Medical Mayhem

So, it's old new now, but I wanted to write about it for myself. Not that I will forget the episode, but thankfully it has past and not to be repeated.


So, the medical situation is another thing here as well. I'm still trying to figure out how the system works. From the earlier post until now. I've learned a bit more, a bit. I know there is a state health system that is for people without insurance (which has a big hospital a block away) and then there is the EsSalud for those with insurance, either that you buy or that you get from your employer. Business with a certain number of employees are required to provide this. Then there are private doctors and clinics. Not totally sure about these. They basically provide a more personal attention as they are much smaller. In addition to EsSalud insurance there is also private insurance that some companies (like Richard's provide) and you can use it to access these clinics and doctors, I think.

Anyway, the Finkenstein doctor thing from before didn't really pan out. She isn't confident in her English and she is only a pediatrician, but we can use her for that...when she's back from vacation, but she lead us to the other doctor that we have been seeing. Dr. Vizcarra. She is nice and seems knowledgable and is through. So, good enough.

So when I first saw her she ordered a battery of basic tests blood, urine, glucose etc. Well, everything came back normal but the urine. It showed yeast and bacteria. So I had to do a bacteria culture to find out which kind. It came back as staph, which is rare for a urinary infection. Anyway, there are only 2 safe antibiotics to take during pregancy for this drug resistant bug. As I soon found out, they give you horrific gastritis.

I started taking it on a Saturday and Richard's parents were visting for the weekend to help with house projects etc. by Sunday morning when I went to the market I was having a weird stomach pain that got progressively worse. By 1pm I was in bed doubled over crying in pain. It was horrific. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't think straight from the pain and Richard never tells me what to do, so he was waiting for me to tell him what to do. I hate going to the hospital, especially after the last time with the migraine, but I didn't know what else to do. So, I said...let's go to Clinica Isabel. I figure it's close and we are thinking of going there for the birth, why not. So, I somehow make it down the stairs and into a taxi. I get into the door and try to find comfort by kneeling over on the ground. A sight I must have been.

Richard goes to get attention or something. I was in my own world. Anyway, I go to the exam room and the doctor is asking me questions. He talked too fast and he was hard to understand and I didn't know how to answer. He wanted to know the kind of pain. Well, I don't know! I knew it didn't have to do with the baby it was high under my right rib and radiated out. Well, to cut this short. I was there for hours like 5 maybe. Writing in constant pain. They gave me an antacid injection and something else, like a pain med. I had to take their word for it that is was safe, but I didn't really want it. The med made me really groggy. I finally could lay on the gurney after a few hours and Richard and I both fell asleep for a bit. I found out that we were waiting for an ultrasound tech to check for gallstones, or liver deposits or something. It turned up negative. Then we were also waiting for an OB/GYN. I learned that these clinics don't have people there, just on call. So you have to wait for them to come.....yea...you could die. Good thing to know.

We'll by the time the ob lady got there I was feeling a little better. She put me on a bland diet and such and some prescriptions for digestive motility and antacid and I went home. We'll no sooner am I out the door and the pain comes back. By the time I'm home it's there again. I took the meds in hopes that it would help, but I basically didn't sleep the entire night. The pain was too bad. I had gas trapped in my intestines and it was ridiculously awful.

So, then I felt a little calmer by morning and was just eating chicken broth and rice at that point. By the end of the ordeal I had lost like 4 lbs. not something you want in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy. Anyway, I looked online for what to do. I found out about some teas I could try. Well praise be to God it helped....sorta. I was drinking Anis on Monday and Tuesday. It would keep the pain at bay, but it had other issues, like constipation. So by Tues night it was back with a fury and I'm praying to God to take me now or make it go away or something. We called our doctor finally as she never answered before. She said to stop taking the antibiotic...which was the culprit of all this and see her on Thurs.

Well, thank God. I didn't sleep at all on Tues night either. Poor Richard. Belching and moaning and up all night. I stayed in the living room so he could try to sleep. It was hell on Blondell street (where we live). However, being off the meds helped and by the time we went on Thurs I was feeling better. The issue was I was supposed to take the meds for 10 days and I survived 3. So, I went back for another urine test to see if what I took was enough. I mean bacteria infection or gastritis...it's toss up. Anyway, after several days of waiting I was not hopeful, but hopeful. Asking God please, please....you can get rid of bacteria right? Please don't make me take it again. It was distressing to me, baby, Richard. I couldn't imagine it again.

So the following Tues I went to get my results and it was negative for growth...negative. I hugged the girl. She was so shocked. I got tears in my eyes. What a relief. So, anyway, I've been much, much better since then. The trama has passed and I am eating again and hungry all the time. Like 3 hours max and I have to eat something, but I'm eating all good things and the baby is gaining all the weight. It's so much better to be able to control what I eat now. We don't eat out much and well things are in much better order. I feel like a new person. It was a really hard 2 months with the move and then the health and all. It's a relief to feel better and have energy. It's been constant surrender to the moment and allowing things to take their course. It's all so bigger than I can understand, control or make sense of and so the only option is to find peace in the moment, but honestly........gastritis....just say NO!