Protozoa: The Most Dangerous Part of South America

I owe you all an update! Great news: I'm doing way way way way better and feel like a human again! I am out of the hospital, with the exception of a gazillion doctors appointments which my parents have had to also suffer through with me. My team of doctors have been AWESOME - especially the ones who decided it was safe to eat after 5 days of not being allowed to. You all know me and my love of food - yes, it was downright miserable. I was having dreams about hummus for goodness sake. I'm a little sick of getting stabbed with needles for blood work and IVs, but hopefully that will be over soon...I look like a heroin addict...

So you all are wondering - what happened?! Well, good question. There is still no diagnosis, but lots of good possibilities and theories. You can play this game too! Here's the riddle: It starts out with a sudden onset of high fever, headache, body aches, severe fatigue, fainting, and rigors. It progresses to joint pain, another high fever, body aches, renal issues, and a super inflamed liver. It progresses further to an even sicker liver, fluid in the abdomen and lungs, troubled and painful breathing, and an inflamed gallbladder that wants to rupture. Obviously, this is accompanied by terrible abdominal pain. CAT scans, ultra sounds, X rays, and blood tests confirm the above symptoms. 5 different kinds of antibiotics are administered over the week in the ER, and tests for viral hepatitis (A, B, and C), mono, CMV, dengue, salmonella, and malaria are all negative. There are no symptoms of skin rashes, vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, or decreased sexiness of the patient ;) . The patient was exposed to 'contaminated' water while canyoning, rafting, surfing, bathing in the Amazon, and brushing their teeth with the tap water. The patient also was in the jungle 3 weeks prior, the rainforest 3 days prior, and sustained dozens upon dozens of mosquito bites. The patient's only medication is a weekly dose of the anti-malarial medication, Mefloquine. *** Jeopardy Thinking Music***

The going theory is Leptospirosis - I'll let you do your own research about it. What I will tell you is that Leptospirosis has been known to cause Acute Acalculous Cholecystitis. Translation: exactly what happened to my gallbladder. That was the light bulb moment for my infectious disease doctor! Leptospirosis also can cause bradycardia, which would explain my resting heart rate of 28 that I presented with in the ER when I arrived in the States. The crazy bombardment with antibiotics kicked the bacterial infection, and my body/organs have been making a slow yet steady recovery. My gallbladder was rather insulted in this whole ordeal, so the question remains whether I need to still get it surgically removed or if it is able heal on its own. Now I don't know about you, but I'm a huge fan of keeping all of my organs. It's not like I need my gallbladder...especially with a vegetarian diet...so it has plenty of time to sit back, relax, and heal itself.

DUN DUN DUN Today was gallbladder investigation day! Today I had something called a HIDA scan to see how well/if my gallbladder was working. They injected a radioactive tracer into my IV and imaged it's progress through my body with a nuclear scanner. The tracer was successfully filtered through my liver and into my gallbladder (as indicated by the glowing orbs in the shape of the respective organs on the computer screen). Sweet! This means by gallbladder wasn't obstructed and was back to being BFFs with my liver. The second part of the procedure involved injecting a chemical that caused my gallbladder to squeeze in the same way it would as if I ate a greasy meal. OW OW OW OW that didn't feel too good. But my gallbladder is recovering from a pretty rough week, so I guess that was expected. It didn't empty completely and the pain was worrisome, BUT it worked kinda sorta which means it's healing and I probably don't need surgery! At least not immediate surgery. Happy dance!

There are still so many unknowns, but this is the update that I can confidently give you. I feel way better than where I was a week ago and have been taking it super easy. I will let you know when I know if there will be a surgery, what the results of the ELIZA testing for leptospirosis are, and most importantly, what my next steps are. I may have instilled a little bit of urgency and anti-surgery thoughts into my doctors because I want to return to South America to finish my trip ASAP. Google a picture of Salar de Uyuni in Boliva and you'll understand why I'm putting up such a fight! Seriously though, I promise you that I won't return until I'm in great health and at a low enough risk for complications from this crazy ordeal. That is my top priority.

 I cannot even begin to express how thankful I am for the many beautiful, caring, and generous people I have in my life. From the moment I got sick, I had friends and family sending their good vibes from around the world. So humbling, wow. You guys kept my spirits high as I trucked through some pretty miserable and sometimes super scary times. When my condition got life-threatening, so many people bent over backwards for me to make sure I was getting the medical care I needed and that I got home safely. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Especially to Stephanie and her host mom who took amazing care of me on the Ecuador end. To Dr. Jaime Eisen for translating between my Ecuadorian doctors and US doctors and keeping up to date on my condition. To my mother for making sure I got home safely and rounding up the best doctors and specialists in all of Cleveland to work on my case (That woman can jump through some hoops!). To my dad for helping me with all the logistics of my flights home (which changed quite a few times) and dealing with my traveler's insurance. To Norma for taking care of my brother at the craziest hours so my parents could be with me in the ER. To so many of my friends who checked in on me every day to lift my spirits and kept me company as I braved the boredom of ERs. You guys are all remarkable!

GO TEAM!