We were sitting down to enjoy a nice plastic wrapped plate of chicken and pasta when all 3 of Joel’s doctors showed up to do their thing last night. The orthopedic surgeon is pleased with the results of the operation and the wound seems to be healing well, but the internal medicine doctor is quite concerned about the type of infection Joel has. And our general doctor is helping us understand the whole process and keep on everyone’s toes so nothing gets missed.
Today, we should receive some significant results, letting us have a better understanding of how much longer we will call this place home.
They took a sample of the infection during the surgery and sent it to the lab, but because Joel had already been on antibiotics for 5 days, they told us not to be surprised if nothing shows up in the results. However, the bacteria began growing within 12 hours, which really shocked everyone, signifying that the infection is unusually strong. So, today we will hear the official results to know if it is Bacteria “A” which is found in the rural areas where we live. And though Joel’s particular brand of it seems to be freakishly strong, they have a good idea of how to handle it. But, if it is not Bacteria “A” causing all this commotion, then it is something that no hospital in Costa Rica, private or public, has the ability to identify so they will need to call in the university.
However, this is Holy Week and literally nearly all businesses are shutting down for the rest of the week, so they don’t think they will have anyone able to identify the bacteria (and recommend the needed antibiotics and treatment) until Monday! This means Joel will stay on the same IV antibiotics until Monday when he will begin a new treatment. Obviously, because the antibiotic he is receiving is not ideal for Bacteria “B” it would be better to know exactly which bacteria to target.
God has all of this under control, so we wait in our little seafoam green room for the infectious disease specialist, eating our breakfast of beans and rice. We’ll keep you posted.
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