Went with the group to San José to meet with two different people to get more information for my immigration paper. I had like 3 cups of coffee during the morning, which led to an early afternoon crash. We also went to a University of Costa Rica library to look for research material (yes, in Spanish), and I ended up getting a couple books for about $6. Not bad.
The Ricky Martin concert was tonight, and it was so so. Nothing worth noting.
TUES 2/20
Met at the school early this morning to get quotes on immigration. We're going to hand out flyers early Thursday morning to bring awareness about racism and xenofobia. I got the only damn computer that didn't work, and literally sat in the lab for two hours straight without doing a damn thing. It was a waste of my time. I could've been doing ANYTHING else. Anyway I went out to lunch at this hole-in-the-wall Mexican place right across the street from Taco Bell and McDonald's with Emily and Megan. I had good enchiladas for the first time in a loooooooong time.
Worked on researching my paper with Jeff at my place for most of the afternoon, then went to Intercultura at 730 to watch a video in Spanish on Nicaraguan immigration consisting of personal stories of people. It focused more on how the little things affected them, such as having to move in with aunts and uncles where there was a lower comfort level, where they had to ask to eat food out of the fridge, watch the tv, etc. More detail-oriented things that you wouldn't really think to note.
I noticed I had a ton of bites on my arms. I also noticed that my knees were sore right before I went to bed. More about that later.
WED 2/21
I woke up at 3 am with a severely swollen right hand. I took pictures because I didn't know that the hell was going on. I then realized that my knees were swollen, which is why they hurt when I walked to my room right before I went to bed. I took some pictures, which I will post after my camera charges, and researched my symptoms on the internet until like 600 am. Back to bed, then woke up with both hands swollen.
NORMAL LEFT HAND.
SWOLLEN RIGHT HAND.
After Rocio got back from church she took me the the clinic, and after a couple solid hours of waiting, the doctor saw me, and gave me an antihistimine (Allegra) so help with the swelling. I was hoping for more, either in the form of more medicine than Allegra, which I had bought for the trip but (obviously and inconviently) lost sometime in the last couple weeks. Or at least an explanation as to what had caused my issue. There were so many possibilities: Penicillin, reaction to food, reaction to something on my skin like laundry detergent, reaction to a bug bite, or contact with something in the ghetto neighborhood I had been in last Thursday. No way to know conclusively yet, or maybe ever.
I came back that afternoon feeling worse and had a blood and urine test. I get the results in the morning. By the evening I was super swollen, could barely walk or move, my hands were giant, and I couldn't close them for the life of me. Rolando enjoyed putting a two-liter bottle in my hand, because I could carry it around without even trying to hold on to it. I spend the evening on the couch in sweats, a sweatshirt, wool socks, and two blankets watching LOST, which was great. I LOVE THAT SHOW MORE THAN ALMOST ANYTHING!!!
THURS 2/22
Felt horrible today. My hands were still very swollen, as were my knees, feet, left eye, wrists, and shoulders. I had sores all over my body in places you would expect bed sores, which made it tough to sleep. I still had a fever, but not as bad. Mainly my feet and wrists and hands were bothering me. Very hard to walk. I couldn't make it the two blocks to the school to meet Rocio to go to my appointment, so I got a taxi. I went to the doctor to get my blood results in the morning, once again with Rocio, which were normal (por dicha= Thank God). All my vitals were normal too. We had a 1000 appt, but didn't get into the office until 1130 (Tico time forgives tardiness). He wanted me to see a rheumatologist.
"Rheumatology, a subspecialty of internal medicine, is devoted to the diagnosis and therapy of rheumatic diseases. The term originates from the Greek rheuma, meaning "that which flows as a river or stream" and the suffix -ology, meaning "the study of". Rheumatologists mainly deal with problems involving the joints and the allied conditions of connective tissue."
He said my joint swelling was not typical for an allergic reaction. Right before I left I got a shot of Prednisone in my butt, which surprisingly hurt like Hell. Honestly the most painful shot I've ever had. I fell asleep in the taxi before I got home, fell asleep on the couch immediately after I walked inside, and woke up long enough to eat some papaya. Thankfully Emily got back from her day-long excursion and came over to take care of me. She made me soup and brought me Gatorade! I took a nap again around 1 pm, and headed out to CIMA, a private hospital in San José, for my final visit of the day.
Traffic was aweful, and it took an hour and a half to get there. Another hour and a half to see the doctor. A lot of stupid "polo" gringos there in their fifties. Polo means tacky, cheesy, etc. Not really a direct translation apparently, but that's the best I can do. This doctor spoke both English and Spanish, because he'd studied in Philadelphia. Anyway he narrowed my reaction down to two possibilities. First, a reaction to Penicillin, even though I have taken it before, and I'd been taking it for a week straight. However, since the swelling began as localized swelling in my right hand, and I had evidence of bites on Tuesday night, he also thought it could be a spider bite. I like the second story more.
The doctor gave me Prednisone in pill form, which I have to take for the next week. My swelling had gone down by the evening except for my hands, and I could walk again. Emily came over and we watched The Benchwarmers. It's a funny, stupid movie produced by Adam Sandler with David Spade, Rob Schneider, and the guy from Napoleon Dynamite (Jon Heder).
MY RING FINGER WAS THE FATTEST OF THEM ALL.
ME TRYING TO MAKE A FIST. DIDN'T WORK.
EYE AND NOSE ALL SWOLLEN.
FRI 2/23
Today I had another doctor's appointment this morning here in Heredia. Actually it was another blood test. It's 330 here right now, and I have to go back in an hour to get the results. I shot a video of their dog (cat) eating peanut butter. That's about it. I lost my frickin' Allegra medicine. Spend over an hour looking for it, so I'm pissed. I'm worse than I was this morning, which is annoying. I need my medicine!
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