Wednesday, January 04, 2006
I guess there is a price to pay for all the fun I’ve had over the past two years, in Africa and then the month in India. The day after I arrived in Guatemala I came down with a raging case of diarrhea, ultimately diagnosed as giardia lambia. Nasty little amoebas. Fortunately, Guatemalan doctors are very familiar with this, and so their strong medication cleared things up in three days. Well, almost, but hey the improvement was dramatic.
But, right after that I came down with another set of unpleasant symptoms, apparently related to a urinary tract infection (UTI) – common in women but rare in men. The internet says treatment for UTI can take some time, so I waited until I got to the USA to seek treatment. This might have been a mistake because testing failed to isolate any bacteria that could have caused the UTI. The doctors in the emergency room were scratching their heads, delighted to have this odd case that could not be explained and that they didn’t know how to treat.
Meanwhile, a certified letter had been waiting for me from the Peace Corps, saying that my exit medical examinations indicated that I had been exposed to, and almost certainly was infected by, schistosomiasis parasites. Frequently these guys don’t do anything much except lay eggs and camp out for years after they set up home in your body. But they can also attack the liver, or cause symptoms that look like UTI.
I’ve been through the battery of practitioners, all of whom were astonished and extremely interested to see this disease, so common throughout the world but never before seen in their practices. As in “Hey, go down to Examination Room 11 and take a look at THIS case that just walked in! Hee, hee, hee.” They have convinced themselves that yes, the symptoms are indeed shistosomiasis and so have prescribed a treatment that is pretty lengthy and expensive. But hey, I have insurance, right? And this was Peace Corps related, right?
Well, lets hope. The info letter from the Peace Corps says “Treatment is NOT authorized [their emphasis]. If your physician recommends treatment or additional testing, contact the Post-Service Unit at .... You may need to file a workers’ compensation claim.”
Do they really expect me to sit around, going to the bathroom every half hour or so, waiting for decisions by Peace Corps on what to do with my worm-ridden body while filing claims with government offices for review?
One final note, tra la. The pharmacy didn’t have the recommended praziquantel 600mg.
Me: Well, can you order it.
She: Yes, but I don’t know how long it will take to get here.
Me: Where does it have to come from?
She: The distributor, but I don’t know if they have it in stock.
Me: Can you check.
She: hmmmm. Yes.
She, later: We can have it for you tomorrow afternoon.
Me: ....
But, right after that I came down with another set of unpleasant symptoms, apparently related to a urinary tract infection (UTI) – common in women but rare in men. The internet says treatment for UTI can take some time, so I waited until I got to the USA to seek treatment. This might have been a mistake because testing failed to isolate any bacteria that could have caused the UTI. The doctors in the emergency room were scratching their heads, delighted to have this odd case that could not be explained and that they didn’t know how to treat.
Meanwhile, a certified letter had been waiting for me from the Peace Corps, saying that my exit medical examinations indicated that I had been exposed to, and almost certainly was infected by, schistosomiasis parasites. Frequently these guys don’t do anything much except lay eggs and camp out for years after they set up home in your body. But they can also attack the liver, or cause symptoms that look like UTI.
I’ve been through the battery of practitioners, all of whom were astonished and extremely interested to see this disease, so common throughout the world but never before seen in their practices. As in “Hey, go down to Examination Room 11 and take a look at THIS case that just walked in! Hee, hee, hee.” They have convinced themselves that yes, the symptoms are indeed shistosomiasis and so have prescribed a treatment that is pretty lengthy and expensive. But hey, I have insurance, right? And this was Peace Corps related, right?
Well, lets hope. The info letter from the Peace Corps says “Treatment is NOT authorized [their emphasis]. If your physician recommends treatment or additional testing, contact the Post-Service Unit at .... You may need to file a workers’ compensation claim.”
Do they really expect me to sit around, going to the bathroom every half hour or so, waiting for decisions by Peace Corps on what to do with my worm-ridden body while filing claims with government offices for review?
One final note, tra la. The pharmacy didn’t have the recommended praziquantel 600mg.
Me: Well, can you order it.
She: Yes, but I don’t know how long it will take to get here.
Me: Where does it have to come from?
She: The distributor, but I don’t know if they have it in stock.
Me: Can you check.
She: hmmmm. Yes.
She, later: We can have it for you tomorrow afternoon.
Me: ....
