5-11
Took the 15 hour night bus to Buenos Aires. Had to say a very sad goodbye to Andrea. It was a bit like leaving home
5-12
Arrived into Buenos Aires early and took the Subte (subway) and found my hostel. It's a cool place with lots of activities, especially party activities, arranged.
I have been having symptoms the last 2ish months quite similar to the ones I had this summer with giardia. So I figure I may have it. Taking a round of metronizodole (flagelle) didn't do the trick, so I figured I needed to get tested just to make sure and see if I can get some stronger stuff. I figured BA would be the perfect place bc I am not a huge city fan and there wasn't much I really wanted to do here, plus being a city it should have some good medical service.
I headed off to Hospital Aleman, the German hospital, which my hostel suggested.. As it was a saturday, the hospital was closed (except for the ER), but I was able to talk with a lab guy who gave me a sample jar. I was all ready to go give my sample and be done with it, when I read the instructions (in spanish) and learned that I needed to take 6 stool samples for 6 days!! This was incredible to me. At the Longmont Clinic, it was a simple one stool sample test that just took a few days after the one stool sample. I figured that must be another test and another hospital would do it.
So I hopped on the subway and went to Hospital Britanico. They were also closed except for the ER, but I was able to speak with a doctor briefly. She also mentioned it was going to be a 6 day test.
So I hopped on the subway to try one more, Hospital Italiano. They of course were closed and weren't of much help, other than to tell me to come back on monday.
My lack medical spanish may have something to do with it, but it just may be they don't have the antigen test that we have back in America. After googling giardia diagnosis, I saw that there is the original test of just looking for the parasite in which having multiple stool samples is the best and then there is the newer, more accurate, and quicker antigen test. Dang! I wish there was a Hospital Americano here or a Hospital Longmonto.
Right now, I have to admit I am feeling quite frustrated. There are people that I want to get back home for and a job I need to get back for, but a lot in South America I want to see. The idea of sitting around in Buenos Aires, a big fat city, for potentially 10 days or more really frustrates me, espcially considering the diagnostic test is not 100% accurate and finding good drugs after a positive test could prove difficult. What if I wait 10 days and get a negative result (which could easily be a false negative), then what...and did I waste 10 days?
It's crazy bc even though this part of south America is supposed to be "cleaner" as far as sicknesses go, I have already had this issue and bed bugs in just 2 months. In the whole year of S. America I just had dengue (plus the rat bite), and in 8 months of Asia and the Indian subcontinent I had giardia, some bacterial stomach infection in Nepal, and then some sort of neurological thing where I had to get a CAT scan, but it turned out to not be anything and went away.
I didn't feel like going out for any parties or anything tonight, so instead I watched the nuggets lose to the lakers (in spanish) at the hostel. The best part of that game was seeing charles barkley and shaquille o'neal dubbed in spanish.
Took the 15 hour night bus to Buenos Aires. Had to say a very sad goodbye to Andrea. It was a bit like leaving home
5-12
Arrived into Buenos Aires early and took the Subte (subway) and found my hostel. It's a cool place with lots of activities, especially party activities, arranged.
I have been having symptoms the last 2ish months quite similar to the ones I had this summer with giardia. So I figure I may have it. Taking a round of metronizodole (flagelle) didn't do the trick, so I figured I needed to get tested just to make sure and see if I can get some stronger stuff. I figured BA would be the perfect place bc I am not a huge city fan and there wasn't much I really wanted to do here, plus being a city it should have some good medical service.
I headed off to Hospital Aleman, the German hospital, which my hostel suggested.. As it was a saturday, the hospital was closed (except for the ER), but I was able to talk with a lab guy who gave me a sample jar. I was all ready to go give my sample and be done with it, when I read the instructions (in spanish) and learned that I needed to take 6 stool samples for 6 days!! This was incredible to me. At the Longmont Clinic, it was a simple one stool sample test that just took a few days after the one stool sample. I figured that must be another test and another hospital would do it.
So I hopped on the subway and went to Hospital Britanico. They were also closed except for the ER, but I was able to speak with a doctor briefly. She also mentioned it was going to be a 6 day test.
So I hopped on the subway to try one more, Hospital Italiano. They of course were closed and weren't of much help, other than to tell me to come back on monday.
My lack medical spanish may have something to do with it, but it just may be they don't have the antigen test that we have back in America. After googling giardia diagnosis, I saw that there is the original test of just looking for the parasite in which having multiple stool samples is the best and then there is the newer, more accurate, and quicker antigen test. Dang! I wish there was a Hospital Americano here or a Hospital Longmonto.
Right now, I have to admit I am feeling quite frustrated. There are people that I want to get back home for and a job I need to get back for, but a lot in South America I want to see. The idea of sitting around in Buenos Aires, a big fat city, for potentially 10 days or more really frustrates me, espcially considering the diagnostic test is not 100% accurate and finding good drugs after a positive test could prove difficult. What if I wait 10 days and get a negative result (which could easily be a false negative), then what...and did I waste 10 days?
It's crazy bc even though this part of south America is supposed to be "cleaner" as far as sicknesses go, I have already had this issue and bed bugs in just 2 months. In the whole year of S. America I just had dengue (plus the rat bite), and in 8 months of Asia and the Indian subcontinent I had giardia, some bacterial stomach infection in Nepal, and then some sort of neurological thing where I had to get a CAT scan, but it turned out to not be anything and went away.
I didn't feel like going out for any parties or anything tonight, so instead I watched the nuggets lose to the lakers (in spanish) at the hostel. The best part of that game was seeing charles barkley and shaquille o'neal dubbed in spanish.
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