Poco a poco...

Little by little...

Things to be thankful for:

I had more energy today.  Enough to break into a happy dance when I realized I had a little energy to spare this morning.  Made it through the school day without feeling completely wiped out.  Even went for a short walk this afternoon--to the park and back.  I took it slow...was a lot more tired walking home than when leaving, but still, I was able to walk to the park at normal speed (well, relatively speaking anyway...)

The light in my room stopped working, but the family loaned me a lamp.  (I have a flashlight, too...kind of handy to have setting on the nightstand when you're living in Guatemala...)

It will be two weeks tomorrow since the first day I got sick...I guess I can be thankful I at least now know what it is, have medication for it, and was able to get a shot that kept me from getting the full-blown thing...only one more week until the date when I MIGHT be over it.  I might need to circle that date on the calendar, the day when I might receive news of a clean bill of health...

I've realized I've developed a whiny attitude.  I may not verbalize it, but I definitely feel it inside.  Maybe it's a lesson in patience...I'm not really sure.  I definitely get impatient...wondering why it's taking so long for my body to recover.  You're on antibiotics, bounce back already...  And then wondering why I am having so much trouble over something that is "nothing, really..."  Just a minor case of typhoid.  Not the real thing...  Until I tell people what I have and they freak out on me...like my Guatemalan students who have doctors for parents...

Maybe I need to cut myself some slack and just wait to recover.  I think I try to push the process along, thinking there is a certain amount of time in which I should recover.

But I will get better. 

As a friend told me recently, it's poco a poco...necesita paciencia.

Oh, and I am thankful I didn't electrocute myself last weekend.  Word to the wise: When turning off the switch for the hot water in the shower, be careful to touch only the outer part of the switch; don't allow your thumb to make contact with the base.  Perhaps by saying "electrocute" I exaggerate, but there was more electricity there than I am comfortable with.  I guess that would explain why someone I know once referred to this kind of shower as the "widow maker." 

attitude adjustment...

I have to admit...my attitude needs work.

I came home from school early today, got a substitute to cover my last class.  Then, when the fatigue and dizziness I had felt this morning and all weekend suddenly switched to wide awake, headache, no food sounds good, I checked the little paper that came with my antibiotics...

And yep, sure enough, ALL those symptoms are side effects of the medicine. 

Which means I'm not just waiting for the medication to kick in; I'm waiting to stop taking the medication.

Which means I'm not just waiting for tomorrow...I'm waiting for seven more days.

Yes, I know, that really isn't that long.  I've been reminding myself today of people who have to deal with much worse everyday.  I keep telling myself chemotherapy would be a much worse medication, and that taking these pills is essential to getting healthy again...

But still...seven more days.

I definitely need an attitude adjustment.  (Maybe it's time to start belting out "I Will Praise You in This Storm" at the top of my lungs until the words start to sink in?  Nah...then I might start having problems with other people in the house... :-)

I don't think I ever want to get within a foot of anything even slightly undercooked again...and I don't even know that that's what made me sick.

If anybody wants to pray for me, you can be my guest.

Saturday

All things considered, Saturday was a good day...

We had sunny weather all day.  (Although it is dry season, we have been getting rain and thunderstorms every evening for about a week.)  I went out to get some fresh air this morning, walking to an internet cafe and then around the park before going back home.  Not too bad...I just took it slow, slowing down even more whenever my legs got wobbly.  My world has shrunk considerably in the past week or so.

I spent the afternoon napping and reading...letting the medicine kick in and get to to work.  My own personal fumigation system...

Antibiotics are awesome...even if they are less than pleasant at the time.

Sickness and updates...

I found out yesterday I have a partial form of typhoid.

Yeah...

I'm really glad I got the vaccination last summer, otherwise it would be a full-blown case of typhoid.  That would not be cool...my sources tell me the full-blown case involves fevers so high it makes your bones hurt...

I have not had ridiculously high fevers, thankfully.  Just an upset stomach, achiness, and energy levels that drag and don't get better.

But at least I have a name for it now.  And medicine.  When the doctor told me about the medicine, she said, "This will make you nauseous, decrease your appetite, and dry out your mouth and make it taste like metal, but it's important that you eat something because if you don't, it could damage your stomach..."

Based on that recommendation, I was expecting the worst, but so far I haven't had any really awful side effects...

My host mom was really sweet this morning when she checked to see how I was doing.  She said they prayed for me at the prayer meeting at her church this morning, that with God nothing is impossible...

My energy levels plummeted yesterday, and I started to wonder if I was just being a pain for the other people in the house to deal with...

Antibiotics are wonderful things...makes me wonder what life was like before we had them.  That would have been so scary when people would get symptoms with nothing to do about them...

And it also got me thinking about whoever it was who discovered the typhoid vaccine.  Whoever it was definitely deserves a plate of cookies or a pat on the back...And if anybody is planning on traveling overseas, I definitely recommend making a stop at the local travel clinic before going on your way.  It is well worth it.  Even if it doesn't block something in its entirety.  It is much better to get the partial version than having to deal with it full force.

On another note, I did talk to the director of the school today about my decision regarding the next school year.  He said it was fine to think about it some more and let him know in a few weeks what I have decided.  In the meantime, I've started applying for some jobs back home.  After giving it a lot more thought, I am still seeing coming home as a distinct possibility.  I guess I'll see what happens as I move forward with this...

My mom told me yesterday that she heard the state department had issued a travel warning recommending people not travel along the Guatemala-Mexico border.  I checked online, though, and it says the particular state we will be traveling to has no travel warning in effect.

The past few days...

I thought about labeling this post "contentment", but then I realized I'm not close enough to being there...

It has been kind of a rough few days.  Nothing major, but things seeming more serious simply because I don't have the physical energy to deal with them.

I got sick Thurs night and am still recovering.  Had a sub cover my classes on Fri.  Visited the doctor and the lab, went back to the doctor for some injections...

Little by little I'm getting better (though the walk to the internet cafe made me feel about ready for a nap--but still, it is easier to walk today than it was yesterday, and walking anywhere yesterday was easier than it was the day before).  And the family and the school have been wonderful...

But it's getting tiring, not having energy.  I am thankful for the time to read--I'm really enjoying that part of it, actually.

But not having energy, even after just three short days, is getting old.

And other things have happened.  I started having problems with my computer's power cord (which is why I decided to venture out to the internet cafe) yesterday.  Then the water heater on our shower stopped working today.  The son at the house knows how to fix it and just has to get a part this afternoon, but I decided to be stubborn and shower with cold water.  It wasn't that bad.  By late morning it was getting warmer outside, and since we had power this time (since that wasn't the reason for cold water) I could warm up with my hair dryer.

Not a big deal...

But with all the time to think while I'm resting, I've found myself seriously thinking about the next two years...how much do I really want to continue here and how much do I just want to go home...

I think I'll get more clarity when I have more energy to process with.  But in the meantime, the question lingers...

I guess for now I'm thankful for the internet cafes so I can maintain my connection home.  And thankful for another day that I can sit around and rest.  Hopefully by tomorrow getting through a school day won't be too much of a challenge.  I'm definitely getting better so I am hoping to be back to normal soon.