Thursday, April 19, 2018

Medical Issues

Ferro-cement frame ready for cement


Overall, I’ve been fortunate to enjoy good health during my Peace Corps services. I had a nasty case of Inka Revenge when I first got to Peru and a 4x by-pass surgery between my 2nd and 3rd services. But other than that, no medical issue of note. Until now.
The last six weeks have been a cavalcade of medical problems. It started when a young lad passed me on his bicycle in Changuinola. There was a stick of some sort strapped to the bike which clipped my hand and damaged a tendon in my thumb. I wound up getting a wrist brace and taking anti-inflammatory drugs. Then, a routine filling replacement turned into a painful and swollen infection, 8 days of face pain, culminating in extraction and replacement. 
My special passengers - tapeworms

The 10 day course of anti-biotics may have caused the trifecta to manifest – tapeworms. So now I am on parasite medication for a few more days. All the trauma and medications have left me weak and woozy. Add to that the numbing effect of 3 trips to Panama City (12 hour bus ride each way). I’ll be glad when it’s all over.

The village kids always cheer me up

Despite the medical problems, I have gotten out to the villages for inspections and planning sessions. Both communities have done a superb job of going on without me. We also managed to demonstrate ferro-cement technology by building tank and spring box covers in both villages. I like this technology as it uses far less materials and is easier to build than concrete block or cast concrete tops. The tops are also easier to move. A video of the process can be seen at :    Click here to see video