Aint No HIPPA in Haiti

Hello, my dear friends. I have been off of this for so long-it is almost unacceptable. But let me tell you a little of what the last 19 days have been filled with...
Apparently there are several diseases that are endemic in Haiti. It makes sense as everything takes so long to happen in Haiti that ridding the land of nastiness like prominent developed nations have done should take several decades longer...
Typhoid is one such disease that you do not really hear about in the States, but is of high occurrence in Haiti. I have no idea where I could have come into contact with Salmonella typhi. It's not like we walk on sewer sprinkled streets, or buy water by the rusty truck full for our household use, or come into contact with food that could (and probably do) have a long history of touching many not so clean hands... Let me just say that I am eternally grateful that I was the one to become so greatly acquainted with Typhoid and not one of my dear, sweet babes.
After suffering on and off with what I thought was, at first, a flare up of my auto-immune disease, then a nasty flu...I finally succumbed to reason and allowed Abe to drag my fever spent body to the hospital. I spent four days in a Haitian hospital where my blood pressure was taken once, sort of. The needles used by nurses to fill my body with Typhoid fighting antibiotics were left lying around or stuck into my IV fluid bag. Abe fought off various insects for the food brought to me. Which I couldn't eat anyways. Apparently Typhoid chases away any appetite one once had. Nine total days with only IV fluid...I have lost 20 pounds. :-)
Typhoid was a formidable foe to say the least, but he called in a Calvary of gallstones to his aid. One such stone lodged quite painfully in a bile duct and left me even more jaundice, pained, and vomitous. Did you know the term for ripping a gallbladder from one's body is a Cholecystectomy? I didn't until we gathered from a Creole speaking Dr that I needed-that.
Once the battle against Typhoid could be managed with oral antibiotics instead of IV ones, we paid our bills (in full so the shot gun wearing guard would let us out of the hospital), I removed the most painful IV I have EVER experienced from my puffy swollen hand, (apparently the nurses don't do that either. I am lucky they didn't make ME put the IV in. I suppose I could have...might have hurt less) and we hobbled to pack up our things and fly to Miami.
Let me take a sad moment to interject that my sweet babes were NOT allowed to see me at all in the Haitian hospital. My dear American friends kept them safe and loved at their home, then didn't visibly blink an eye when they offered to keep my babes for another week while we headed to Miami for surgery and a real medicinal retort to Typhoid. I was able to hold them for a couple of hours before our rushed flight to Miami and as of now have not even heard their sweet voices in a week.
After a rather painful flight we arrived in Miami and have spent the last 6 days in Dr offices and Mercy hospital going through test after test after test.
My surgery is today.
At one pm.
There are, obviously, a lot more details and funny moments as well as tears and frustrations intertwined in this story, but as the time approaches for my first surgery EVER I suppose there are a few things I should do. Like shower. Plan my recovery. Mentally prepare for my flight tomorrow. And keep the excitement for finally seeing my babes tucked safely away. Wouldn't want anything to jinx a seamless surgery and recovery. ;-)
More stories and details to come...AFTER I am not doped up. Have a wonderful day and know that through it all, many miracles and blessings have been poured upon me. I am humbled at how everything consistently continues to scrape through and work out.