health & care

I have been here in India for one month.  There have been many highs during this time coupled with a few lows as well.  My health was impeccable for the first three weeks and then I fell very ill.  I woke up one sunny Friday with a high fever that kept me bedridden for nearly 48 hours.  I cannot remember a time where I had been so sick that I could not even read or watch Netflix but that is just how sick I was.  A few days after my fever broke my leg muscles were so cramped that I could barely walk, a rare and very uncomfortable secondary symptom of a high fever.  The real kicker came when I woke up and discovered that my hands and arms were covered in a red rash that left my hands and feet with a strange tingling sensation.  At that point, I was told that I needed to go to the hospital to ensure that it was nothing serious.  This was both overwhelming and reassuring.  I knew that I would get the care I need but the thought that it might be something serious did bring me to tears. 

I was lucky enough to be accompanied to the hospital by the school nurse, who happens to know not only everyone working at the hospital but everyone in the nearby town.  Although I had little clue as to what was happening around me due to the language barrier, I could make out a few scary phrases. 

  "Malaria?"  "Dengue?"  "Measles?" 

Despite these words being very scary, I was treated with care and kindness the entire time.  From the nurse who took my blood pressure to the doctor who asked me at least a dozen times whether or not I felt feverish in that exact moment to the cashier who attempted to reconcile a name like "Gabrielle Mahesh."  After many tests and waiting around, the diagnosis came back as a viral fever due to weather change from the Monsoon season.  This was a new one for me but I trusted the doctors and the nurse and went on my merry way.  Flash forward another week and I get hit hard with another high fever.  Back to the hospital, we went.  Despite being ill and in pain, I couldn't help but to look out the window and take in the sights to be seen driving through rural India.  Upon arriving at the hospital my blood was taken yet again to ensure that my platelet count had not dropped, thankfully it had gone up since my last visit four days prior.  I was officially Dengue free!  I did, however, have a stomach infection that left my laying in an ER bed for hours waiting for fluid to be pumped back into my system.  After surviving on plain rice with salt and chapati for four days I am finally feeling back to myself.  I will be happy to never take a trip to the "super specialty hospital" again, but if it happens it happens.  

These health issues have kept me in my room alone and out of the classroom for at least a week, leaving me with a feeling of isolation and self-pity.  Luckily these feelings have subsided as this morning I was able to go on a nature walk with the fourth graders, all of whom greeted me with excitement and wanted to fill me in on the material they covered while I was bedridden.  I promised a test on Monday!  We played at the duck pond and said thank you for the eggs they give us for breakfast every morning.  Then we made our way to the basketball court where we found the second graders playing "What Is the Time Mr. Wolf" and having a blast.  All of a sudden I heard "Miss, Miss, Miss, look at the butterfly" and a child grabbed my hand to pull me over and look at a beautiful butterfly in a nearby tree.  We were all mesmerized by the butterfly's wings fluttering in the breeze.  I can't think of a time that I actually stopped and looked at a butterfly.  I feel deep gratitude for this experience and I hope to carry this practice with me going forward.  Later this morning I was walking back to my room and I heard the infamous "Baby Shark" coming from the PreK classroom which made me smile and reminded me that being here is such a gift and there is no reason to circle the drain of negative thoughts, even when things don't go my way.  

fruit stand in a nearby town 

village walkways