Apr-15 Sick Bay

Well, my intestines didn´t improve as I had hoped.  I spent another virtually sleepless night tossing and turning with stomach cramps and ultimately decided that my health was worth more than the $90 dollars I spent to go climb Huayna Potosi.  Furthermore, nothing feels better at altitude.  Normally, I push through pain and would climb anyway, but some of my symptoms were a little concerning.

I dragged myself out of bed to go tell the tour company that I was going to have to cancel; only the driver was there, so I left word with him.  On my way back to the hostal, I stopped in a pharmacy to purchase antibiotics.  I had read the CDC website to find out which antibiotic would be most effective.  Dumb luck, the nice man behind the counter at the pharmacy was a doctor.  I was able to describe all of my symtpoms in Spanish and he patiently explained what I needed to take, how often, and why.  He also gave me food recommendations.  The Pharmacies here in Bolivia are so much easier to deal with than in the states.  The doctor gave me a 7-day course of amoxicillin, generic prilosec to help coat my stomach before taking the anti'biotics, bioflora to put the good bacteria back in, and an anti-spasmodic to deal with the cramping as necessary.  He was so nice.  He poured me a cup of water so that I could take my pills right away.

I spent most of the day in bed sleeping.  It´s not the end of the world- I have my own bathroom, a comfy bed, wifi and cable tv, though admittedly, I could do without the noise from the construction on the street below.  I am also in a city where there are at least some resources at my disposal.

Aly, the owner of Travel Tracks, sent me a nice e-mail asking how I was feeling and whether I wanted to reschedule my climbing trip for Sunday at no cost.  I just visited with her and I will let her know how I am feeling tomorrow.

On my way back, I stopped in the pharmacy again to pick up the remainder of the bioflora.  The doctor said I looked a lot better and should feel improvement by tomorrow.  There was a nice gentleman there named Charlie, a friend of the doctor, who owns a Thai restaurant.  Charlie seemed to have a lot of experience with this and offered to cook me a special dinner for my ailment.  He also offered to pick up some special (de-worming) herbs for tea at the witch´s  market.  I gratefully accepted both.  He also told me that I should drink a rehydrating soluton instead of gatorade because the sugar feeds the worms.

I am now going to rest for a few hours before going to Charlie´s restaurant. 

Worms are one of those nasty realities of traveling in the tropics, subtropics, and less developed regions where the sanitation is questionable.  I expect that I will be at least somewhat improved by tomorrow.