A Jungle Initiation

I wrote a blog about this last week, and it somehow got lost, erased, poof. I came to realize that maybe it didn't need to be as long, or as dramatic as I was making it. So here is the condensed version - though as most of you know, my condensed isn’t always short:)

 Our first couple of weeks here had been pretty damn dreamy. Lot's of down time, quality time spent with the kiddos and our new neighbors. Then one morning, Ayden woke saying she didn't feel so good. And for those of you who know Ayden, the kid doesn't complain of pain or sickness often. Even if she's in pain or sick. So we knew pretty quick that something was off. 

Her lil' cheeks were flushed and her energy was really low, though she was still smiling and making jokes. We changed our plans to one of just being home. Watching how she did. 

Within an hour her fever was up to 103.7. Woah. She went from smiling and joking to quietly laying there, hardly able to sit up. She started to say that her stomach and back were beginning to hurt pretty badly. We gave her ibuprofen and Tylenol that first day to keep the fevers down but they never got lower that 101. She was able to sip fluids, but that was it. 

The next day we met up with our neighbor Narcissa, her boy Kendal was sick as well. She had taken him to the clinic and they told her it was “fiebre quebra huesos” or break bone fevers. Colloquially here, that stands for just about any virus with high fevers. But one of those viruses is Dengue. The most dangerous severe complication of Dengue is bleeding, your platelets get low and you can’t clot. So out went Ibuprofen. For the next 5 days Ayden’s fevers would get down in the 100’s on Tylenol alone, then bump back up. We watched her closely for signs of bleeding and she stayed stable. She could drink sips of things, which we had her do literally every 15 min while awake, but could eat nothing. 

She was so dang strong and brave through the whole thing. We would carry her out to the living room, she was too weak to walk, and she would lay with me, Eli or Adam. She couldn’t read or watch anything — you know that feeling? When you can’t even watch things you’re so sick? She barely complained. Honestly, can you imagine what I would be like for those of you who know me well?? Ugh, it would be miserable for everyone! 

Once she was able to be up and about a bit, we took her to the lab to have blood drawn. We noticed she now had a petechia rash on her feet - which is small red/purple spots that is caused by broken capillaries and something you watch for in low platelets. She was otherwise doing much better, but we decided to go to be safe. Here is CR, you can just walk into a lab and order tests you need. Adam has been speaking to patients about tests for years in Spanish, so that helped! We got her results in 3 hours. Positive for Dengue and platelets low, but not dangerously in need of a transfusion low.  Whew. 

Her strength began to return after 6 days of being down and out. She was able to small bites of food and went swimming for the first time. We are now a week and a half from onset of symptoms. She is regaining strenth, and rightfully so, feels pretty much like a badass. She came to the jungle and has been fully initiated. She is strong and thriving. We are so damn grateful for it.