January 1 to 7, 2009

January 1 to 7, 2009 ; La Feria, Texas

Thursday ; Happy New Year / Bonne Heureuse Année / Prospero Año Nuevo

Sick ! Very, very sick ! Food poisoning !

The last 24 hours we have been sicker than we have ever been in our lives. Joanne became violently ill at 11:30 P.M. last night, and the worst for her lasted about 10 hours. My metabolism must be slower. I became ill at 6:00 A.M., and the worst for me lasted about 15 hours. We have been in bed for 24 hours, getting up hourly or so to stagger to the bathroom to vomit or pass diarrhea. Mercifully we have not needed the bathroom at the same time. Joanne managed to find the strength to take Bo for a brief walk this morning around 9:00 A.M., and to phone Kevin and Sandy to cancel our plans to meet today to plan our Mexico trip. I struggled out of bed and took Bo out again about 8:30 P.M.

Joanne was so violently ill during the night that I considered taking us to the hospital. But ... I also realized that when we were going to need the bathroom, we had about 5 seconds warning. I decided that staying in the trailer, with a bathroom beside the bedroom, was probably as good as it was going to get. I doubted whether either of us could survive a trip to the hospital without getting sick on the way.

And I’m a little angry ! That someone would be so careless in their food preparation or handling for a potluck. We know RV’ers who refuse to eat at potlucks for this very reason. I used to say that I never met a potluck that I didn’t like. Well ... obviously that’s no longer true.

Now, after 24 hours, we are both dehydrated, extremely weak, have headaches and extreme fatigue. And I’m still having bouts of diarrhea every few hours. We’ve been trying to sip on water whenever we wake up, but it just flows right through. I’ve just remembered that we have Cipro, an antibiotic. It was prescribed to us by a physician specializing in travel medicine when we were going to Costa Rica, to be taken in case of food or water poisoning. I’ll take one. Maybe it will help.

Friday ; Around noon, after about 36 hours in bed, and about 40 hours without food, Joanne got up, prepared and ate a slice of toast and a scrambled egg, then promptly went back to sleep. Shortly thereafter I decided to attempt to get up, eat, and resume functioning. I prepared and ate a fried egg and a slice of toast. I was hoping that, after 40 hours without food, eating a bit would make me feel better. It didn't. Bo needed to be walked. I took him for a slow walk. I thought some fresh air would make me feel better. It didn't. Teddy had been pestering me to be put in his tent outside. When I went through the door he followed, sneaking out behind me. I didn't see him coming out, a gust of wind yanked the door out of my grasp, and it slammed shut on his tail. ( sigh ) Sorry, Teddy. I examined his tail, and he seemed okay, tail bruised but not broken. Disgusted with life, and still sick, I went back to sleep !

In 1971, when I was 16 years old, I had dysentery for 4 days while camped in a tent on the side of Mount Fuji in Japan, during a typhoon. I'm trying to decide whether or not this food poisoning was a worse experience. It's hard to tell, my memory may be flawed after all these years. Either way, it's a close call !

Saturday ; Today was sunny and warm, a bit windy. We both felt better this morning, although still a long way from healthy. Nevertheless we phoned Kevin and Sandy and told them we were coming over for the Mexico trip planning session that we cancelled two days ago. Time to get it done ! While walking Bo I found out from our friend Eve that she has been sick like us for the last two days. And she didn't attend the New Year's Eve potluck. SO ... maybe our illness was a flu and not food poisoning ? ? ?

We drove over to Kevin's and Sandy's RV park in Brownsville, about 45 minutes southeast of here. We were supposed to spend the day planning our 2 month trip around Mexico, but while they waited for us to get healthy, Kevin and Sandy had worked on trip planning. And they had prepared an excellent, detailed, 9 week, 8000 km. / 5000 mile loop around Mexico, including a one day side trip into Belize. Their plan was "on the same page" as us, so there really was nothing left to plan together. I felt very sheepish that they had done all the work, thus "spoon feeding" us. I had previously complained to them about my frustration with "other" travelling companions of ours who needed to be continuously "spoon fed" like that, leaving me feeling like an unpaid tour guide.

Sandy prepared lunch for us. My appetite was ... well ... non-existent. And the small amount of lunch that I ate made me feel worse, not better. We spent the afternoon chatting. I began to feel better by late afternoon. So did Joanne. When we left Brownsville, we drove to Los Indios, the border crossing into Mexico that we have decided to use. It's about halfway between Brownsville, where Kevin and Sandy are, and La Feria, where we are. We found a nearby large service station near the border that will be a good place for us to meet, to cross the border together.

We stopped at El Centro Foods in La Feria to buy some tortillas for supper. We were out of bread, and El Centro Foods has poor bread, although a large selection of good tortillas. As soon as we got home, Joanne started working on laundry before we had a late, light supper.

Sunday ; Today was sunny, hot, and humid. We woke up still feeling a bit ill ; weak, with queasy stomachs. Joanne improved throughout the day. Frustratingly, I got worse. By 7:00 P.M. I was downright sick again, in bed. Despite eating nothing for 2 days, and almost nothing for 2 more days, severe diarrhea persists. I can't tell where food poisoning / stomach flu leaves off, and colitis takes over ! A "broken" large intestine is like the Energizer Bunny. It just keeps going and going. And appropriate medications aren't doing their job. I'm having difficulty keeping myself adequately hydrated.

I partially removed and reinstalled the trailer's city water inlet assembly to determine what replacement parts I need to buy. Joanne defrosted the fridge, and did more laundry. I printed my bank statements and year end investment data. I reconciled the bank statements, then began the lengthy and tedious process of updating and analyzing investment performance for the year just past. Usually I find this year end activity to be quite pleasurable, but, obviously, not this year !

I felt too ill to go the pool and hot tub this afternoon. And I was downright sick again by the time of the ice cream social. Darn ... I wanted to go to the ice cream social and find out if any other people became ill after eating the New Year's Eve party finger foods. And, perhaps mercifully, I was too sick to attend tonight's live entertainment evening after the ice cream social, a performance by Banjo Jack.

Monday ; Today was cloudy and cool. Well, gee whiz ... we're both still sick ! It seems to me that our symptoms, and duration of illness, are more consistent with influenza than food poisoning, but who knows ? ! ? During the night I developed a severe case of chills. My moaning, and shivering, while asleep, woke Joanne up. She thought I was having a bad dream. Nooooo ... I was freezing ! ! ! She put a pair of sleep socks on me, wrapped me in our spare duvet, and turned my bed heater on to its maximum setting.

This morning I went to the office to pay for a one week extension, and our hydro usage. There was a long line up for service since the front office had been closed for four days. When I finally got to the front of the line, there was "confusion" and "amnesia" about the conversation I had with the front office a week and a half ago about staying an additional week, and what the charge would be ! HMPH ! Joanne checked on the dumpster kitties when she took out the garbage. They seem to be doing fine, growing rapidly. We drove to Ron Hoover RV in Donna to buy an RV part I need. Then over to H-E-B in Weslaco for a few groceries and refill our five gallon water jug.

Once back home, I went back to bed for a long afternoon nap. I ache all over ! Joanne cleaned the inside of the truck. We both felt not healthy enough to attend today's regular Monday afternoon social hour. We still have lots of cooked Christmas turkey scraps and innards for the dumpster kitties. Late this evening Joanne insisted we take a large serving to them.

WOO-HOO ! Martha Benavides is back from maternity leave on KGBT Action News 4 as the late night anchor. "Muy Buenos Noches, I'm Martha Benavides" WOO-HOO ! I've been disappointed since we arrived here in the Rio Grande Valley two months ago that Martha wasn't on the news. I hadn't seen my favourite newscaster in two years.

Tuesday ; Today started out cloudy and cool with misty rain, but by noon it had become sunny and warm. I had insomnia last night, but put it to good use. After tossing and turning for an hour, I got up and wrote another one of my "dog tips" articles.

This morning after being sick for 5 days I finally woke up feeling healthy. Unfortunately, Joanne didn't. She was too sick to come with me to Mexico this morning for our dental appointments. She'll have to have her dental work done in Los Algodones in March. I drove to Nuevo Progreso for my 9:30 appointment for a dental cleaning and examination. Whew ... lots of staining to be cleaned. The non-English speaking hygienist worked hard for 55 minutes. It was certainly worth the 25 bucks ! Our friend Susanna, who is a dental hygienist in Medicine Hat, Alberta, told us that a cleaning and examination in her dental clinic is ten times that amount ! I was a tad disappointed in the dentist's examination. I perceived a fair amount of "upsell" effort. Usually, that's common only in the small, really cheap ( $15 cleanings ), "storefront" dentists in Mexico. The larger, more modern and sophisticated clinics don't usually indulge in "upselling". I had been to Dr. Carreon before, 2 years ago, and there was no "upselling" that time. But ... the cleaning was excellent !

After the dentist I headed for the Amigos de los Niños de Mexico wrap up meeting and luncheon. Joanne had already discarded the notes she had made at the previous Amigos meetings, but our memories told us that today's luncheon was at Garcia's Restaurant over the Canada Store. I walked over to the Canada Store and went upstairs to Garcia's Restaurant. No ... no Amigos luncheon. Darn ... I guess our memories were faulty. Oh, well. I walked over to Linda's Pharmacy, a pharmacy I have shopped at many times in the past because of the knowledge and helpfulness of the main pharmacist, an older woman named Luli. I wanted to buy anti-malaria medication that Kevin and Sandy had asked me to pick up for them. They had been advised that it was prudent to take anti-malaria medication before travelling extensively in mainland Mexico. I bought some for them, and also for Joanne and me.

Kevin and Sandy had also asked me to buy them a bottle of Cipro, an antibiotic, because I had told them that a travel physician had prescribed Cipro when we were going to Costa Rica, to be used in the event of food or water poisoning. Luli got me a bottle of Cipro, then wrote a separate receipt for it. She rang the anti-malaria medication through the cash register. She advised me to declare the anti-malaria medication when I crossed back into the United States, but that I would have to smuggle the Cipro in. Cipro is not allowed into the United States. It is the treatment for anthrax poisoning. The United States has decided that terrorists who are planning an anthrax attack would bring Cipro with them ( rolling eyes ). Great ... now I'm a drug mule ! Crossing a border manned by soldiers with machine guns !

I went to the bank in Nuevo Progreso that I knew has a good exchange rate to buy pesos. They no longer sell pesos. I wasn't really able to ascertain why. The teller directed me to a notice on the front door, written in Spanish, of course, explaining why they no longer sell pesos. I think it said "effective January 1, 2009, we are no longer able to sell pesos to drug mules". HA HA HA !

So I returned home with my smuggled drugs, no pesos, and no Amigos luncheon. Joanne was just getting out of bed still feeling quite ill. I had a late lunch, then took a nap. While I napped Joanne went to Kenwood's office and settled our bill. Then she returned to bed. Well, since I'm finally feeling okay, hopefully she will soon as well. Late in the afternoon, while doing an obedience session with Bo, I saw John sitting outside. When I was finished with Bo, I went over to visit. Eve is still sick. She has been sick the same as us, at the same time as us. We must have all picked up a "flu bug" when we had dinner together at Mr. Gatti's.

Boy, my gums were really sore tonight. That hygienist really worked 'em over with that little water jet thingy of hers. Late this evening Joanne again insisted that we take a plate of Christmas turkey innards to the dumpster kitties. We have to get rid of it all before we leave Saturday morning. HMPH ... there was a fatal shooting / murder at the H-E-B that we shop at in Harlingen. Tough neighbourhood here in The Valley !

Wednesday ; Today was a beautiful, sunny, warm "June 18" day. I felt healthy today, although weak and sluggish. I felt as if I was always moving through neck deep water. And my muscles all seemed sore and stiff. Joanne was feeling better, although not completely healthy yet. This morning I trimmed my beard, so now, a month after that Mexican barber's hack job, at least my beard has been restored after everything under my jaw line had been shaved off.

This morning I replaced the trailer's city water inlet and check valve ... twice ! I didn't adequately test my repair the first time, and after finishing I discovered it was leaking behind the exterior wall, in an inaccessible area inside a bathroom cupboard, behind and below the laundry hamper. With a few days of warm weather I can only hope that it will dry out behind there before any water rot develops in the wood. I removed the new city water inlet and check valve, reinstalled it a little differently, and all was well.

This afternoon Joanne washed the trailer windows. I washed the truck. Everything is clean, in good repair, and ready for Mexico ! We did not attend tonight's potluck dinner. While it seems reasonable to now conclude that our illness was an influenza, and not food poisoning, nevertheless I now have, at least temporarily, and certainly in this RV park, potluck anxiety ! But the larger issue was that we've had no appetite these last few days. Eating has been a struggle.

It's a good thing I did some Internet research tonight on the anti-malaria drug I purchased in Mexico yesterday. The pharmacist looked up the dosage information in a Mexican drug book, and translated it from Spanish to English for me. She provided me the dosage information for treatment of malaria, not prevention.

DSK