June 27, 2008

Is La Gringa going to live?

Yeah, now I know that I will, but these are some notes that I started before my vision got so bad that I gave up trying to blog.


Swollen, misshapen head.

Swollen, red, and watery eyes. One eye was completely swollen shut and the other one could only be open about halfway with great effort. My eyes were and still are sensitive to light.

Crusty, oozing, scabby skin and scalp.

Headache.

Fever.

Weakness, flu-like symptoms.

Swollen, tender lymph nodes in areas of the head and neck where I didn't even know there were lymph nodes until pain and Google helped me discover all of them.

Loss of appetite.

Periodic stabbing or shooting pains in the face, scalp, and ear areas. Sometimes felt like someone was jabbing me with a sharpened knitting needle. Other times...well, to get an idea, replace the bristles in your hairbrush with needles and whack yourself in the head with it periodically. I'm not exaggerating! I've read it described as electrifying pain. I'd agree with that.

Even my hair hurt! For several days, I could only brush the unaffected half of my head. The lightest touch on the right side of my face and scalp was excruciating.

Now my forehead looks like it was burned and it looks like I will have at least one scar.

If these are the decreased symptoms from starting the anti-viral therapy early and taking three pain medications, I can't even begin to imagine the untreated symptoms. I would have been suicidal.

Thank God for El Jefe! He did everything: cooked, cleaned, took care of the animals, searched all over town for the right medication. He's my hero.

A couple of funny things: He took pictures of me every day. When my eyes started swelling up, he took 3-4 photos a day, even labeled them with the time of day. Heheheh...no, you aren't going to see them. Another thing was that every morning, he would tell me how much better I looked − LIES! I'd stumble into the bathroom and look in the mirror and say, "What are you looking at? Look at me! I look like I've been in a car wreck!" Oh well, it was sweet of him to say so.


We've been having periodic power outages and internet problems so I'll finish this another day.
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