Don't get food poisoning in a 3rd world country.

[April20]

DH and I ate at a luncheon yesterday. I know for a fact that the food was handled safely, but he got a piece of something bad. We're not sure what as no one else has turned up sick. Within two hours of eating he was violently ill and an hour after that he started throwing up blood. We headed to the hospital. It had rained here so the roads flooded ad it took two hours (normally 20 mins). The hospital got him fluids and what he needed and kept him overnight. He's fine now but that hospital was scary! By scary I mean not really clean. We're back to where we're living now but it makes us appreciate clean facilities even more.

And by the way, we had to pre-pay for all his meds and care first! Not nearly expensive as in the US at least.

I'm attaching a pic of the flooded roads. Mind you, it does this every time it rains in the mountains.

 

[perry]

But food poisoning if other countries is so common - and part of travel. You are really missing out of amazing experiences. Montezuma's revenge for anyone going south. It is a poor trade to stay home and not getting minor bouts of food poisoning and miss out of for all the places I have seen and people I have met in other countries.

Life is an adventure if you are willing to live it!

Perry

 

[April20]

We're living and volunteering here for a year. It's not that we're not adventurous, but if we're going to be useful while we are here, we can't be violently ill.

 

[perry]

We're living and volunteering here for a year. It's not that we're not adventurous, but if we're going to be useful while we are here, we can't be violently ill.

The overall vast majority of food poisoning clears itself in a a day or two (sometimes a few more) as long as you stay hydrated you are OK. I even get it here in the US a couple times a year (so do most people).

Of course, there are certain parts of the world with specific waterborn illnesses that can be much worse - but that is not ordinary food poisoning (and I would be extremely cautious if I ever had to travel to one of those locations).

Have a great trip,

Perry

 

[missy]

We're living and volunteering here for a year. It's not that we're not adventurous, but if we're going to be useful while we are here, we can't be violently ill.

Oh April, how awful for your poor dh! I had food poisoning once and it was the worst experience of my life (so far and I hope forever). I remember it took many days to get back to normal as I was wracked with body pain for quite a time after from all the vomiting. I hope he starts feeling back to normal very soon and (((hugs))) to you both!

I want to add that I am very impressed that you are living and volunteering for a whole year there.
If you are willing I would love to hear where you are and what you are doing but I totally understand if you don't care to share the details.

 

[April20]

We're in Haiti. We've been here for five months and expect to be here until June of next year, give or take. It's not always easy here for sure, but worth it all at the end of the day. We see things that absolutely amaze us on a regular basis.

We've had intestinal issues off and on since we've been here. Me more than him. We live in a secure facility with clean water, food, etc, but some things, like lettuce, still get me from time to time since bacteria grows inside the leaf and you can't wash it off. I wasn't actually concerned when he got sick yesterday until he started vomiting blood. I've never, ever seen him this sick. He started shaking and seemed to be going into shock. The good news is he was better within 12 hours- partly due to anti-nausea drugs and partly due to there simply being nothing left in his system!

It only took us an hour or so to get home today and I saw three baby goats and a puppy! I wasn't fast enough with the camera though. Next time! I generally only take picture when I'm in a car as its a little too much of a risk to have visible electronics on the streets.

 

[iLander]

Holy moly! How awful!

Poor your DH!

This is why I don't go anywhere that doesn't have a mini bar in every hotel room.

 

[April20]

Holy moly! How awful!

Poor your DH!

This is why I don't go anywhere that doesn't have a mini bar in every hotel room.

My saving grace is that booze is slightly cheaper here than in the states! Come the weekend and it's cocktail time!

 

[AprilBaby]

I was kinda guessing that was Haiti. Went there on a dental mission in 2002, Duchity, up the mountain from Jeramie. Bless you for working there. Scariest thing I ever did in my life!

 

[justginger]

Uhh...food poisoning in third world countries is most certainly not "part of the adventure." Never, ever, ever. The sort of resistant bugs you can find all over the world (due to poor antibiotic regimens and access), especially in the flood waters of Haiti (thanks, UN: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-24457195) are far more dangerous than your local E.coli in the potato salad.

I am so glad your husband improved quickly. I guess on the bright side of things -- you'll return with one seriously amped up immune system!

 

[yennyfire]

How scary! I'm so glad that he's better now and hope that's your last bout of food poisoning during your stay! Would love to hear more about what you're doing in Haiti!

 

[SB621]

I understand your pain. I got very sick in Egypt once with food poisoning. Ugh your poor husband. Dust that he has a healthy and quick recovery!

 

[Stephny691]

Yeah, I don't count food poisoning as 'part of the adventure'

I can't believe you're both volunteering for a year, that's incredible, glad your husband is better though; I can't imagine how scary it must have been.
*hugs*

 

[Trekkie]

Oh your poor DH! I hope he feels better soon!

Out of curiosity, what were your impressions of South Africa? Did you find the food and water safe?

 

[junebug17]

Oh how awful!!! Your poor dh, it must have been just terrible for him, and for you too! Glad to hear he's doing ok now. Yeah, getting horribly ill isn't really my idea of adventure!

 

[April20]

Oh your poor DH! I hope he feels better soon!

Out of curiosity, what were your impressions of South Africa? Did you find the food and water safe?

I found SA to be a pretty "westernized" environment. We loved it there and we had no issues at all food & beverage wise. We ate everything and drank water everywhere and never worried about it. Now granted, we were in Krugersdorp most of the time but we did venture out to some far flung places. I would eat in somewhat dodgy places in SA and not worry about it (as I've done in many other countries) but I will not do that in Haiti. No way!

 

[April20]

He is feeling much better today. Still not 100%, but much better. He asked me for a beer, if that tells you anything.

He's going back to work tomorrow, but no outdoor work. It's just too hot until he's fully recovered. He's working on various electrical projects for the main campus of our organization. Some of it is upgrading what's here and some of the work is repairing lingering damage from the earthquake! Sometimes it's hard to tell what is unprepared earthquake damage that is still here and what's just "normal". Sadly enough, most of it is "normal" stuff. When a building looks like its top floors are melting into the bottom floors, that's earthquake damage. I have some pics i can post and I will try to get some pictures of the area where we are if the streets are empty next time I'm out on foot. I don't take pictures outside of a vehicle unless its really deserted at the moment. It's too dangerous to show electronics.

 

[April20]

Not sure which order these will show up in but here are pics of a Tap Tap (taxi bus), some of the mountains with shanties (looks sort of like rock) up the sides, a view from a hill top looking down and then a picture of the river bed behind us. It was mostly dry when I took the pic but rains have risen the level considerably since then.

ETA: shoot. They posted sideways from my phone. Sorry!

 

[April20]

I found one pic I have of one of the nearby streets. During rainy season the roads are like this a lot. Unfortunately, the trash is year round. I've never seen more litter than I've seen here.

 

[AGBF]

But food poisoning if other countries is so common - and part of travel.

This was the first thing I thought, too. I understand that you want to be useful, and I hope that you adjust to conditions in Haiti sufficiently so that you are not sick all the time, but travelling to countries with different hygiene than that from which we are used to often makes us ill. I was once violently ill in Israel, and it was not from the hygiene, I think it may have been from recycled airplane air. I was glad that hospitals were superb. I was also very, very sick on two trips to Colombia despite great attention to hygiene and boiling everything! I didn't get sick in Mexico, though! Nor was I ever sick in Europe. My worst case was after returning from Puerto Rico. My husband and I both had it. We felt as if we would die!

AGBF

 

[April20]

Yes, we know its common. But we don't eat outside of the facility where we are living where the water is UV'd and the food is safely handled. That's why this surprised us. If we had eaten from someplace unfamiliar to us, this would not have been a shock. Plus 100 people ate the exact same things and only DH was sick. It was probably one bad piece of seafood but we will never k is for sure.

 

[yennyfire]

Thanks for posting photos!! It's neat to get a glimpse of life in another country (one that I likely won't go to for another 15 years (when both kids are off to college, if ever....)

 

[pregcurious]

You hit upon something very important...food poisoning from raw vegetables or fruit. I knew someone who was immune suppressed due to drugs used for organ transplant, and it was recommended that he cook _everything_. For veggies they could be simply stir fried. For other things, they could be microwaved just a bit to kill things.