Some friends of mine came over one night for dinner. One guest was sick and I told her she could lay down in my bed. Not wanting to get her germs I washed all of my bedding after she left. Despite my efforts I awoke the following morning with a sore throat. I hoped it was a quickly passing thing because I was supposed to be leaving the following morning to meet my mom and sister at the airport. I drank some tea and took a nap before heading out to see some people and run some errands.
I was bummed to wake up the following morning still having a sore throat. I thought if I’m going to be sick, a sore throat and a runny nose is the least inconvenient and I can still meet my mom and sister at the airport. I got up and realized the sun was rising so I ran to the kitchen to take a picture. In those few seconds, I realized that I REALLY needed to go to the bathroom. My stomach started feeling yucky so after a shower I laid back down. I decided to go ahead and take some medicine so I wouldn’t have any accidents on the 3 hour bus ride ahead of me. While laying there, my stomach started cramping really bad. After vomiting for the first time I realized I had something much worse than a sore throat.
I found out that my sick friend had had the same symptoms and only threw up once. After that she was back to good. I was hopeful that this would be the case and I could still meet my family at the airport. I was able to talk to them and give them a heads up that I might not be able to meet them at the airport. We had all planned on staying at the airport hotel together so they could stay there and get some rest and we could regroup the next day if not. I tried to call and switch my 11:30 bus ticket to a later one. I had planned to go to the big city early to do some shopping before my family arrived. The bus company said I would have to go to the bus station to switch the ticket. I still felt awful and the $10 was not worth it to me to make that trip.
I laid back down and slept some more and woke up feeling worse. I spent most of that day in bed or the bathroom. I was pretty bummed that I would not be there to welcome my mom and sister with a hug. I have some friends in the big city. One of them volunteered to pick my mom and sister up from the airport the next day and help them get on a bus to my city. The two of them got to experience a small taste of what life was like for me when I first arrived in my new country. No language on a bus ride, hoping they arrived at the correct destination.
I think we were all very grateful to finally get to share hugs at the bus station when they arrived. We went back to my house and had some lunch and played a game. I was feeling better but still pretty weak. After a short nap, I gave them a quick tour of the downtown area where I live and we ate some dinner at one of my favorite places.
I was feeling a lot better the next day but not 100%. I woke up to find that my sister had been throwing up in the night. Hers seemed to pass quicker than mine and we were able to get back out the following day to see some friends in the city.
I had about a day of actually feeling good before my throat started bothering me again. This time it felt raw, I was losing my voice, and coughing a lot. I continued to feel poorly for several days, not awful. It came time for us to leave my city and see some of the cool places in my country. As we traveled, I started feeling worse. My cough started moving down into my chest, I started coughing up nasty things, and my throat was still hurting. We went to a clinic after lunch one day to see if I could get an antibiotic. The doctor did a quick checkup before declaring I had nothing more than allergies due to the changing weather/seasons. I tried to argue with him but he asserted it was nothing more than allergies. In his defense, I just happened upon the clinic and had not brushed up on my cold and flu terms.
I woke up the next day with a fever and a very sore throat. Realizing I needed some rest and a second opinion, I discussed the option of cancelling our sightseeing plans and returning back to my city for a day or two. If we did that, it would mean them getting back on a bus to the big city by themselves and me missing out on more time and the airport goodbyes. We decided to stick with our original plan but letting them sightsee while I rested at the hotel. I think this was the right decision even though I think all of this probably delayed my recovery time.
I dropped them off at the airport and made it back to my city on a bus around midnight. I went to a new doctor in my city. He declared I had an upper respiratory infection and gave me an antibiotic and a nose spray to aid my recovery. When I was taking the tail end of my antibiotics, my throat started hurting pretty bad again and I had an eye infection and a nasty cough. I ended up going back to the doctor a few days later and he switched me to some allergy meds to try to flush out my congestion. I am now on week 5, and I am functioning at about 85%. My coughing has eased, I’m not spitting up green stuff anymore but I still have junk in my eye and my throat hurts off and on.I find the whole thing bizarre. Who gets a sore throat that leads to vomiting and eventually a crazy respiratory infection? And what a giant bummer that I was sick essentially the whole time my family was here and it has continued weeks after they left? I’m looking forward to a very near day when I am back to 100%.
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