I Got Dengue Fever In Mexico
Our trip to Mexico was amazing for the first week. I am so thankful I blogged as we went because after the last few days of the trip, I am not sure I could have remembered the details I wrote about. Turns out, Ty and I Got Dengue Fever In Mexico.
It’s “Just” Croup
About halfway through our trip, Ty started to get sick. The little dude had a bit of a cough and a slight fever. He was also pale and seemed a little lethargic. When our 3-year-old started to get a strange cough we were on high alert for croup. Ty struggled with croup a lot as a baby. While it caught us off guard to hear the cough (since we thought he had grown out of it) we were ‘ready’ for what the night might bring. I was sleeping with him when I noticed he was really struggling to breathe. I pulled him out of bed and he couldn’t catch his breath.
Thankfully we had a steroid on hand. We gave him the steroid and drove to the small hospital in San Pancho. By the time we got there, he had popped back up to life. Steroids are little miracle pills! He was joking and giggling like nothing happened. Crazy kiddo.
Since we have been through this a handful of times before, we thought it was just Croup. From there he had a fever but it didn’t last but 24 hours. We assumed he was struggling with some kind of virus and maybe the same chest cold that Andrew had before we left for Mexico.
Ty Is So Tough
The thing about Ty is: he is tough. I don’t just say that because he’s a high energy tot. The kid is scary tough. He’s the kind of tough that when he gets hurt, really hurt, he’ll pop right up and keep running or sometimes start laughing. When we got his blood drawn he just watched with an emotionless expression the whole time and when it was over he smiled and said “see mom? I’m tough!” Not even a flinch. I say all this because we went through the same Dengue illness and he wore the pain like a common cold. When it was my turn, I kinda thought I might die.
My Turn
So, a few days after Ty’s fever, I started to go down. I went down hard. I donât get sick very often so it threw me off guard. For the first day, we thought it was food poisoning. When it seemed to get worst, we figured I was picking up whatever virus Ty had. Since he was so quick to bounce back I thought the crazy symptoms I was getting wouldn’t last long. But it was… INTENSE. I had uncontrollable chills and zero energy, like zero.  Everything ached, not ached but hurt! For about a week, I had no appetite and could only get a few bites of food down every day. I couldnât drink anything but water until day 10 or 11. The brain fog was the most startling. I had a hard time communicating because my thoughts seemed far off and so slow.
When we were in Mexico, it was warm outside. However, I was freezing and wore as many layers of clothes as I could find. The chills, aches, and pain was like nothing I have experienced. I figured because I hadn’t been sick in so long, I was being a wuss. Actually, I was in such a state of fog that I didnât have any logical thoughts like that until after the symptoms subsided.
Time To Go Home
On the third day, it was time to go home. I was pretty excited to get home but also nervous about an airport and a plane ride. Looking back I can hardly remember the travel day. All I remember is using (what felt like) an incredible amount of focus to get myself through the airport. I have flashbacks of Andrew’s face looking at me worried and sometimes coming to physically support me as I walked. He kept saying it looked like I was just going to fall over and pass out. I donât remember feeling like I would fall over but I donât remember much from that day. The amount of effort it took to climb the stairs and also falling asleep while waiting for our airplane to arrive are two things I recall.
The next few days I was on the couch and hardly coherent. It was Christmas Eve and because of our travels, the plan was to have a busy Christmas Eve getting all the last minute things ready for the kids. I woke up that morning and the back of my eyes burned which made it hard to stand up. I laid down all day, and that was the first time I was in tears. The challenge was communicating with Andrew, but I think I told him he needed to ‘take care of Christmas’. I couldnât even come up with one thing that needed to be done. I just told him to ‘do it!’ Haha – poor incredible hubby of mine!
The Diagnosis: It’s Dengue!
On Christmas day I thankfully was able to get up and enjoy the morning. I took a nap by late morning and it was after my nap that our Mexican friends came over. They stopped by to bring gifts for the kids and we told them what was going on with me. Without hesitation, our friend suggested that I Got Dengue Fever In Mexico.
In all my preparations for our travels as far as vaccinations and health-related research I hadnât even read about Dengue. Dengue Fever wasnât even on my radar. But now, I know way more about infectious disease than I wish I did.
What’s Dengue Fever?
Dengue Fever is a mosquito contracted disease that is not contagious. Its nickname is the ‘bone-breaking disease’ and I now know why. The first few days it felt like somebody was taking a tiny hammer to different parts of my body at different times.
After reading about this crazy awful illness I took Ty and myself to get blood work done. Our 2020 travel plans include a large amount of time in Central America, where Dengue is having a particularly intense year. Also, there is a vaccine in some countries (not in the USA) that you can only get if you have already gotten the Fever. So, I wanted to get blood work done to have proof. When we got home that day my hands and feet were swollen and throbbing. I consulted my fellow Dengue infested friends via google and sure enough, the throbbing signified the beginning of the grand finale… a full-body rash! Haha.
Dengue is a nasty virus that stays in your system for a long time. A strange thing about this fever is what happens to people when/if the fever is contracted a second or third time. There are four strands of Dengue Fever. Once you contract the fever youâre immune to that one strand but for some super strange reasons (that I cannot explain even after all my research) if you get the fever a second time (from a different strand) the symptoms are far more severe. The severe symptoms can affect little kids the most.
After a few days, we got the results back and it was confirmed that Ty and I Got Dengue Fever In Mexico.
Now What?
So all this to say itâs been an adventure the last few weeks since Ty and I Got Dengue Fever In Mexico. Thankfully, we are both mostly back to normal. I still feel the fatigue, and haven’t been able to get back to workouts like normal yet. Since our original plan was Central America for the spring, we’ve sought a lot of counsel from trusted medical professionals, friends, and family. Weâre working on weighing the risks and most likely adjusting our initial plans for 2020 while our beat-up immune systems heal.
Choosing Gratitude
Iâve learned a lot over the past few weeks. Itâs extremely humbling to work so hard on your health and then get knocked down so hard by something like this.
Looking back on the whole experience and still struggling with pretty intense fatigue I mostly feel…. thankful. I feel so thankful that we were in a populated place when we got sick. I am thankful that our immune systems are strong and that we were able to overcome this disease relatively quickly. Iâm so thankful that little Ty is the toughest dude that Iâve ever met. Iâm so thankful for a husband that steps up to take care of the 99% when I can hardly give 1%. Iâm so thankful for a family that is understanding and supportive of our change of plans when it affects them greatly. Iâm thankful that we live in a country where medical care is so easy to get, even when it seems hard. Â I am thankful for the year ahead. I am thankful for the ability to choose our journey. I am thankful for our health.
I realize now more than ever the reason for us taking this year of adventure is to spend time with family. Itâs not about where we go and what we do.
Thanks for reading the saga and please stay tuned as we change our plans. I have no doubt that our adventure will be just as incredible and life-changing, with a little less Espanol perhaps.
A Team Family Adventures is a family travel blog documenting our familyâs adventures together.
