The Great Brazilian Road Trip ends up in the emergency room.
Uh-Oh
Our original plan was to stay in Caraiva for three nights.
However, on the morning of our second day, I woke up with a slight stomach ache. Vitor sometimes teases me for having a "gringa stomach" and so I assumed I'd just eaten something "unusual." Not a big deal, normally.
As they say: these things shall pass.
After breakfast, my stomach ache grew worse. I headed back to the room to rest and felt hopeful things would "pass" soon. After 3 hours, things were not passing and the ache had become much worse. Vitor started to worry. After 6 hours, the pain was concentrated on my right side and was so bad I could no longer walk.
Vitor finally convinced me to call the village doctor who advised us to make our way to the nearest hospital.... 3 hours away in Porto Seguro.
And so, feeling like my insides were going to explode, we began the long, complicated journey back:
- Dune buggy from our hotel,
- Row boat to our car,
- Driving a bumpy dirt road (this time towards Trancoso and Arraial d'Ajuda).
- Ferry from Arraial d'Ajuda to Porto Seguro.
Vitor managed the whole thing, door-to-door, in 2.5 hours. My hero.
Diagnosis
Once at the hospital, the emergency room team performed a series of tests to confirm what we had suspected: Appendicitis.
By the time my diagnosis arrived, I had been "toughing it out" for 12 hours. Pain killers were doubled as the doctor explained the surgeon would be in "first thing" the next morning to operate.
Vitor called my parents so I could quickly say "hello, I'm fine." And then I drifted into a dreamless sleep.
The next morning, surgery was quick and successful.
After I woke up from the anesthesia, we were wheeled into a private room so I could recover away from the COVID folks. The surgeon showed me my appendix in a plastic jar:
"If you had waited even 2 more hours, this would have ruptured inside you. Very dangerous."
Recovery
These days, in the midst of a global pandemic, the last place any of us want to be is inside a hospital. Imagine our relief then when, after 24 hours of observation, the surgeon said we could move to a local hotel until I was well enough to travel.
Vitor checked us into a suite at a Best Western near the hospital, arguably the fanciest hotel in Porto Seguro and the nicest Best Western I've ever seen.
We spent the next week ordering room service and watching endless hours of Netflix and Brazilian reality TV.
When I finally felt well enough to travel we had a decision to make:
- Drive back to Sao Paulo (3 - 4 days) OR
- Fly back to Sao Paulo, and leave REX behind.
As much as I enjoyed the Great Brazilian Road trip, I couldn't imagine surviving 4 days on Brazilian roads with fresh stitches.
We flew home, paying an obscene amount of money to a car shipping company to bring REX home a few days later.
Purple Phase
After 2 weeks, my stitches were removed and I was feeling almost well enough to travel again. We started to plan our return to the Great Brazilian Road Trip, debating whether or not to first head North to Belo Horizonte or South to Curitiba.
And then Sao Paulo and the surrounding states re-entered into the Purple Phase. This is the most restrictive phase under local COVID containment laws, requiring all but essential businesses to close completely. As local ICUs remain at capacity, the Purple Phase has been extended from 3 to 5 weeks.
And so, as we have done for much of the last year, we wait... and we hope for the best.
The Future of the Great Brazilian Road Trip
At the time of writing, the Purple Phase in Sao Paulo is scheduled to last until April 11th.
Of course, with the continued strain on local ICUs, there is a very real chance this will be extended again.
Given this uncertainty, we've paused all plans for the Great Brazilian Road Trip. There's still so much to see but we're willing to wait until it's safe to do so.
In the meantime, I'll post some "flashbacks" to earlier trips around Brazil.
Stay safe out there! We'll get through this with patience (and science).
Until next time....