Everyone hates being sick. I mean come on, what is fun about it? Okay maybe the popsicles, or the juice or the sleep…. though as a mom do you ever really get that precious hard sleep you really need to get better? Not likely. Being sick abroad can add additionally challenges. It is one thing to run to your local drug store and grab your go to items. But what about when the items are in a completely different language and you have no idea what you are buying? Then there is the questions of what doctor to see, what insurance will cover, when to go to the hospital etc. and finally the mother of all Foreign Service employee’s medical questions: When do you get medivac’d home? In East Timor our medical “coverage” was EXTREMELY limited. The embassy paid for a nurse who was from another Asian country close to Timor. The general consensus at the embassy was that while she was very sweet she was completely incompetant. There were no fully trained local physicians so instead we would pay a hefty fee out of pocket to see the lovely Australian Doctor (who just happened to be the mother of Sawyers good friend Isiaha) or the Portuguese sergeon. Both were here serving other entities (The Australian embassy staff and the UN staff perspectively) but you could pay per visit to see them and they had a fairly good stock pile of medication. Unfortunately if something serious were to happen such as a broken arm, need for stitches, malaria or worse, you would have to get on the next flight out of there to get the medical attention necessary. Which, as I have discussed previously, meant the one a day flight to Darwin Australia or the twice a week flight to Singapore. I am not going to lie this made me nervous. We had three young children. You know the age when you are prone to high fevers, broken arms and bad falls? Yup, this was probably the biggest worry for me about being in Timor. Thank heavens except for Finn’s medivac to Singapore for his little tummy and my medivac to go to the OBGYN for my first few visits with Chloe nothing MAJOR happened to myself or the cuties (thought you can read about Evie’s horrible head smack HERE). The same cannot be said for poor Daddy. Let me give you a little back story on Chris. He was raised in a family with six sisters and he is the only boy. His mother and two of his sisters are now Registered Nurses. He is also, and he would’t mind me saying this, very clumsy. Growing up he was patched up by his mom a lot. Like the good nurse that she is my mother in law saved going to the emergency room for gaping wounds or worse. She would point out (aptly I might add) that all they would do is give you a whopping dose of Tylenol and send you home. I think being raised this way is what has made Chris an amazing “patient”. When he is sick he rarely complains and usually will just work right through it. Unfortunately for him there have been three times in our married life that he has been flat on his back, totally out of commission sick and ironically enough 2 out of the 3 were while out of country and all 3 were while I was out of town.
Sand Fly Fever in Kuwait
A year after we were married and the day after Chris graduated from undergrad he was activated for Operation Iraqi Freedom.
During this 18 month activation he knew he would need to take the LSAT so we could stay on track with our educational goals. After jumping through several hoops it was arranged for him to take the LSAT while in Kirkuk where he was stationed. He would take in his barrack with his commanding officer acting as proctor. He had studied diligently for months and was beginning the count down to the test. Two weeks before he contracted Sand Fly Fever (maybe he shouldn’t let squirrels crawl on him?) That is another fun thing about getting sick abroad, all the fun names: Sand Fly Fever, Japanese Encephalitis, Chikungunya (pronounced Chicken-goonia) etc. Sandfly Fever or the technical name: Visceral leishamiasis is the second largest parasitic killer after malaria. This particular time Chris was completely out of commission for two weeks straight. Imagine trying to rest and recuperate in above 100 degree temperatures, sleeping in army baracks.
Not so much fun. The first day he started to feel better was the day of the LSAT. Thankfully he still did well and now we have a fun story about the LSAT!
Dengue Fever in East Timor
RIght around the third week after arriving in East Timor I was going to go on my first ever mommy vacation to Bali, Indonesia with my wonderful friend Meredith.
I would be taking baby Evie with me but it was still a “mom” trip and I was so excited. Chris and I had gone to a local Timorese orphanage the first week in country and both had been bitten by several mosquitoes. The night before I left for Bali I woke up in the middle of the night freezing cold. I just could not get warm. I sat in a burning hot bath and then Chris piled the blankets on me. Nothing helped. The next day all of my joints ached horribly. I could actually feel my elbows. Have you ever “felt” your elbows? It is horrible. I have a new found sympathy for people with arthritis. I muscled through because there was no way I was going to miss this trip.
We headed to Bali and I sweat I got the Dengue massaged out of me. Chris on the other hand was not so lucky. I called after I arrived and the poor guy was slammed. I really think it hit him much harder then me. Of course you don’t want to call in sick the first few weeks at work. The poor guy was so sick and had both boys to take care of al weekend long. When I came home he was still pretty whipped out and it took right about a month for him to feel 100% again.
Mystery Disease, Falls Church
As I mentioned in the last post this past week I helped Nichole Van with her lighting workshop in Richmond. This was my first ever night away from all the kids. You know that part in “Date Night” when Tina Fey talks about sitting in an air conditioned hotel room with no one touching her while drinking a diet sprite? Yup, that was totally me, though not sprite, I only drink that when I am sick. Chris had started to seem a little slow on Saturday. I had a photo shoot in the morning but then we planned on driving down to our favorite farm in Williamsburg to pick strawberries. I had been talking about doing this since before we left Timor. I got home later then expected from the shoot though and when I casually mentioned skipping the trip Chris jumped on it and then fell asleep. He pretty much slept for the next 36 hours. Nichole and her hubby Dave were coming up to DC to do some exploring in between workshops and were coming to have dinner with us. I had spent the day trying to quietly entertain the kids so that Daddy could sleep AND simultaneously get ready for our dinner guest. Once dinner was ready to go Chris joined us and sat stoically at the end of the table. One of my favorite things about Chris is his chatty nature. Usually I have to shoot him the “you are dominating the conversation please let our guests get a word in edgewise” look. This time he meekly excused himself and headed back to the bedroom where he went back to sleep. I didn’t even get to speak to him before I left the next morning. I just typed up a note explaining everything. The mom in me though, yup, it stinks to be sick but when Monday rolls around you just got to suck it up and get up because those kids aren’t getting to school themselves. Thankfully I have some AMAZING girlfriends who I had arranged to take care of the kiddos while I was gone. Suddenly kids were being taken to buses, others to parks and meals were being made. I am telling you, there is nothing as wonderful as a mom-friend in a crisis. Us moms are amazing right? I also love modern technology. I received texts and instagrams throughout the day giving me updates on both the kids and Chris. His dangerously high fever was breaking, he was now vomiting, he was sleeping etc.
Chloe in bumbo curtousey or themoonlitnest instagram
When I saw he was going to the hospital I thought it was time I leave the workshop and come home. He told me not to and promised to call if they found out it was something serious. After ten pounds lost, 2 bags of saline and some meds later he was back home and passed out again. I came home in the evening and began the detox of our apt. all beds were striped of linens, towels, sheets, pillow cases etc. washed. Tooth brushed were trashed and a gazillion clorox wipes later I think we are all save (knock on wood). What is ironic is there never really figured out what in the world was wrong. They just told him it was “viral”. I am just really glad he is on the mend and was able to go back to work today!
I guess in the end it doesn’t really matter whether you are in your home country or not, sick is sick. You just want somewhere quiet and dark to rest your head. Have any of ya’ll been sick while abroad? Hopefully not while on a vacation, that is the WORST! Any suggestions about weathering sickness abroad?
Hoping everyone in your family is health and happy!
Cheers!
Kelly
It is simply a long rectangle of fabric sewn together to make a circle, hemmed on one end, gathered on the other and then sewn to 2 inch wide elastic sooooooo easy!
I love a good compromise!
I went to Switzerland for a private duty case and then a nice visit to Paris where my husband joined me.
poor Chris! It’s the worst when you have to go through it alone.
5 comments