Over the past three days, nearly every member of the commune has come down with this nasty intestinal virus. While my intestine was not the biggest part of my illness, I was hit with the worst migraine that I have ever had and felt like I had been hit by a bus, followed by another bus.
All of this sickness got me thinking about how a family member of the commune has repeatedly joked with me about getting dysentery when I go overseas.
dys-en-ter-y:(noun) Pathology. an infectious disease marked by inflammation and ulceration of the lower part of the bowels, with diarrhea that becomes mucous and hemorrhagic. |
Yeah, there was some dysentery in the commune this weekend… fortunately, not by me.
With this, I started digging around to see what other illnesses I should worry about in my travels:
ma-lar-i-a: (noun) Pathology. any of a group of diseases, usually intermittent or remittent, characterized by attacks of chills, fever, and sweating: formerly supposed to be due to swamp exhalations but now known to be caused by a parasitic protozoan, which is transferred to the human bloodstream by a mosquito of the genus Anopheles and which occupies and destroys red blood cells.
chol-er-a: (noun) Pathology. an acute, infectious disease, endemic in India and China and occasionally epidemic elsewhere, characterized by profuse diarrhea, vomiting, cramps, etc.
yellow fever: (noun) an acute, often fatal, infectious febrile disease of warm climates, caused by an RNA virus transmitted by a mosquito, esp. Aedes aegypti, and characterized by liver damage and jaundice.
| meningococcal meningitis: (noun) a life-threatening infection of the fluid and tissues surrounding the brain, caused by a bacterium known as Neisseria meningitides. The infection is spread person-to-person by exposure to secretions from the nose or throat. |
This is all kind of scary, as I think that I fear illness, so far from home, more than anything else. I know that I will be surrounded by a support system. I know that healthcare will be available. I am not worried about this. I’m not the best sick person. I’m a big baby when I’m sick. I call mom. I depend on others to help take care of me. Just one more thing to deal with.
