So let´s backtrack a bit....I guess in my last posting I jumped ahead. Let´s go back to the beginning of my travels to Lima.
I definitely packed light (two backpacks - one small, one large one) except on the trip to Lima. My dad graciously offered to carry a bag or two back to Texas for me so I packed up a large bag, a laptop, and an empty carry-on bag (I have too many bags in Quito to carry back myself). When I arrived in Lima, it seemed that everyone on my flight was transferring to other flights so I passed through customs and picked up my luggage in about 10 minutes. I patiently waited but the taxi drivers in the airport concluded that no one was coming to get me and they should drive me to a hotel nearby. Finally, Dad arrived to pick me up - seems there was some problems with his driver.
45 minutes later I am planted in a gorgeous burb of Lima (Miraflores) in this absolutely huge suite (with a jacuzzi tub!!). Dad´s been here already a few days doing some great work - helping sick, poor people. He even organized for boxes and boxes of medicines to be shipped to Peru. The next 3 days I watch him work in clinics, speaking excellent Spanish with patients and really getting to the heart of their problems. It was a great opportunity to see my dad work - one that I would never get to do in the US (silly privacy laws)! And props to my dad, he IS the most amazing doctor (just don´t ever tell him that your kidneys hurt)!
Dad leaves on Monday night to return to work and I stay with the rest of the doctors. Unavailable to find a flight with the group on Wednesday morning, I head to Cuzco on Tuesday morning. I take advantage of the day to visit the Sacred Valley. My flight arrived at 7:30 am and by 9 am, I´m on a tour bus. Luckily, Dad gave me altitude sickness meds so I felt ok that day (maybe a little stomach problem). I had a fabulous day hiking around and visiting Incan ruins. That night, I stayed in a dump of a hostel but it only cost me $8 and had some hot water and breakfast included.
The next morning (Wednesday) is when the sickness began. I guess I didn´t wake up on the right side of the hostel bed, and the big D came into my life (and still hasn´t left). I went to meet the group and we headed to Aguas Calientes and Machu Picchu. The 12 of us (3 doctors, 2 residents, 1 Harvard med student, 3 Notre Dame students, 1 graduating senior, a nurse, and me) took a 2 hour train ride to AC and then headed to our hotel. Somewhere in the process we lost one of our members and spent some time searching the small town for him. He was found and we raced off to eat a late buffet lunch at the Sanctuary Lodge near MP. And this I remember as my last real meal...
Our tour guide raced us around MP because he had to catch a train back to Cuzco. This was a bit disappointing because I couldn´t follow all of his talk and there was really so much to see. And it started to rain. MP is definitely worth a visit in your lifetime! We talked about coming back the next day to climb the mountain nearby and went to buy tickets in AC.
Since there were a bunch of students in the group, Dr. M (who is their mentor, born and raised in Peru, speaks perfect Spanish) wanted to get the student rate for them. But no one had an ISIC (International Student ID Card) and the guy at the ticket booth was not accepting anything else. So the doc got on the phone with the manager but no one was gonna budge. The plan was to wait until the next morning to buy the tickets up at MP (and thank goodness we waited because it was pouring down rain and I got really sick!!).
The evening included soaking in the hot springs at AC (not recommended - dirty and only mildly hot) and eating a bit of dinner. The next morning my problems began again....the big D returned, dehydration, vomiting, fainting, the works! I laid in bed until we had to catch at 3 when I had to be wheelchaired to the train. Being with doctors, they decided to hook me up to an IV in the station. What a sight I was!
I spent the whole train ride in the back of the train with the IV, sometimes carrying it between my seat and the bathroom (you can imagine). When we finally arrived in Cuzco, they took me to the hospital. As I mentioned in the last blog, after 4 attempts by the lab doc to try to take blood, the doctor who had put the IV in me took over and got blood. I have never whimpered in pain from needles before but this really did me in!
$265 later, I was released from the hospital on Friday feeling better (no appetite though) and ready to tour Bolivia with another agency (picking me up on Saturday). Strangely, as soon as the doctors from the US left in the afternoon, I got sick again. I spent most of the PM in bed except trying to deal with the credit card payment for the tour that just ended (grr) and looking for a new med for my sickness.
Saturday was an awful day on the bus from Cuzco to Puno filled with aches and pains and of course, the big D. In the evening, I went to another pharmacy in Puno, and they gave me yet another drug (this would be the 4th one). Sunday I was picked up for the border-crossing from Peru to Bolivia. And I met a lovely honeymooning couple (both doctors) from England. Interestingly, the gal was also sick so we were both dragging a bit. We crossed the border and headed to Copacabana, Bolivia (not the one from the song) and then by boat to the gorgeous Sun Island. Although I was sick, I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the island. We stayed in a beautiful lodge and I tried to recuperate (no luck - every meal was the big V instead of the big D). At night, we climbed to the top part of the island and watched one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen (pictures do no justice)!
I left the island this morning and now am in La Paz. I tried to change my flight to go back to Quito tomorrow (from Wednesday) but it would cost a lot. So I am going to lay low in LP for the next day or so. I cancelled my city tour tomorrow cause I just can’t take too much movement. And I don´t think I´ll be able to go to the beach this weekend (crap!).
Huge thanks to all the docs, nurses, family, friends, etc. who have been trying to save my life for the last week!
