Sick in the Jungle

When you get sick in the jungle it is really…interesting. There are several things you know to look for and several things you know how to treat and when you do those things and it doesn't work you have to get some outside help. Your goal is to get outside help via email or the short wave radio. What you don't want is to have to leave the tribe to get outside help.

Yesterday, I wanted to talk to the doctor over the radio because our email was not working very well. However, the doctor's radio was broken, so I tried to call him on our satellite phone. The satellite phone wouldn't connect. Very frustrating. Email finally worked, and the doctor asked us some questions and suggested a few things, but nothing seemed to really point to a clear diagnosis, so after much frustration I decided that we should just go ahead and plan to fly out of the tribe for John Michael to see the doctor since email wasn't really helping either of us out.

So, my husband is not and was not ever dying. I wrote a few people just to tell them that John Michael was sick, and I have given all the medicine I know to give because I am not a doctor. I asked for prayer because I didn't want to spend the money and do the work it would take to leave the village. I meant we were out of options ***IN THE TRIBE*** not out of options for John Michael's life. And because it is hard to communicate clearly over email (see the paragraph above) it got really blown out of proportion and somehow people thought my husband was dying.

He was never close to dying. Ok, maybe once after the third night of him being up all night with fevers, moaning and groaning and waking me up to tell him how bad he felt, he came close to dying…if you know what I'm saying. Wives, if you've ever treated the "man flu" then you know what I'm saying…

Anyway, he's fine. We think he has something called Dengue Fever which is not fatal, but will have him feeling like he has the flu for a few weeks.

We're still going to leave the tribe tomorrow (we were supposed to leave today, but there were issues with the plane) because I packed up this whole house, and gave all my good food away- my white potatoes, my passionfruit- it's all in a Hewa person's belly now, so we're headed out.

I promise as soon as we get out to internet land tomorrow I will post a picture of my very much alive husband!