Since I was working like mad to complete my magnum opus (a fifty page business plan in Spanish that likely made no sense and was based on absolutely no business training), I had no time to go to the doctor. Finally, the day before we left the DR we stopped by the Clinic's medical director's home, and she said it needed to be treated. At home with almost no supplies, she did her best to drain the infection with a syringe and also prescribed a week's worth of antibiotics. Consultation fee: Free. Medications: $7.00.
Despite my religious adherence to the antibiotics things didn't get any better in Cuba. After several days of continued growth we decided to go to the doctor once again, this time in a tiny country town where we were staying. We showed up at the clinic and after a short wait, the doctor brought us in. Though she appeared to have reached the legal American drinking age only weeks prior, she seemed competent enough, prescribing a second antibiotic (to be taken in addition to the first one) as well as hot compresses to try to pull the pus out of the infection. Consultation fee: Free. Medications: $0.16.
On to Quito and my host family. Despite the fact that I had completed the first round of antibiotics (500 mg of Cephalexin twice per day), was almost done with the second round (500 mg of Ciproflaxin three times per day) and had applied plenty of hot compresses, the infection persisted. I therefore consulted with my former host mom, an RN. She thought it might be best to open up the infection and completely drain it, but without much time before a trip to the Galapagos, she instead loaned me an antiseptic wash and some sort of antibiotic cream. Consultation: Free. Medication: Free.
Unfortunately, the antiseptic wash burned my skin (perhaps because I was too lazy to dilute it as the label instructed) and the cream did nothing. Thus, I arrived in the Galapagos with a still festering infection. I decided to consult our ship doctor (who others referred to as the "butcher"), and she said the time for antibiotics alone had passed. Someone needed to open it up and drain it. There were no other options. Consultation Fee: Free. Medications: None.
Finally back in Quito, we decided we'd had enough. We went to the emergency room and I had the infected fat ball removed. Luckily, Melissa inquired about anesthesia just before the doctor was about to cut me open, which sort of reduced the excruciating pain. And then it was gone. The doctor prescribed a third antibiotic (Dicloxacilina) and Tylenol (due to high rates of dengue fever, you can only get Tylenol and Ibuprofen with a prescription because too many people with dengue were taking over-the-counter pain meds, which reduced symptoms and caused infected folks not to seek treatment...antibiotics on the other hand are widely available without a prescription). He also took a culture of the infection. and informed me he would email me the results so that I could get follow up treatment in Argentina (we were leaving in two days). Consultation Fee: $70.00. Medications: $4.00.
We've now been in Argentina for a few days and I've heard nothing from the doctor, but I'm not too worried. The pus is gone, and after spending $81.16 for five consultations in three countries, I think I'm cured. That is, until the next infection. Which reminds me, not everything has been 100% in the bathroom...
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