Brazilian Death Flu

Chris has spent approx. half of this trip in the clutches of some sort of illness. He had a high fever for a day and a half, and was pretty out of it, and today he's better but still weak with a bunch of snot stuck in his nose and chest. In a brighter note, he has gotten to test several new (to us) over the counter drugs that seem to be helping him. My new favorite is Targifor C which is like a super shot of Airborne. It is a tablet that you drop into water and it gives you vitamin C and some enzymes that are supposed to boost your metabolism and immune system. Who knows if it really works but it makes me feel like I'm at least doing something.

In my random health news I had to get about seven stitches removed from my back today. A friend of a friend was a medical doctor for several years and is now a teacher at a high school in Sao Paolo. He offered to get them out this morning but didn't cut the knot correctly and tried to pull a knot up under my skin and it got stuck. Afraid of doing more damage, he backed out, and Mara and Rodrigo took me to the pharmacist down the street. There, they called a nurse that does in home visits. Twenty minutes later he was at their apartment. Mara and Rodrigo translated and everyone kind of gathered around and poked and disinfected and discussed. It's weird when you're the one being talked about but you have no idea what anyone is saying. So I laid there and he said I could do whatever I wanted except cry, because that would make it hurt. I guess I got a funny nurse. But he quickly took it out with little to no pain and said there was no damage with the knot getting stuck in my skin. He cleaned everything up and I have to keep a bandaid on it for the next day. So no drama and mom (if you're reading this) everything is OK and I'm fine! The visit cost 15 reais (about $9) which was way less than my former $17 copay with Kaiser in Honolulu and way better because he came to the house.

I took a long walk on the beach today and Chris slept. He's starting to perk up and I won't have to leave him behind and pick up a newer, younger, and faster model which is nice. :-)