Season 1

Episode 004 Travel Injuries and Illness Tips

Show Notes:

Jaynie: In this episode, we will discuss different travel injuries and illness tips and situations you may encounter while traveling. We will talk about each situation and determine the best way to handle something like it in the future. It's a learning experience for everyone.

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Scott: Let's start with the least serious of our stories today. And I believe it begins with you Jaynie. This one is about an injury.

Jaynie: While on a trip to Mexico, Scott and I and our friends rented scooters and rode around the island of Isla Mujares, just off the coast of Cancun, Mexico.

Scott: We stopped to take pictures at a picturesque beach.

Jaynie: As I climbed off the scooter, my calf touched the exhaust pipe. I yelled in pain and shock.

Scott: That's when I noticed the protective cover was missing from the exhaust pipe.

Jaynie: Quickly, I had a round swollen, red sore about three inches around. It hurt so bad, but we were in the middle of nowhere so I soaked it in the ocean.

Scott: That was a mistake. We probably should have left the group and gone to TIP: find ice or some kind of first aid.

Jaynie: Later, after taking the ferry back to Cancun, and a bus down south to Playa del Carmen, we arrived at our hotel.

Scott: By then, her leg was so red and the sore had opened up.

Jaynie: I asked for bandages at our hotel reception desk and they brought out a sweet man. He cleaned my wound and applied ointment to the burn. Then he gave me the ointment to keep it covered with as well.

Scott: We thought it was so nice of him, TIP: but really we should have gone to a doctor to have it evaluated. Then she would have received proper aftercare instructions to avoid any issues with it healing.

Jaynie: We still had five days left in Mexico, and I wasn't' going to let an oozing burn on my leg slow me down. I swam in the pool every day and thought the ocean water was good for healing.

Scott: We even rented quads and went f-wheeling in the jungle!

Jaynie: In hindsight years later, after working in Dermatology, I learned how lucky I was not to get a serious infection.

Scott: Yes, you could have got sepsis, they say once you break the barrier of skin it's open to all sorts of microbes.

Jaynie: TIP: Now we know to get immediate medical treatment, to protect the wound and avoid pools and ocean.

Scott: Now I think it's time to talk about another travel-related issue. This one involves illness and getting proper vaccinations.

Jaynie: It's also about using good judgment when looking at your surroundings.

Scott: Back we go to Mexico. Imagine a small bay with moderate waves, perfect for someone who only surfs a few times a year.

Jaynie: Scott was all alone surfing, and I sat on the patio of a beach bar watching.

Scott: I really didn't think much of the muddy brown ocean water in the bay. I thought maybe it was from the rain the night before.

Jaynie: Fast forward a few weeks after we are back home, Scott is so sick!

Scott: I was exhausted, I couldn't even keep my eyes open.

Jaynie: You had a low-grade fever, joint pain, but worst of all, your eyes were so yellow!

Scott: Jaynie thought maybe I had Malaria. Finally, after I couldn't keep my eyes open at work, I even had to get a ride home from a job I was on because I was too tired to drive. I went to the doctor.

Jaynie: After running tests, I think it was a urinalysis which determined it, he was diagnosed with Hepatitis A.