Adventure detoured

Christmas Day 2017

Sometimes, life gets in the way and the sensible thing is to just go with it.  On October 30, I fell ill with a very serious infection.  It soon settled in my right leg and by November 2, I found myself in the hospital in Phnom Penh, being intravenously pumped 24 hours a day with the strongest antibiotics available.  No one knows what caused the infection, but it was truly serious.  Some five days later, I was released but thoroughly weakened, scarcely able to walk.

It turned out that the infection had severely affected my heart, causing  around 5,000 irregular heartbeats per day (out of a normal 100,000).  Not only that, but I was experiencing small episodes of what are called atrial fibrillation (small periods when the heart stops beating correctly) at a rate of about one every 12 minutes.

Small segment of my EKG data showing nearly 2 minutes of atrial fibrillation

This was serious enough for the Peace Corps to order a battery of follow-up tests, first in Cambodia and then later in Washington.  The testing in Cambodia only further supported the findings, which led to me being sent back to the U.S. for more complete tests.  Of course the Peace Corps, being the government agency that it is, took until November 26 (more than three weeks) to make this happen.  By the time we arrived and visited with the cardiologist, these symptoms had all but vanished, only to be chalked up to the infection and subsequent treatments.

Even though I had recovered completely, the Peace Corps, Maria Elena and I decided that it was prudent for me not to return to service in Cambodia.  So, on December 10, I was medically separated (PC talk for released on medical grounds) and Maria Elena went into Peace Corps interrupted service status,  We are now back home in Spain, currently house sitting (for a nice young man while he is away working on a cruise ship) until April.

Cadiar, Granada SPAIN

Who knows what will come next?  Find out at our new blog