We were warned over the weekend that Santa Cruz would be militarized on Tuesday. A lot of people and businesses weren't obeying the quarantine very well and our infected numbers were continuing to rise. We're not anywhere crisis mode yet (350 cases) but everyone knows that if we don't manage to slow the spread down, we'll be in trouble very quickly. Even with just 350 cases, our mortality rate is 8%. Our medical system just isn't prepared to handle anything serious.
At any rate, on Tuesday my wife finally convinced me that we should go to Emergency for my ribs. For those of you who didn't see on Facebook, on my way home from the guys' house last week, I took a bit of a fall on my bike. I won't get into the details except to say that I was attempting a pretty cool stunt. I definitely wasn't trying to go over a three inch curb.
I either cracked a rib or badly bruised them but either way, it's been fairly painful. It hurts to breath and I've had to sleep sitting up on the couch. Isabel has been after me every day that we should go see a doctor, but I figured why risk going to a hospital in a pandemic if we could avoid it. But then Monday night was a bad night, so I agreed to go on Tuesday morning. The Tuesday morning the military was supposed to be deployed. Of course...
Under our quarantine rules, no one is allowed out of their houses except for one morning a week to do grocery shopping. You're also not allowed to drive anywhere...just walk or bike. Your morning out is determined by the last number of your ID card. Isabel can leave Mondays and I can go out Wednesdays. So...on Tuesday, we piled into my truck and away we went.
.
We took back roads through residential neighbourhoods for most of the way there. The hospital is on the other side of the city and fairly close to the centre of town where we figured there'd be more of a concentration of authority figures. As we zigzagged our way across the city, we kept a careful eye out for said authority figures (ie. police or military), because it's eight hours in jail or a $350 fine if you're caught out. Neither seemed especially appealing. We figured we could talk our way out of it if we got caught, but we didn't want to take that chance.
We got to the hospital without seeing anyone. Isabel waited in the truck while I went in. We didn't walk to expose her to anything if we could help it. It was pretty quick since there weren't many people there. The doctor wanted to do x-rays, but I said no. I just wanted the pain drugs. They gave me a shot in the butt (which is every doctor here's favourite thing to do)...gave me a prescription and away we went.
On the way home, because we had a letter from the hospital, we were a little braver. We drove through the centre of the city....went past a market to see if a yarn store was open, that Isabel wanted to get yarn from...and even drove past the main police station.
Nada. Nope. No one. No military...no police... There were a lot of cars at the police station mind you...but it was lunch time, so that's probably why. I'm not sure if maybe they're more serious after lunch, when no is supposed to be out, or what exactly is happening. But the whole "militarized city" thing was a bit anticlimactic.
So now I have drugs...that are sort of working. I guess all I can do is sit around the apartment and not go out or do anything. Huh...as it turns out, a quarantine is a good time to break a rib.
I did go over and see the guys this morning though. We've been getting together on my mornings out, to have devotions. We're reading a book together, so we talk about a chapter each Wednesday. We also found out that our favourite salteña restaurant was selling and delivering salteñas. That was a happy moment. We hadn't had them in over a month, so it was fun to eat something special. It put smiles on our faces.
All in all, I guess we're doing okay. It's been a month of being stuck indoors, which takes it's toll for sure. We still have two more weeks to go. If you have a moment, we'd appreciate your prayers. I think the guys are doing okay, but boredom can be tough on them. They're all working out and playing soccer and trying to keep occupied, but too much time on their hands can bring temptations and cause some anxiety. It's also causing a lot of stress for families who aren't able to work. We're helping where we can with five or six families we know, but there are a lot of people suffering.
Thanks everyone! I'll keep you updated on how we're doing! Thanks to everyone who has been checking up on us and to everyone who has been praying! We appreciate it!
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