Today is our 15th anniversary, but we're not celebrating quite yet. Some of you know that it's our tradition to try a new ethnic restaurant together each year. That won't be happening for another couple of weeks. Here's the honest truth about how things have been for us this past week...
Pat got the wrong kind of welcome gift in Jakarta: an amoeba.
Apparently it's a pretty serious one that people can get by eating street food. Strange thing is, we haven't had any. The only thing we can think of is the one meal we didn't eat together as a family, and a food item that no other new staff tried.
It's been pretty rough. I've never seen him so sick. In our 15 years of marriage, the guy has only taken one sick day. This thing has flattened him for a week. He left the apartment for the first time in several days this morning. He sat in the shade at the poolside, breathing deeply so he wouldn't throw up, watching the rest of us swim.
Last Thursday he started feeling sick, and stayed home from that Jakarta bus tour I posted pictures of. Staff here were smart enough to ask the right questions and urged him to see a doctor. We are super thankful for Kevin, an Indonesian staff member who took Pat to the SOS Clinic, stayed with him for several hours while he got an IV and a diagnosis, and brought him back home at night.
Pat was given Flagyl to treat the amoeba - same stuff he had to take when he had Giardia a long time ago. It kills the amoeba along with everything else in your body. Right now, the effects of the medicine are worse than the initial illness. It makes him super nauseous. Smells make him sick. He's super tired. He's feeling pretty demoralized and understandably just wants to be back in Canada where things are familiar. He's having a hard time forcing himself to eat anything. He's lost a lot of weight.
His last dose of Flagyl is tomorrow, and then Kevin is taking him back to the clinic for a check-up. And another round of different meds. Which he's not too excited about.
Over the weekend, Zeb started throwing up. Again, Kevin dropped his plans (bless that guy) and drove me and Zeb to the SOS Clinic. He translated for us, waited with us, drove us home, drove us back to the clinic, waited again, and drove us home again. Turns out it was likely just a virus upsetting Zeb's stomach, and the doctor prescribed probiotics. He's fine now.
The care we received at the clinic was excellent - better than we've ever had in Canada. We've been shown incredible kindness and helpfulness from other staff members. It's forced me to venture out on my own with the boys and navigate this new place. Silver linings.
So, Happy 15th Pat. Looking forward to you feeling better. And that dinner.
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