Monday, October 30, 2006

Peru flu


I woke up at 11:00 pm, shaking with chills. I had a desperate urge to throw up and knew I had to find some sort of container, fast. But as I felt around in the darkness for my headlamp, I couldn't find it anywhere. Hadn't I left it in my tent before I fell asleep?

There wasn't time to look. I headed to the storage room, where I thought we had left an old cook pot. While on my way there, I kicked into the cultivator blade on the cultivator that had been left on the floor, slashing open my shin.

After I had emptied the ocean out of my stomach, I decided I needed to find a light. I was shaking so much that I couldn't walk straight. I couldn't figure out why I was so freezing cold. My hands were bumping clumsily along the walls as I tried to feel my way to John's room.

John handed me his headlamp, then immediately fell back asleep up on his high bunk. I was a little surprised. How had they all slept through my violent vomiting?

I found a thermometer and checked my temp: 103.2. I remember thinking that it was rather high, and wondering if I had malaria. I didn't have much time for musing as I dashed out the door, controlled by my old enemy, diarrhea.

I was up all night, alternating between miserable attacks of nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Sometimes I burned with fever, sometimes I was so cold I could not have burrowed any deeper into the covers. The whole night I lay in a puddle of sweat and self pity. I kept thinking to myself how dreadful it was to be sick without water or plumbing or electricity. I was feeling pretty sorry for myself.

When I threw up at 4:00 am, Alex woke up and walked over to my room.

"Are you okay, Ansley?" he asked.

I wasn't sure how to respond.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I whispered.

I stayed in bed all day, exhausted, sweaty, empty, and unable to bring my fever down.

But the next day, I was better. I was seven pounds lighter, but the fever was gone. I got up, and went to make breakfast.

4 Comments:

Blogger AA-ron BLOG said...

My friend Albert who was in Peru over the summer have very similar symptoms. So I'm guessing from my talks with Albert that you had food poisoning or Gastroentoritis. Hope you fill better

4:42 PM  
Blogger Jennifer Payne said...

Dear Ansley--I am so sorry to hear that you were sick! You need a sweet, helpful Ansley hovering over you to nurse you back to health!

10:57 AM  
Blogger Thrushsong said...

Ansley, I wish I could have been there to help. It's awful to be so sick and no running water (either from a faucet or someone to run and get it.) That's a tough way to lose 7 pounds.

6:23 PM  
Blogger Paul said...

poor Ansley...

9:02 AM  

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