Adventures continue in our family’s health department. Last week, we rented a car and spent a wonderful day visiting Conchal beach, famous for its pink crushed shells and vendors selling pineapples filled with pina Coladas, and Tamarindo, a lovely and upscale surf village. On day two, we made a quick stop at a coffee farm on route to an eco-park. Sophia began to complain of a stomachache. I was holding her while waiting for an iced coffee when a terrible noise rumbled up her little body, her mask ballooned, and she spewed her entire breakfast down the both of us and into our sandals. The lovely, grandmotherly hostess making our drinks casually glanced over her shoulder, saw the massive puddle on her clean floor and our distress, shrugged, and continued making coffee.
Things quickly escalated. Her fever started to rise. Sev complained of a sore throat. Sophia became listless. We canceled our plans and headed home, stopping at a Farmacia on the way for supplies. Over the next couple of hours, red spots that looked like bug bites appeared all over Sophia. Sev got a temperature. Both girls were miserable. We applied cool washcloths and baby Tylenol.
I took pictures of Sophia’s spots to the Farmacia by our house (where everyone goes first for bites), and they confirmed they were sand fleas, also called noseeums, and we should use calamine and Benedryl, and everything would be fine. We did. Her fever went down, but by the following day, Sev’s had not. We went to our trusty medical clinic, where the doctor confirmed she had a virus but couldn’t find a thermometer to take her temperature. He said we needed Covid tests. Trying not to panic, we did and went home to continue the cool cloths, Tylenol and to discuss quarantine options.
The tests came back negative, praise be, and Sev felt better, so we figured it was all just a little cold. Sophia’s spots continued to spread, but she was in good spirits. We avoided the beach and continued the calamine. On day two, when she began to scratch so bad she couldn’t sleep at night, we took her to a different Farmacia to get a second opinion. They said they were not sand flea bites, gave me a phone number, and said to call the doctor immediately. The doctor and nurse were at our house in two hours. Two hours for a house call!
He confirmed they were not bug bites, well, not the little ones. She must have been bit by a mosquito carrying a virus. In a mix of English and Spanish, he threw out the words Sika and Dengue, and Tim and I began to panic again. He examined both girls. It turns out it was a one-two punch of virus and bacterial infection from Sophia scratching the bites then other parts of her body. Sev had gotten it too. We were prescribed antibiotics, antihistamines, two kinds of topical cream, and as much naked ocean time as the girls could get. Unfortunately, the doctor said we had unwittingly slowed down the healing process by avoiding the ocean.
We have tried about every bug/mosquito repellent they sell here by now. All except the Off Deep Woods are deet free and work basically the same. You have to reapply about every two hours and if you miss a scrap of skin the discerning local biters will find it. We use Off only when going into the jungle as the threat of Zika, Dengue, and whatever else seem much more imminent than possible seizures and neuron disruptment.
The girls feel much better now, sleeping through the night (kinda), and back to their usual high-energy selves. The doctor has checked in every day by text and we have only good news to report. Lesson learned? I’m not quite sure. We did what we were told to do, trust the pharmacist and only go to the clinic for breaks, stitches, covid tests, etc.… but that didn’t turn out so well. I guess trust your gut and keep asking if things don’t feel right? I don’t know. I’m fried on sleepless nights, adrenaline, and intrusive thoughts featuring all the what-ifs.
Time for a grilled pineapple mojito. Or three.
Sunshine Dunning 