March 25, 2004
Another one in which I whine about being sick…
My throat still hurts.
My glands are still swollen.
My left foot is sore and blistered (I walked home yesterday and probably shouldn’t have). And now….
I have a new and interesting… no wait, I mean annoying…rash. It is mostly on the fleshy part of my hands just below the thumb and my wrists. Oh and one small spot on my right calf. I can’t wear my watch because it irritates the rash. It started on Tuesday will lots of small bumps but I hit it real fast with hydrocortisone crème and the bumps seem to have gone away. Now they are just icky itchy patches. Itchy patches that may be spreading to my fingers.
It has been really humid here lately (yes more so than usual) so it may be some sort of fungus spore thing. They don’t have poison ivy in town so I doubt it is that (although that is sure what it feels like). Our Angel of Mercy... I mean Medical Officer is in Washington DC for a conference right now so I can’t go to her for help.
I feel like I have been sick (or at least under the weather) for the past month. I am tired of it. It seems like; even before I can heal myself from one ailment another one pops up. I recognize that this *may * be party my fault for not actually taking the week off and staying in bed. But if I had to be bored at home any longer I would go crazy which would be worse than being sick and whiney. And after all this is my journal and I can whine about being sick here all I want. So bring me some cheese to go with my whine, because for now I don’t intend to stop!
I remember asking Andrew (an RPVC who served in Cameroon) what the worst part about the Peace Corps was. He said, being sick the whole time. I distinctly remember thinking, “How bad can that be?” I was an idiot.
Comments
Give Bev a call. She'll not only take great care of you, but she can give you a sweet deal on fresh fish.
soifua,
Andrew
Treat all rashes as yeast infections. Your whole body has become one damp surface. Try some Nizoral on those rashes. Next would be antibiotic (Majic) cream. If that doesn't work bath them in peroxide. Bath any open cut or rash in peroxide. You can dilute the stuff and gargle with it...anything in yer mouth and throat is toast....say good by to the scratchy tiny troll living in the back of your tonsils!
That stuff on your hands sounds familiar. It's like some localized form of shingles. Its ok when it's just on your hands. Its when it gets to the bottoms of your feet and in your arm pits and crotch that it begins to become annoying. There is no known cure for it as far as I know. Something that comes and goes....spreads and reappears. Its your first pcsamoa weird disease merit badge. (It went away when I left Samoa, one day about five years later I woke up and it was gone.... so no sweat.)
You have to start thinking long term. Your resistance is down. You have opened the door and all the bad little germy guys in Apia will make you their home if they can.
You need to get some rest and rebuild your resistance. Antibiotics lower your resistance in many ways. You need to take it easy and not picture yourself as some modern incarnation of Zena. It won't work. To many tiny witches in the body fluid brew.
Remember. Nizoral for the yeasty buggahs, Antibiotic cream of the oozy sours and cuts, and Peroxide for everything. Keep it clean and dry, never let it go for even a day, and rest....plenty of rest. And lots of antioxidants!
Spend the week end reading, and if the weather is nice go to the beach. Matter of fact that sound good advice for the next week!