Flesh Eating Bacteria!

Ok, now that I have your attention with that title...you can relax just a little. Lane and I are breathing a big sigh of relief right now as we just returned from a long day of Dr. visits and learned that this in fact IS NOT a flesh eating bacteria!
As I mentioned in a previous post, Lane got this oozy sore on his arm that appeared the day after we arrived in Nicaragua on the Island. It started small and continued to grow. We didn't know what to do about it while in the island, but shortly after arriving in Costa Rica, we knew we had to see a Dr. about it because it had spread bigger on his arm and was starting on his eye.
The first Dr. we went to thought it was some sort of infectious bacteria and gave him 3 different medications and a shot in the behind. After 3 days on the medication, it was getting much worse, not better. These pictures were taken before it got much worse.
This morning his eye was nearly 100% swollen shut and he had new areas of growth on his arms and stomach as well as his other eye, nose and lips. (sounds highly attractive huh?)
We both felt so worried about this and called the Dr. right away. If it was truly an infection like he thought then this could be really bad. Well, we are carless still, so we called for a taxi that said he would be here in 20 minutes.
Lane and I left the kids here and went back to the original Dr. that is about 10 minutes away. He and the nurse were both baffled and said they did not know what this was. They wanted him to go to a specialist right away in the city of Liberia that is about 1 1/2 hours away. They called the specialist there and the first appt. was for 4:15 this afternoon.
We left there feeling very nervous.
The taxi driver agreed to come back for us at 2:30 and take us to Liberia.
The kids would need to stay home, which they were really sweet about doing even though we knew they were nervous. I went over and introduced myself to a couple neighbors and filled them in so that they could check on the kids or be there in case they had a problem. They were all very nice and so willing to help.
Well, the drive to Liberia was so tense. Not only were we nervous about Lane, but it was POURING rain and their roads are very narrow. You have to dodge people on bikes, people just walking, cows crossing and even armadillos! Oh, I was so tense I had leg cramps! Raining so hard you could hardly see in front of you at all. Our taxi driver, Walter didn't seem phased by it and kept moving right along.
The Dr. was ready for us, but didn't speak a word of English. Thank goodness Walter speaks English pretty well, so he came right in with us to translate. The Dr. was very confident that this was an allergic reaction that Lane had to a tropical plant and not a bacterial infection at all! WHEW! We were so relieved. She could see the relief in our faces. She was a very kind and motherly type of woman. I wanted to hug her. This diagnosis made sense to us because Lane remembered that right when we got to the house on the island, he went off for a minute with the caretaker and picked some mangoes. He crawled under some brush to get some off the ground that had fallen and it was after that that he noticed a small abrasion on his arm. So, that is where he ran into the plant that he is apparantly highly allergic to.
This Dr. prescribed another medication that he has to take for 20 days, some topical cream, and then also another shot that he would get at the pharmacy when he picked up the meds.
So, we went to the pharmacy and Lane went behind the counter into a little room and drooped his drawers. Kinda funny that they do that at the pharmacy we thought.
They actually had a Pizza Hut in Liberia so we ordered some pizza to share with Walter on the drive home and also have some to bring to the kids, which we knew they were going to LOVE!
More rain on the way home and this time it was totally dark so once again, I was a basket of nerves. I am a total wimp about driving in bad weather. That is why we live in AZ!! Why did I move to the rain forest??? I don't know. To see armadillos in the road I guess.
We are feeling so relieved and so blessed tonight. Today was a big learning experience for us. We met some nice people and got to eat pizza, so I guess it is not all bad right?
We know that several of you were praying for us and have been worried, so hopefully you all will see this and can sleep better tonight knowing all is well.
Now let's just hope that this Dr. was correct in her diagnosis and if so, Lane should start clearing up very soon.
The Dr. assured me that this is not contagious...so Lane might even get a kiss tonight! Believe me, we have all been scared to death to get too close to him for fear of us getting it! Only Emma has been brave enough to give him hugs.
We are all safe and happy tonight. Let's hope we don't have any other medical mysteries headed our way.