.
Five days later I’m almost completely fine, with just a
slight limp and a bit of an itchy rash remaining. I have fumigated my entire house with “Mata
Todo” (kill everything) and am certainly tucking my mosquito net in real tight
each night.
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