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Maayo Hapon (good afternoon)!!
I know that I haven't written in awhile but I have a really great excuse, I was in the hospital. Now don't freak out! I'm fine now. Thursday, Sept. 11, I awoke with a very intense ear pain in my left ear. I called my PCMO (peace corps medical officer) and she had Marc (my Language and Culture Facilitator) take me to the hospital for a quick exam--yeah, that took 4 hours. The pain steadily grew worse until finally Friday afternoon I was going crazy with pain. I was admitted into the hospital and was eventually informed that I had 3 inner ear infections due to bacteria in the ocean and cleaning my ears with Q-tips (heaven forbid!) I've never felt a pain like that before. It was incredible! Thank God for my friends, I can't imagine going through that alone. I have extremely loyal and helpful PCT's by my side for my 5 day/night stay. The PC Filipino staff was also extremely helpful and stayed with me while my fellow PCT's were at work. I owe all of these wonderful people a dept of gratitude I can never possibly repay.
Medical care in the Philippines sucks. That is not endorsed by PC and I probably shouldn't even write it, but I honestly feel this way. Even after knowing my allergies, the anesthesiologist still gave me codeine which, of course, I had a reaction to. A 5 day vomiting reaction! I'm now on anti-nausea meds to help with that. I threw up every 15 minutes for 29 hours Sunday. I know that may be over sharing, but I just want to show evidence to support my opinion of medical care in this country. I really do love the Philippines and the people--I'd just prefer to stay away from the hospitals.
I'm feeling much better now. No more pain. I am, however, temporarily deaf in my left ear. I've been assured this will dissipate with time once the swelling goes down. For now my host family just refers to me as "the beautiful deaf girl." ;-) And I now know that whenever you're in trouble, who you gunna call? THE ED SECTOR! Big thanks to all of those in the Dumaguete ED sector who came to visit me and comfort me during one of the hardest times I've ever experienced.
More to follow...
