Dengue & Chikungunya – What I’ve Learned

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chikungunya side effects, Chikungunya symptoms, dengue and chikungunya, ecuador chikungunya, Manabi

Croaking Ground Dove – Ecuador

(Note: This post addresses the side effects of dengue and chikungunya viruses and would probably bore anyone who is not facing a current or possible infection.  Those not interested have my blessings to cross this page off their screen now!)

Manabi Province – Ecuador

Most every day someone asks me about chikungunya and dengue fever, as the mosquito-born viruses sweep through warmer/tropical areas of the Americas.  Debbie, in Nicaragua is presently experiencing the fickle moods of what she suspects is chikungunya, yet it’s hard to get a firm diagnosis.  My friend Jody and I swapped stories today, and she is also baffled as we wonder, ‘Which symptoms are linked to dengue, and which are linked to chikungunya?”

“Did the skin on your feet peel?” she asked.

Dengue’s Notorious Fever

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dengue fever, high fever with dengue, marking the solstice, to lower fever or let it run its course, where is the sun's shadow on the june solstice

Sarah y Eloy help with the sunflower painting for their wash room. June 2013

My friend Sarah dropped off a care package last month when I was recovering from dengue. In that thoughtful assortment of goodies was a blister pack of pain relievers. “I’ll bet you’ve taken a lot of these,” she smiled.

Sarah is a nurse, and I squirmed a bit when I answered, “Actually, I haven’t taken anything for the pain.” I added, “If I take medicine for the pain, it will lower my fever, and I feel as if that fever is there to burn out the virus. If I lower the fever, the virus lingers in my body for a longer period of time…”

I also stated that I felt it my duty to keep my infectious disease ‘quarantined’ during the fever stage so that I did not infect other people or other areas. I knew that the clinic was a short distance away in case of an emergency. (After the fever passed and I was stronger, I visited the clinic.)

FIND THE RIGHT MOSQUITO

I would never advise others to avoid pain killers or fever medications, but fifteen years ago I took fever reducers and was sick for two weeks. This time the high fever lasted less than two days, though the evolution of this dengue was totally different from the last.  (There was also an added complication of the tag-along chikungunya virus that was hiding in the background.)

I suspect there are as many people who believe in the power of a fever, as there are people who think it’s best to lower a high fever as soon as possible. Several reputable sites have published articles about the ‘benefits of fever:

Manta Galeria de Arte – Manta, Ecuador

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art gallery in manta ecuador, Manta Ecuador, manta galeria de arte

I am thrilled to pass along this information!  If you’d like Sharon’s email address, leave a comment, and I will pass it along to you. The gallery is located near the popular “Mama Rosa’s Restaurant” in the port city ofManta Ecuador. -Z

From Artist-Gallery Owner-Art Instructor/Teacher, Sharon Statema:

You and your friends are invited to

Manta Galeria de Arte
for our
Grand Opening Open House

Saturday, June 20, 2015

3 to 6 pm.

Stop in and take a look around. We have lots of artwork in all price ranges.
We look forward to seeing you,
Yours,
Sharon and Marlin

Phone: 0969 667 891, US # 360-371-2496

Timeout for Art: Extended Sick-Leave

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chikungunya in ecuador, jama ecuador museum, pain from chikungunya, side effects of chikungunya, sketches

El Museo Bahia de Caraquez- Ecuador

“Okay, write that down,” Hermoine said to Ron, pushing his essay and a sheet covered in her own writing back to Ron, “and then copy out this conclusion that I’ve written for you.”

“Hermoine, you are honestly the most wonderful person I’ve ever met,” said Ron weakly, “and if I’m ever rude to you again –“

“– I’ll know you’re back to normal,” said Hermoine.”
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Study of Artifact – Watercolor – Museo Bahia de Caraquez-Ecuador

Sometimes ‘it’ is just not there, and until I have recovered from a ‘co-infection’ of dengue and chikungunya, even holding a pencil is difficult.  The fatigue continues as well.

Thumbing through a little notebook, I came across a sketch of an artifact that’s in the Jama Museum.  With paper and watercolors and pencils in hand this morning, I had hoped to spend an hour in the airconditioned museum and move forward with a more-seriuos study.  It’s just not going to happen – not until I am stronger!

Pencil sketch of artifact in Jama/Ecuador museum.

Every Grain of Sand

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coastal erosion, Ecuador, i won't back down, let's talk about sand, olas bravas el matal, tom petty

“In every outthrust headland, in every curving beach, in every grain of sand there is the story of the earth.” Rachael Carson El Matal Ecuador – June 6 – 11, 2015 The coastline along Playa El Matal continues to change daily.  This post will show images taken on June 9th and 11th, 2015.   Before seeing this week’s changes, let’s turn back time and take a peek at this beach as it was in June 2012.

One of the prettiest posts painted in 2012 anchored the end of the road. near the Coco Beach entrance…

2012

Maestro painting the light post. June 2012

From 2012.. Coco Beach entrance ahead… (From post-painting competition)

Let’s move forward to images from this week;  the image below shows the Coco Beach entrance at the end of the road:

Entrance to Coco Beach- June 8, 2015

Offense and Defense

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aguaje, Ecuador, high tides on the pacific, playa el matal ecuador

El Matal, Jama, Manabi, Ecuador

El Matal-Manabi Province- Ecuador

Once upon a time, a friend of mine gave me some advice that I carry with me every day. He said, “Lisa, remember to be on the offensive, so that you never find yourself in the defensive mode.” That advice from my Episcopalian priest-friend has been some of the best advice I’ve ever received.

I have watched my friends take a proactive role after Mother Ocean took her first big bites from El Matal 18 months ago. They researched, brought in engineers and specialists and selected the sand-bag approach based on the advice they were given.

From 2014: One line of bags below ground level and a second half in and half out…

“The sand bags will buy you time to put a more long-term solution in place,” Engineer Daniel Santana suggested at a public meeting in March 2014.

A summary of those meetings and work done on the bags can be found HERE.

How well I remember the beauty of this beach.   Look at the image taken in June of 2012 during the post-painting competition…

From 2012.. Coco Beach entrance ahead… (From post-painting competition)

 

Mother Ocean played a sadistic card this past weekend, and the people of El Matal do not appreciate her sense of humor. The critical window during the high tides passed, and when everyone assumed there would be two weeks of relief, she played her trump card.  Most of the following images were taken at the same spot as the image above.

Looking ‘down’ the beach…

Timeout for Art: Muses of Inspiration and Realization

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painting butterflies in watercolor, Timeout for Art, Timeout for Art Muses

‘Cesar’ Paddling Against the Current – Rio Jama – June 2015

“There are, it seems, two muses: the Muse of Inspiration, who gives us inarticulate visions and desires, and the Muse of Realization, who returns again and again to say “It is yet more difficult than you thought.” This is the muse of form.    

It may be then that form serves us best when it works as an obstruction, to baffle us and deflect our intended course. It may be that when we no longer know what to do, we have come to our real work and when we no longer know which way to go, we have begun our real journey. The mind that is not baffled is not employed. The impeded stream is the one that sings.”
― Wendell Berry

Magnificent Frigates practice touch-and-go aerobatics — Thursday morning, June 4

Fatigue and sore joints linger as I slowly reclaim my normal life ‘after dengue.’   Painting presents some new challenges; one is an unpredictable shake that suddenly takes control of my hand and then vanishes just as quickly.  I ignore it and assume it will eventually grow bored and vanish.   The fatigue affects my ability to stick with the painting, and after an hour’s session, I usually stop and rest for another hour.   The birds provide excellent distraction for those commercial breaks.

The watercolor study ‘Before Dengue” —

Painting this watercolor has been work.   It has also provided a necessary discipline for me to show up for work even if I feel like playing hooky.   I stare at the painting and nudge myself to move forward.   Losing electricity hasn’t helped, but I moved my work area to a window and cut fresh flowers for reference.

The first few sessions were brief, and I realized that I was not as strong as I thought!

We were without power all day Saturday and most of Sunday. Building a bit more physical strength, I squeezed in several painting sessions and then slept for ten hours.  While painting on Sunday night, we lost power again;  that’s one way to stop progress on a painting! On Monday morning, I could not find the painting.  I eventually found it propped on a shelf, where I had critiqued it the night before by candle light.