True Life: I've Been Quarantined

Two students came down with a touch of the rotavirus, myself (Lauren) included. Meg was the first casualty of the bug. She was hit with GI symptoms in a place where running water can be hit or miss- and this time it was a miss. We secluded her from the rest of us- she was quarantined. We made sure she had plenty of fluids, Zofran and quiet to recuperate from this viral invasion. A short six hours later at about 0300, I got up to go to take a trip to the bathroom. As I walked down the hallway, I realized this would be an extended trip and that I was also under viral attack. The next morning, Rosa came with ginger tea and orders for me to join Meg in quarantine. As I grab my sleeping bag and backpack, I settled onto an old metal framed cot with a plastic covered mattress. Dennis and Rey made their way to the door frame (no doors to any of the rooms here) and taped a sign that said "infirmary" in Spanish. They get a little chuckle out of it and move on to enjoy the Sunday festivities with the community. This room is very small. Within a couple feet, Meg lays on the ground next to me. We have several cups of seven up and ginger tea and toilet paper rolls surrounding us. The walls seemed to close in on us. There are no windows to look out and no one else to talk to or to see. The smell of the amazing foods the women have cooked for us only make our stomachs turn. Call us crazy but the smell of beans in the face of a GI illness only fuels the fire of the rotavirus. We were tempted to tally hours on the wall, just like days are tallied in prison. The room darkens before all the rest and the walk to the bathroom is like walking the Green Mile. How long did this bug last? Less than 24 hours! Thank goodness the next day we recovered and were back in clinic. We will never forget our day in quarantine, or as we like to call it- Honduran prison.