That time I went to Guatemala and came home with some random blood infection

I woke up on Friday morning to my phone ringing.  It was someone from the ER, something had shown up on a blood test they ran the night before and I needed to come in so they could start me on an IV antibiotic right away.   After sleeping I was feeling quite a bit better (except for some troubles breathing), so I got up, showered, did my hair and put my makeup on before heading back to the hospital.

I was not quite prepared for what happened next.   In the ER I was hooked up to ANOTHER bag of IV fluids as well as a bag of antibiotics.  After I was all hooked up I was admitted into the hospital.   I had no idea I was going to be staying at the hospital, and I had nothing for my stay there. I was really quite shocked! I kept telling the doctor that I felt WAY better than the day before (except I was having some troubles breathing, odd) and did not need to be admitted to the hospital.  He assured me that the only reason I felt so good was all the glorious meds they had me on.  I didn’t really believe him.

Finally, a kind nurse (who also happens to be in my stake Relief Society Presidency) took pity on me, and explained what was going on.  I had two pretty bad infections.  One was in my stomach, and was quite common for travelers to have when coming back from third world countries.  This infection is usually treated with antibiotics at home, with no need to be at a hospital.  The other infection was in my blood.  It was the reason for the high temperature, the low blood pressure, and the problems breathing (we caught it right as it started attacking my lungs).  It is a pretty random and serious infection, one only found in Japan, Brazil, and Costa Rica (and apparently Guatemala).  They had never seen it before at the hospital, or anywhere in Utah as far as they could tell.  It can be very serious and deadly, but we caught it at a good time.  We will never know exactly when or how I caught it, it is just one of those things that happens from time to time.

You always hear about people who catch really terrible things when traveling, but I never expected it to happen to me.  I lived in China and Brazil (both were for longer periods of time than I was in Guatemala) and never had ANY problems.  But it does happen! 

Friday was a really good day.  I didn’t think the hospital was such a bad place!  I still thought someone had made a mistake with admitting me.  I really thought I would be going home on Saturday, Sunday at the latest. Then Saturday rolled around.  I was SO sick.  As the antibiotics started to kill the infections, my body went into crisis mode. The fever would not go away.  The blood pressure would not come up.  My body puffed up like a blow fish (this part terrified me!) They took a CT scan, which was not my favorite experience ever, to check and see if there was anything on top of the two infections causing my symptoms (there wasn't, just some really nasty swelling going on).  I didn’t do anything but lay in my bed (very in and out of it) the entire day.

The one and only picture I have from the hospital on the one and only day I felt like a human!

Sunday was more of the same.  At one point I felt good enough that I ventured out and took two laps around the 3^rd floor of the hospital with a kind CNA.  I was shocked at how tired I was after walking for five minutes.  It worried me.  At one point I got really sick and they put me on a medication that knocked me out for most of the day. 

Monday was my turning point.  I started to feel like me again.  They did a scope to make sure I didn’t have any worms taking up resident in my stomach (SO glad they didn’t find anything) and gave me some really nasty medicine to take care of anything they may have missed.   This was the day my fever finally broke and my blood pressure got to a normal (though still low) level. If I focused on breathing I could take deep breaths, and that was a HUGE relief!

Tuesday morning the doctor came in and gave me the good news – I was going home! The infections were under control, though I would need to stay on antibiotics, and I was at a point where I could keep myself hydrated so I was good to go! I was soooooo happy to finally be going home to stay!

Before this experience I had never been in the hospital, and I have gained a new sympathy for people who have to be hospitalized!  It was a rough experience, I have never felt so sick or helpless or worried about my health in my life.  I am SO grateful that I was able to make it to the hospital near my house, and that I didn't have to be hospitalized in Guatemala or in Dallas during my layover.  I came home on the 19th so that I would be able to go to Wicked with my family on the 21st, but I ended up being in the hospital this day instead.  While it was disappointing, it is the whole reason I came home when I did, and had I not come home at that point it could have been disastrous!  So even though I missed it, I really feel like it was a blessing that we had tickets that day because it got me home when I did.  I am grateful to have been treated by such great doctors and nurses who specialized in microbiology and were able to figure out what my problem was and take care of it quickly.  I am thankful for such an amazing support system of family and friends who took such good care of me through it all.  I really have been watched over through this whole experience!