The Gift That Keeps On Giving

The bites began the day after I returned from Tegus last Thursday from Mid-Term Meds.  The little critters like to eat at night.  Halfway through a PCVs term of service we are required to see the PCMO (Peace Corps Medical Officer) for a medical evaluation.  We submit stool samples, they draw blood, we have a dental exam and eye exam and the docs address any questions we have with a brief physical exam.  Ironically, the critters weren’t even considered.  They must have climbed aboard my body from the filthy seat I occupied on the bus, either to there, or back home.  Sunday night the bites were so bad I couldn’t sleep, yet I could not see anything on my body; just the felt bite and intense itching afterward.  But Sunday night, I couldn’t sleep after all, I captured two of the tiny little buggers between my fingertips and squashed them onto a piece of paper.  As big as a period and tan colored.  The doc in La Paz didn’t know what they were, but prescribed meds.  The dermatologist I consulted in Comayagua two days later diagnosed Scabiasis y Pediculiasis and showed me blown-up pictures of numerous of the vile creatures, all related.  There, I said, recognizing my tormentors from the many photogenic beasties and the welts they raised as they fed on my carcass.  I will be medicating myself as I vacation to the Copan Ruinas, Guatemala, Cancun and Merida, capital of the Yucatan in Mexico where I will meet up with my daughter Andrea and her family.  The photos above show the purified water project complete and the final touching up of the operational system.  I return to La Paz July 3rd.  Life is good, bugs or no bugs.

This entry was posted on 10. June 2010 at 20:47 and is filed under Everyday. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.