Preparing to Travel to India- Hopes and Fears
Traveling to India has
taken more preparation than I originally thought. My travel nurse and Austin's
travel nurse just prescribed malaria meds and antibiotics for the inevitable
traveler's diarrhea and we were done. For Landon, I had to set up an appointment
with a special travel company that specializes in children (I guess the average
toddler is not taking malaria meds these days!)
This is the stuff I used to soak Landon's clothes |
The travel nurse there
made it her special mission to scare me into taking very good care of my son.
Along with malaria, dengue fever and Japanese encephalitis are also
mosquito-borne illnesses that are common there, and so insect repellent is a
must. They said we needed one with DEET, but she sold me a special family
formula that will ensure that Landon doesn't absorb too much DEET and get
poisoned that way. We also got some Permethrin solution and soaked Landon’s
clothes in them so the mosquitoes will stay far away!
Oh, and the malaria medication? It can make you have weird/bad dreams. It is
incredibly bitter, but because he is too young to actively swallow a pill, she
instructed me to crush it up and try to give it to him in some yogurt or
applesauce. Well, our first pill administration today was a fiasco. It is
INCREDIBLY bitter, and Landon spit out the applesauce that I mixed it with. Not
to be deterred (she also said he must have the whole pill!) I put some of the
nasty applesauce on a bite of banana. He ate that about half way, but by the
end I was shoving nasty stuff in his mouth and he was spitting it out and
screaming and crying. I tried so many different foods and combinations, but the
pill dust is so stinking yellow, that whenever I approached him to try
something new, he recognized the bright yellow sign of ickiness and backed away
slowly. It was sad. I also know from diaper changing experience that Landon can
swallow almonds whole. They are bigger than this little pill. My next
experiment will be to put a whole pill in yogurt (something he probably
swallows whole anyway) and see if he will swallow it without the bitterness
knocking his socks off and making everyone cry.
We found out too late
about India for Landon to receive preventative rabies shots. So, I have to make
sure that he doesn’t get bitten by any stray dogs or monkeys. I guess there is
counterfeit rabies immunoglobulin circulating internationally, so if he were
bitten, we would be on a flight back to the US to get him the immunoglobulin.
That whole scene playing out in my head reminds me a little too much of Lord of
the Rings when Frodo gets stabbed by the Ring Wraith and they are racing to get
him the antidote. I’m hoping that because we will be out in the middle of
nowhere on this refinery campus, there won’t be too many stray dogs. Austin did
tell me that there is an African elephant that the refinery owner bought and
that is roams through the tank farm nearby. It is now my goal to see that in
person before we leave!
Food and water are other
concerns for India. We are only to drink bottled water, and are not supposed to
even get shower water in our mouths. I’m still trying to decide what I am going
to do with Landon, because he drinks a ton of bathwater at every bath. We may
have to do some sponge bathing, or I will boil water for his baths, or treat it
with bleach or something. I’ll keep you postedJ Also, because of the
water concerns, we are not to eat fruit or vegetables that are not canned or
packaged that we can’t peel ourselves. This pains me. I love fruits and
vegetables. Berries are my very favorite. Hopefully they will have frozen ones
over there. Typhoid is a food and water borne illness that Landon is too young
to be vaccinated for. So I have to be especially careful with him. The travel
nurse says I must wash his hands with antibacterial wipes before he puts anything
in his mouth. I am bringing lots of antibacterial wipes because that boy sucks
his fingers for comfort and generally likes to put all sorts of random stuff in
his mouth like small rocks and sticks and crayons.
In conclusion, the
travel nurse thinks we will be fine, but with all her information it scared me
into taking really good care of my son while we are there. I think being at the
refinery will help because the richest man in India can’t make money unless his
workers are healthy, and if everyone is getting really sick then that would not
be good for business. I am looking forward to warm/hot weather, playing outside
with Landon, running outside in the mornings, focusing on Landon with my whole
mommy heart, and supporting my husband in this new job.
I was so blessed to be
able to work a little as a PT and use my skills that I worked so long and hard
for in school for the past year or so. Now I am blessed to be able to be a
full-time mommy, and try my best to teach my son everything he needs to know,
play with him, cherish him, and take care of him.
We've never had to take the malaria meds, but they sound sucky. I hope Landon could swallow them, because that sounds beastly. We have to do bottled/boiled water here too. Peter drinks his bath water, even though we try so hard to get him not too. He's been fine so far...I don't know how China and India water compare. I totally feel you on the foods things. Although we have gotten less rigid as months pass...which means we are probably going to get sick and die before we go back home. Moving here has made me more appreciative of things that I had back in America that I didn't realize were super awesome. Lastly- find the elephant, that sounds neat.
ReplyDelete