The doctor didn't even order lab tests, he was so sure of it. So, with Kim helping with the translations, I learned how horribly dangerous it is to be vegetarian here and that I should never eat in restaurants blah blah blah. And this, with me planning to go to Guatemala/Chiapas in less than a week, where this sort of thing is supposed to be worse.

So now I'm taking ridiculous doses of Flagyl (500mg, 3 times a day) that give me headaches and make me taste metal at periodic intervals and appear to turn my pee a weird orange-ish yellow. And am not allowed to eat raw vegetables (or consume alcohol, coffee, chocolate, anything spicy, etc.). I hate it. As if my diet wasn't restricted enough before they had to go prohibit my consumption of salad (the only veggie-friendly dish prepared by Jose in the kitchen at work).

I tried to bargain with the doctor about the medication - Can I start when I get back from vacation? How about after my roommate's birthday party on Friday? - and he would have none of it. Apparently dysentery is dangerous if untreated.

I'm also a bit worried/confused. The doctor said the prescribed meds aren't an antibiotic and the amoeba don't build resistance, but other people (i.e., my dad, whose medical opinion I respect) have said it is an antibiotic. Which makes me wonder about fallibility of the diagnosis.

Oh well, I guess I can't really do much about it, except wait and see if these pills do there job, and, if not, go back and demand more rigorous tests.