She's in the hospital. Probably will be here for another four days, if things go well. If things don't go well...
She came down ill a couple of days after we arrived. The diagnosis is cellulitis... basically the same thing that hit lake_wrangler a month or two ago. In Gwen's case it got started in the area where her breast cancer treatment has left the skin scarred and weakened... some bacteria got in and decided to have a party. By the time the bus got us to our planned lunch yesterday she was in serious pain and almost too nauseous to move.
Our trip leader got us to the small hospital, got her seen immediately, interpreted for us as necessary, and helped get things started. The doctors agree she needs intravenous antibiotics for several days. The tour has gone on without us;. we may or may not be able to continue the tour after her treatment depending on the prognosis and recommendations. I'm in touch with the travel insurance provider's medical support team, so we can arrange care and decide what to do once she's released from treatment.
Being in any hospital is scary enough. Being in one in a foreign country where you speak only a few words of the language... not fun at all. She is of course miserably uncomfortable, scared, upset with the situation, prone to blame herself for messing up our vacation. She even suggested I go on with the tour so I wouldn't miss anything... I think my exact response was "No f***ing way."
It's a small hospital, and the doctor who first treated her said to me "Be honest with me... it's a bit third world, isn't it?". Not your modern gleaming-chrome palace, it's true... but not that different from many older small-town hospitals in the U.S., and I think Gwen's receiving just the right sort of care.
We have been treated with extreme kindness the whole time we've been here. The surgeon arranged a private room for her, got the OK for me to spend the night in another bed so I could be with her, and this morning the senior lady on the clinic floor says she thinks I can continue to stay for the duration... they're not busy at the moment and don't need the beds for patients. The guys at the store where I bought a local cellphone and SIMM gave me their number and said to call if I need any sort of help. The two English-speaking doctors we've dealt with have been great. A young couple from the vineyard where our tour stopped for lunch yesterday came over, brought flowers and grapes and baked goods, stayed to visit for an hour, and told us to call them if there's anything at all they can do to help... all this kindness for two strangers they hadn't even seen at a distance. Gwen and I both had tears in our eyes after they left.
The best news is that the antibiotics seem to be kicking in... the senior surgeon says he sees improvement. I've been scared shitless that she might have picked up an infection like MRSA... some of these antibiotic-resistant strains are almost (or entirely) impossible to treat, and one such could have killed her.
So, the situation is serious, but not (now) grave, I think. Keeping fingers crossed that things progress well.
... and trying to keep my own fear from showing, when I'm with her. Feeling helpless and dependent sucks, especially when it's a life that's on the line. Far worse for her than for me, of course.
Yes, we're spoiled having access to such wonderful ingredients!
