Time to Get Ill

I asked my dad last week if I could still get sick in India since I hadn't yet and thought I was "out of the woods;" he laughed and said you can get sick at any time in India. To prove his point, I got sick on Tuesday, only my 5th day here. It started with some "stomach issues" (I keep my blog edited) in the morning and then by mid-day, nausea, fever and slightly chilled (though I couldn't tell if that was the airconditioning in the office, which is drastically different in every room just like in the Chicago office!) I took some advil and pepto and felt better, better enough to have pizza hut for "lunch" at 6pm. But by 7pm it had all come back, much worse, and I was in no condition to review work. Feeling weak and frustrated, I left the office around 7:30 and went home. I tried multiple times to call the travel clinic back home who did not understand that I just needed to talk to a doctor or nurse for 5 minutes to know if I should start my cipro antibiotic. I went to sleep that night in long pants, sweatshirt, two blankets and no A/C on in my room - that tells you how bad my chills were by then.

Wednesday I woke up at 11 and felt no better. I decided to take the Cipro and skip work and went back to sleep until about 4 (please keep in mind I was sick and not just being a lazy slob who sleeps all day). Upon waking up my fever had subsided, thank goodness, and I was feeling a bit better. I called the travel clinic about 8 more times and finally after becoming hysterical on the phone they let me talk to the nurse. I found it very difficult to gauge if I needed to go to the doctor or not, or if I could just take the antibiotic, and I just really needed a bit of advice. After talking with her, I decided to see how I felt after the second dose of Cipro and if I wasn't feeling totally better, see the doctor.

So today, Thursday I feel much better! I am so excited to go to work. I have a slight headache but I think this is maybe due to either dehydration or the fact that I am probably in caffeine withdrawal. Hopefully today will go well and I can avoid the doctor. If not, I do have the number for someone recommended by Deloitte so it should be no problem to go.