hello from paraguay again. today i am feeling a little better,
but i am still pretty out of it, with a slight fever and more
chest congestion and wheezing. this afternoon i had my first
encounter with paraguayan health care. . . yup, now i have more
sumi adventures to tell. makoto, christine, and i went to a
little health clinic on the brazil side, where i had a friendly
visit with dr. medina. initially i was totally scared of what i
would find there, envisioning a a florence nightingale-esque room
in a back alley, but it actually wasnt too bad. the
consultation and medicine cost around eighty reais, which is about
forty u.s. i am glad i went, because i could tell that the
infection had settled in my chest, and i was worried that it might
turn more serious. so even though i didnt want to go, i went.
the doctor asked me a lot of questions in spanish, which i
amazingly was able to answer thanks to our hospital vocabulary
junior year in high school. God bless senora lyens for all of her
seemingly useless vocabulary lessons and drills. christine and i
were able to explain my symptoms, and while makoto quickly sped
from the room, the doctor listened to my lungs through his
stethoscope. i guess he diagnosed me with a bronchitis-like
infection, so i have a cough expectorant, antiobiotic, and a kind
of decongestant to take with tea and honey at night.
i am feeling pretty weak now, a little woozy from the drugs--
i guess it has 200 mgs in comparison to robitussins 10 mg active.
everything is in spanish, so i am not really sure what i am
taking, mom. i guess i have to follow this regimen until saturday,
and if my lungs are still not clear, i will return back to
him.
at this point, i am not sure what is going to happen in terms
of argentina. it has been hard to shake this flu
because it is just so darn cold out here. . . taking a shower is pretty much asking for pneumonia, so i cant
really get hot unless i take the japanese bath. the bath takes a while to heat up, so sometimes all i can get is
lukewarm. i have been holed up in my little drafty room, under the canopy of heavy blankets, with the
sheets pulled up over my face. this seems to work, but please pray that the weather will turn sunny again. it
was sunny for a little while this morning before the clouds
returned.
if i am not well enough to travel to argentina, i plan to stay with my friends in sao paulo. there is snow in
argentina, so i dont want to push my body too much. i will see
how i do by the end of our paraguay ministry. thankfully, my team
is very supportive, and i am not the first one to have gotten
sick. christine had a similar experience two years ago, so she
was the one who reassured me about the doctors competence and
reliability.
other than my health, i have just been hanging out in my room,
talking to the visitors and my teammates when they pop in. i
think i have been unconscious more times than i have been
conscious ever since i came here to paraguay, so i feel bad about
not being able to minister more. but, i have been able to pray,
laying awake at night staring at the glow in the dark stars
plastered on makotos ceilings, and listening to the crazy
cacophony of roosters in the middle of the night. it is quite
unreal, remembering where i am, and at the same
time, wishing for the comforts of home.
i will see how i feel tomorrow, i want to call home, but i am
not sure how crazy expensive it will be. . . i will keep you
updated on the effect of the antibiotics on my condition, so pray
that these drugs will be sufficient. thanks for all of your
prayers. i miss all of you so very much. mommy, try not to
worry too much okay? i think this place is notorious for the
amount of jems workers that get sick here. nicole barrios, our
director, was bedridden for two whole weeks the last time she
came here. alrighties. i am going back to bed now. . .
we just finished dinner, and i am feeling achy again. goodness,
i miss you. . . pray psalms 91 for me, okay? i
have been clinging to it like superglue on a broken shoe. . .
hee hee. no really, i think i have memorized it in
spanish too, just for the peace and reassurance it brings me
when i am feeling so scared about my health.