Goodwin Medical Journal

I know, I know. I have been promising daily updates and have failed to deliver. It is not my fault however, Rick has been hogging the computer and it is really hard to blog from the phone. Ok, enough of that you say! What has been happening to that crazy Goodwin family down in Belize?

Have we talked about my leg yet? I don't think we have! I got bitten on the inside of my left calf muscle by what is known locally as a Doctor Fly. It is a little yellow bugger (haha) that is not uncommon in Central America, but really not that common here on Caye Caulker. When it bites it has a venom that normally makes a nice large welt and is very itchy and lasts three to four days. I say normally, because apparently I am painfully allergic to them. I didn't know what it was, it was just another bite among many (mosquitoes just love me too) and I ignored it for several days. I finally got to where I couldn't walk on it at all so I went to the local clinic. *Side note here about the clinic and health care in general in Belize: Healthcare in Belize is free. I can go to the doctor every day (and have pretty much since the stupid fly bit me) and it doesn't cost a thing. They even give you your medication for free. This applies to basic medical care and not specialists or special medication, but hey, it is great! Our clinic is staffed by two nurses and a doctor. They are great ladies, and I will miss our doctor when she goes back to Cuba next month.* Ok, so the bite on my leg. I had let the bite go too long and it had created a pretty bad sore, which got infected and abscessed. Wow, I think I spelled that right because auto correct didn't go nuts, yeah me! Doctor started me on antibiotics, which didn't do anything and I was pretty miserable. It had swollen so much that my entire lower leg was bruised. After a week of that, Doctor decided to cut into it. That was an experience I won't share, let's just say that it was painful and disgusting and leave it at that. It does feel better now, that was just over a week ago, but I still have a very large hole in my leg and my leg is still a little swollen. I may have to go over to Belize City and have a specialist look at it, and that won't be free or even cheap. Sigh. Stupid fly!

On to the kids!

Sierra is fine, great in fact. She has opened up so much since we have been here, I can't believe she is the same child. She smiles, she talks to people, she does her homework with out even being told to. That alone was worth the move! She is far and away more advanced than her classmates, and next year they will probably bump her up to Standard Six, which is the last grade she can attend before taking the entrance exam for high school. She could probably pass the high school entrance exam if she tried, but I don't want to push her too far socially. Being ten and starting high school is tough. Well, she will be eleven next school year, but still.

Trey is doing alright. He has come to terms with the food and water here for the most part. He is still a little junk food junkie and will find change on the ground, or earn a dollar here and there, and run straight to the store for any kind of junk he can afford. It is a great motivator to get him to help around the house though, Sierra paid him $1.25BZ last night to do all of her dishes and kitchen chores, and he jumped to it! LOL He has been getting some bullying at school for being white, but it is only one or two kids and he seems to be handling it well. He has made quite a network of friends, and on Saturdays will often disappear until dark. Health wise he is doing ok, Chandler got infantigo pretty bad, but Trey only has a little. His heat rashes are going away, and if he gets one he will jump in the shower with out being told to. He is happy here now I think.

Chandler, my poor little white-as-milk toast, red headed, blue eyed baby! He is having the toughest time. He got several bad sunburns when we first got here, despite sunscreen that was designed to protect space travelers to the sun. He got a bad sunburn on his face that blistered, and from those blisters got infantigo that we have been battling for weeks. If you are not familiar with infantigo, it is an infection of Strep and Staph that causes blisters and painful pimples that have to be squeezed to get the pus out. The blisters have not been painful to either Trey or Chandler, but they look ugly and burst, and then the open sores are tender. Trey only had one blister and two or three of the pimples, but poor little Chandler's face was covered with the blisters and he has had those ugly pimples all over. Doctor finally had to give him injections in his little behind of antibiotics, two days in a row, but he is clearing up and will be ready to go back to school on Monday.

Rick (ok, so TECHNICALLY he is not a kid, but...) had an allergic reaction to something. We don't know what, but have narrowed it down to the cheap laundry detergent I was using, or something on a soda bottle. He got a rash with little blisters around his mouth that were weeping, it spread across his lower face. At first he thought it was fever blisters, but it wasn't. He couldn't shave with that on his face, and trying to apply cream to the rash through his beard stubble was darn near impossible! I took him to see the Doctor (you begin to see why I love the clinic here) and she gave him some antibiotics, allergy pills, and told us to boil some guava leaves into a tea to treat the rash. Rick was quite skeptical of the guava tea, but oh my heavens, does that stuff work! We have a guava tree in front of our house as it turns out, and I got a big double handful of leaves and boiled them down. I strained the tea and soaked cotton balls in it, which I applied for ten minutes four times a day. That rash, which had irritated Rick for over a week, and which nothing else seemed to even touch, was gone in two days. Completely gone. If you need some guava leaves, just let me know, I'll send you some!

Oh my, this has turned into the medical channel! Sorry, it's just pretty much what has been consuming our lives the last few weeks. We have medications that are every six hours, we have medications that are every eight hours, we have medications that are every twelve hours... I think I am the only one who knows who is taking what and when! Oh, speaking of medical channel announcements, Bridget, my mother-in-law, has great news to report. I don't know how many of you know, but she was a bad diabetic. Her A1C's were through the roof back in the states, and her blood pressure had been climbing. We spent about $280 a month on her pills up there, and that was with some discounts we got through the pharmacy and the manufacturers. Guess what? She had a small bout of stomach flu, so we took her to (my favorite place) see Doctor. She had been sick and hadn't taken ANY of that damned medicine for her diabetes. Rick told the nurse she was diabetic and when they checked her blood sugar, it was 126!!! It had gotten into the 300's back home, even with all of that medication. Her blood pressure was perfect. She has lost some weight, and since she has to walk anywhere she wants to go, she is getting exercise. So she is getting down toward a healthier weight, has stopped taking all of those medications, her blood sugar and blood pressure are fantastic, and she is getting (unwanted) exercise. I know SHE doesn't appreciate it much, but I am so happy for her. I really felt like we were just watching her die back in Georgia. I hope to get her healthy enough that SHE has to take care of ME when I get old! She is just ornery enough to outlive us all, and seeing the medical road she is now on, she just might!

Ok, so that is the good, the bad and the ugly on the medical front in Belize right now. I have had so many things that I have wanted to share with you that my mind runneth over, and I will be posting furiously over the next few days. Hold on to your hats folks! Since I have been down with a bum leg and can't really go anywhere (except to see Doctor!) Rick has been bored and hogging the computer. I think I finally fussed at him enough that he will let me use it now.

I have to go wake Sierra up now and get her ready for school, she is the only one not contagious with the infantigo, so she is the only one I have to drag out of the bed this morning. See you soon!