My niece is in Peru on a mission. She says she gets bitten by bugs a lot. She has been sick for a couple of months.
Now they want to do a medical procedure to check out her bowels. I think she said colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy.

I know they have good doctors everywhere, but I am concerned because she has been sick from bug bites non stop since she has been there. And now they tell her that her digestive system seems messed up.

My question: Would you worry about having a medical procedure done in Peru? She is in a small town but she is near Lima.

A second question: Are the lots of pesky bugs there that could make a person really sick? I am concerned that she mentions bug bites all the time.

I wonder if you had any experiences with health issues or nasty bugs.

I wonder what to tell my niece's folks.

Personally, if it were my kid having a procedure for an undiagnosed condition, I'd bring him/her home. At the very least I would go there. I don't know what they are looking for in the colonoscopy but between the prep and procedure, I'd think she would be more comfotable at home too.

It all depends on where in Peru and the competancy of the medical professional --It also depends on the type of parasites ?? If they are skin burrowing bugs -they could plague her for years and burrow deep into her flesh --however if they are internal parasites then it means a long time of intestinal problems and ill health..

Tell her parents --Create a stink with the Mission President.. Get a good MD with experience to see her and above all --GET HER HOME !!!

JB

I don't know anything about Peru, and Googling this issue brings up so much information that I am frankly overwhelmed.

So your experiences and advice are really appreciated!

I don't know about Peru specifically, but I served in Costa Rica and there were plenty of pesky bugs to make you sick. And they had some nasty tropical diseases like dengue fever. I would expect similar in Peru

My biggest concern would be perforation of the intestine, which has happened during a colonoscopy even here in the United States.

Have you read "The Passion of Raptor Jesus" --get it on Amazon and you will read how a perfectly healthy young male ended up with a life long debilitating intestinal illness plus PTSD from the neglect and abuse he suffered from the Mission Prez who thought he was a slacker.

That was in Germany. Read Runtu's book (John Williams) "Heaven up Here" to get a glimpse of life as a missionary in Bolivia and the GAWDAWFUL conditions.

If she's complaining of bugs, that would be the tip of the iceberg. It's hard for a regular person to realize that the church would allow our precious children to live without sanitary conditions, imperiling their lives.

GO BRING HER HOME - don't let her stay there.

Anagrammy

Bring her home anyway but;

I went to the Philippines. It is a dirty, smelly, bug infested, open sewers,tropical disease riddled, other kind of diseases that I thought were done with(polio), 3rd world country.

Window screens were required in all apartments. This rule was kept strictly. Mosquito nets were also available. The private health care establishment was decent. I thought I had diabetes and had multiple tests, my MTC comp. had his appendix out. It was fine.

daughter back home for treatment. My nephew went on a mission and needed knee surgery and he return home for that and then went back to his mission after he was well.