Saturday July 23rd: I woke up with a dull ache in my right shoulder and rib cage, thinking I slept wrong I went on with my normal daily chores. Before lunch, I headed over to Don Juan to Alicia’s site to help her with a Pancake lunch she was going to make for some of her muchachos. When I got there we walked to pick up some of her guests who live in a different part of town to bring them to her house. I was in charge of the art room: making bracelets and coloring. While Alicia, took half of the kids and they make 2 whole boxes of pancakes for everyone. I think that there were over 20 kids in her house. It was ridiculous but a lot of fun. Once all of the pancakes were finished (only 2 were saved for us) we walked the children back to their respective houses and picked up food on the way back. The pain was still there, but I tried not to think about it, just assuming that it was sore muscles due to stress. I got a bola home with the local water truck guys. I tried to sleep that night, though I could only sleep on my stomach and left side because it hurt otherwise.
Sunday, July 24th: I woke up early the next morning to the pain increasing in my shoulder and right side. I tried to ignore it and took some pain killers then did some house work: washed clothes and sheets, mopped the floors, got water, etc. Then I started to make lunch of rice and lentils to feed to Alicia when she would come over to help me with making friendship bracelets and no-bake cookies with my youth. Around 11 or 12, the pain had increased so much (wrapping itself around my right rib cage, the front and the back) that it hurt to breathe. As the rice cooked and as I was waiting for Alicia to arrive I just sat on my bed trying not to move or breathe. When Alicia arrived I told her the situation (plus I wanted her here just in case something happened, and I made all of thi s food that I couldn’t eat) and called the Peace Corps Doctors. I was told to take some strong pain killers (get them from the closest pharmacy, which is in Yamasa) and to call back to check in…if the pain lessens come in the morning, if not come in tonight. So I fed Alicia, packed and my ‘project partner’ found me a ride to Yamasa in a car with some friends (he also paid for a moto for Alicia to get back to Don Juan). By the way, it was raining all day. We left a sign on my door telling my kids that there would be no art class today neither would there be the English Exam tomorrow. The ride in the car to Yamasa was the most painful ride I had ever taken, with all the bumps and jolts, every time I moved I hurt and every time I breathed I hurt. On top of the one of the men in the car started to hit on me, and told me that it was just the gripe (a cold)…not likely buddy with this kind of pain. I got to Yamasa to my friends’ house (I called in advance) and got the pain killers. They did not work and I called the Doctors again, I also had a fever of 100.3 degrees F when I left Antonci. Nothing helped the pain or the fever, so by 8pm I was in the car on the way to the Clinica Abreu (hospital that PC uses). The pain so high that I couldn’t even breathe enough to talk and was taking very shallow breaths. We got to the Hospital around 9pm and I was met by one of the Doctors. The pain was the worst that I have ever experienced, about an 8-8.5 on the pain scale. There were times where I could start shaking/twitching due to the pain and my body’s responses to it.
In the emergency room: They wouldn’t give me pain killers because I had an “unknown abdominal pain.” I don’t know how many different tests I had to take: urine, multiple blood tests, x-rays, EKG. The doctors wanted to check my lungs, but I couldn’t breathe deep enough. Lying on my back on the cots and the x-ray table were so painful that I couldn’t do it and it was hard to lay still for the x-ray and ekg. I actually started crying due to the pain (also Emergency rooms are FREEZING and my fingers turned purple…that only happens when I play in the snow for too long without gloves…). Taking chest x-rays are the most incomodo (uncomfortable) thing ever; you have to stand with your chest out pressing the board, neck extended further than you can reach and arms at the strangest angles that it feels like your shoulder blades are going to pop off. At first the doctors through that it could be my gull bladder, and then my kidneys, then pneumonia (but I had not coughing). I was also dehydrated, constipated and had another infection (but no parasites, yet). The nurse who put in my iv did not do a very good job, and was digging the needle around in my hand for a little while (took my mind off of my other pain for a bit). It was 12:30 by the time that I was in my room and left alone for the night. At that time they changed my IV bag and it was so cold that it made my hand turn numb for about 5 minutes, and I was still freezing from the emergency room and not being able to wear anything else than those fun hospital gowns. They didn’t even have an extra blanket to give me. I was able to fall asleep on my left side.
Monday, July 25th: My kids should be taking their English Exams, but I was still in the Hospital. The pain had lessened, but was still there. Miguel Angel showed up because it was his day off and he (nor his family, the ones who drove me to the capital the night before) wanted me to be along in the hospital. I wasn’t allowed to eat anything until I had an ultrasound of my abdomen to make sure it wasn’t any of the organs. That was supposed to take place in the morning…but they finally came to get me at 1pm…I missed breakfast and lunch. The ultrasound was a fun experience, because it took place in the Women’s Wing of the hospital, where all of the pregnant women were. So here I was an Americana in a hospital gown, being pushed throughout the hospital by one of the workers with Miguel trailing behind. Then waiting outside of the Ultra-sound room was Miguel and I, this being a funny sight because people were probably thinking that this young Dominican man knocked up this American girl (not the case, NO ONE is pregnant). It made me chuckle on the inside though, because it still hurt to laugh out loud. The ultra sound came back clear and nothing is wrong with any of my organs. Yey! Then I got to go back to the room and a Cardiologist came to check out my lungs and heart to make sure that everything was ok. I could breathe a little deeper but it still hurt, so I don’t know if they found out anything from that. That night after I finally got dinner at about 7pm, I relaxed and watched the Dog Whisperer with Cesar Milan. Yey!
Tuesday, July 26th: The pain had dulled to a 3ish on the scale (mind you I still only hurt on my right side). I was discharged from the hospital around 10 am, was taken for a quick trip to the Office and then was deposited at a hotel to stay the night until I got better. Alicia came down to the office and brought me food. We ate at the little table with come American missionaries, who were really nice and I was looking forward to hanging out with them that night and share about the Peace Corps. I laid around all day and tried to sleep, at night I took some meds and was going to go out and eat with the missionaries, because they were saving me a plate of food. But then I suddenly felt sick and vomited. This brought on the pain on my left side. It was an 8.5 like my right side was earlier. I didn’t want to call the office because at the hospital they still wouldn’t give me pain killers and I would have to go through all of the same tests again and they would still not know what it was. It was the most miserable night of my life, but luckily Miguel Angel was there to try to comfort me and make me comfortable; he was a life saver. I couldn’t lay down on any of my sides, sitting up was uncomfortable, and standing was not an option. I would try to find different positions to sleep in where I would maybe get 20-30 minutes of sleeping every hour and a half until the pain woke me up. I called the Doctors in the morning and I was picked up to go office, where I was given a shot and my meds were changed, then taken to the emergency room again. When we got there all of the staff remembered me and asked “Heidi what are you doing here again?” - I felt special. The shot worked and the pain lessened. I was kept overnight again.
Wednesday, July 27th: I spent my day at the office. Ate a Cheese burger from the US Embassy. Then in the afternoon, I got to go to the Cardiologist, because now they were thinking that I had Pleuritis and Pericarditis that was caused by an unknown virus (which it was, finally diagnosed). I got another ekg, and x-rays. The pain was still there but lessening.
Thursday, July 28th: I went back to the Cardiologist to get more blood work and a chest echo. Then I spent the rest of the day at the office again.
Friday, July 29th: Another day at the office. I was cleared to go home that afternoon. I went back to Yamasa so I could rest a little bit more before I got back to the chaotic life in the Batey (not that chaotic, but being bothered by all the noisy kids…I love them).
Saturday, July 30th: I got home early in the morning because it was going to rain in the afternoon. I got to see my neighbors that moved to the capital and was brought food by many neighbors.
Sunday, July 31st: Happy Father’s day in the Dominican Republic. That evening around 7:30-8:00 there was a fight in front of the Disco. It turned violent and a man got stabbed with a machete twice and passed away, my oldest host brother got cut and taken to the hospital and the other men were taken to the prison once they were caught. Happy Father’s day… Apparently it was over drugs of the guys who started the fight were on them, because the one who killed the other guy was the distributor in town. I was safe in my house watching people flee from the scene, I didn’t see much because of another building blocking my view. (don’t worry I am safe). I walked the 20 feet to my host grandmother’s house to check on my host niece, Mirianni (7 years old and oldest daughter of my host brother who got cut, my most helpful and loving girl here since day 1 that I arrived). Everyone was consoling her 4 year old sister and left her to hold herself up against the door frame crying. I took her to my house to calm her down and take her away from the words of the adults. It worked, we put together puzzles and it took her mind off of everything for a little while. I was still on the mend so I had to take her back to her house a couple hours later so that I could try to get some sleep.
Monday, August 1st: The friends of the deceased tried to burn down the house that murderer lived, but luckily they were stopped because it was a wooden barrancon, and other people’s houses would have gone with it. I didn’t leave the house that day.
- The next day I visited the family and spent time there.
- Over the next few days, my kids started to come over to take their English exams, to make bracelets and the no-bake cookies that we didn’t get to do the week before.
- This past Saturday my boys and I went to Guazumita and played baseball for the first time in MONTHS! We lost horribly, but I was just excited that we actually went. I did get sunburned though.
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