being sick = a blessing in disguise

i just spent one week in guatemala and four of those days creating and supporting the smooth running of a medical clinic with a team of dedicated god fearing people and a 7 year-old. and now that i'm back home sick from some uri (upper respiratory infection) most likely caused by a guatemalan virus (if there is such a thing), i think that i'm blessed despite some very loud complaints.
i don't think i've been this sick for quite some time if ever. i'm experiencing all flu like symptoms including awful sore throat (hurts to swallow), burning eyes, throbbing headache(that's improved), fever, chills, rapid heart rate, muscle ache. i'm pretty sure it's not more serious than a virus that my body, god's temple, can conquer.

my point is being ill connects me to the people i tried to help heal in guatemala. it is a nice reminder that a sore throat feels this crappy. although i think i gave some sound advice (warm wash cloth in case of a fever, warm salt water garggle in case of sore throat, clean water for bathing etc) i forgot the honey in tea for sore throat because it's a life saver right now (nearly 2 and half days later of getting sick).

let us not forget as physicians/fellow caretakers how crappy it feels to be sick, to have muscle ache, to feel pain. =)

Comments

  1. PedroJuly 9, 2009 at 9:57 PM

    that's a really cool perspective and way to stay connected to Guate, hope you aren't connected that way for too long tho. i think pain is a great teacher, physical pain helped me connect to the emotional pain in philly.

    ReplyDelete

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