Diagnosed! (July 20)

Today was kind of lazy. Even though I hadn’t eaten anything in the morning, my stomach still really hurt. We were planning on waking up at 9 and renting 4-wheelers to go to Paradise Beach before our 2:00 ferry left, but we were exhausted and woke up at 11. We just went to that private little beach again and relaxed. It was nice to relax! My stomach was ridiculous again, and I spent most of the time on the beach curled up in a ball. At this point, I decided to go to the medical clinic when I got back on the ship. It was the 5th day of crazy pain—if we didn’t get back when the clinic was open, the girls said they were making me go anyway and see the on-call doctor. Even if I didn’t want to disturb the doctor (I grew up with on-call parents and know how it interferes with relaxing and doing fun things), I had no choice. Anyway, back to the present. We had a nice lazy day on the beach (with lots of sunscreen on!). It was finally time to head back, but we HAD to stop and play with the little kittens right outside our hotel for the last time. They were SOOOOOO cute! Oh my gosh, I miss them. And they made me miss my little doggie Chloe!

Our hotel “parents” drove us to the ferry port and we got on. Instead of paying the extra fee, we found a table to sit at in the food area because we were early. We stayed there the whole 5 and a half hours. Since it was midday and we couldn’t sleep comfortably there, we realized it was going to be a long 5 and a half hours! We had literally nothing to do. Just our clothes in our backpacks. And each other. So...we chit-chatted the WHOLE way home. :) It was so nice! Michelle and Brittany are great girls. And my diet the whole way back was (again) bread and Sprite. And it was painful.

Once we got back to the ship, it was about 8 pm and the clinic was closed. The girls made me go straight to the clinic anyway (and walked/forced me there) and the nurse was surprisingly rude. I told her I’d had really bad stomach pain for 5 days now, and she said come back at 7 when they’re open. I said okay and started to walk away, but the girls made me stay. She said come back at 7 am unless it’s an emergency. I was like oooookay…and then she starting listing things that counted. And I fell into those categories. So then she was mad at me for not coming in sooner- well, I was kind of on an island when I realized it wasn’t just a stomach bug. She was annoyed and told me to go up to the registrar and call the medical staff on duty (she was just as capable- in fact, she was supposed to do it for me) so I went up and did that. Just as I was leaving, 4 girls also came in. So when they called the doctor on-call, they had 5 “emergencies,” which was a little hard to believe. Thankfully, I got to go first. It was the Physician’s Assistant on duty, Diane, the woman I saw on the first day. She was great and super nice, and thanked me for coming in because these are the things she is happy to see patients for. I think the other girls might have been in for alcohol related things, so that’s why she was annoyed. So…my diagnosis? Mom and Dad were right! She checked my organs and blood pressure to make sure it wasn’t my organs, and to see if I was dehydrated (all the Sprite was a good idea- I had good blood pressure!). I have a bacterial stomach infection. So something along the lines of e. coli or salmonella, but we aren’t exactly sure what. I started antibiotics (again) and will hopefully be feeling better! And doctor’s orders- my diet for the next few days is: Cup of Noodles, yogurt (and frozen yogurt!), Sprite, and Gatorade. Oddly, water was still hurting my tummy. The only downside to my new diet- well, not the only one- is that all that is really expensive at the pool bar. I’m talking $2 for a can of Sprite, and $3 for a bottle of Gatorade. But if it’s all my stomach will accept, so be it. I’m just glad to know what it is and to be doing something about it!