Saturday, October 3, 2009

Dysentery

Léah took her antibiotics for the prescribed 7 days but still hasn’t been herself for the last 2 weeks; she has been low on energy, very pale, and has been complaining about cramping in her stomach with pains reverberating to her back. Yesterday, Mélanie spent the day with her at the hospital in San José.

After a urine test, blood test, stool test, ultrasound, and seeing 2 pediatricians, we were informed that Léah no longer has Shigella in her body but she now has Dysentery (which was caused by the Shigella). An excerpt from the Wikipedia entry:

Dysentery (formerly known as flux or the bloody flux) is an inflammatory disorder of the intestine, especially of the colon, that results in severe diarrhea containing mucus and/or blood in the feces. If left untreated, dysentery can be fatal.

The Wikipedia entry on Dysentery mentions that, “consumption of fresh, warm camel feces has been recommended by Bedouins as a remedy for bacterial dysentery”. Instead of camel feces, Léah is taking Glutamine with Lactobacillus Reuteri twice a day for 5 days. Léah loves dairy products and fresh fruit but unfortunately, can’t eat either for possibly 6 weeks.

There are other lab tests being performed over the weekend and Léah needs to return to the hospital on Monday.