In M's family home in Karachi there were three kids staying at the house during our visit; my son and his two cousins. One was M's sister's daughter A and one is M's brother's daughter S. M's sister and her family live in America a couple of states over from us, and she and I were pregnant at the same time and A is only 3 months older than my son. M's brother and family live in Saudi Arabia and their daughter is was about 8 months old at the time. Both A and S got pretty sick while they were visiting Pakistan for their youngest Chachoo/Mamu's wedding.
Before the wedding festivities began, A had been sporadically vomiting around the house for a few days. She had also begun to lose her appetitte and have a "bad stomach" as we like to say. They'd taken her to see a doctor who'd given her an IV of fluids for dehydration. One day later, as we were leaving the bride's Mendhi Celebration, A got violently ill as her mother carried her down the stairs. We're talking sick from all areas at the same time, in the middle of the staircase with half the wedding procession trapped behind her. And the M's sister had to clean her up and ride home with her that way.
The next day, she was still very sick, so they took her to the hospital and M's sister had to miss out on the groom's Mendhi party. A stayed in the hospital for four days with "acute gastroenteritis." She missed the Nikah too - the actual wedding ceremony. Luckily she was doing much better by that time, so M's sister was able to have her in-laws stay with A at the hospital so she could attend the wedding.
Baby S had also been sick on and off during the trip, even though she'd been in Pakistan for more than a month with her mother on an extended pre-wedding visit. She was hospitalized 2 days after A and stayed for 3 days, with the same diagnosis. Luckily they'd gone to the same hospital and ended up sharing a room, so at least the families could comfort each other during such a scary and stressful time.
Thank God, Thank God, Thank God - my son never got sick. He had a bit of a fever and some congestion when we first got to Karachi, but I always figure that with a 24 hour travel in three different planes, he's bound to get some kind of cold. That's all it was, really, a cold that went away after a few days. After that, nothing. I tried to do everything I could to help out with the other kids, but after a while all those bodily fluids start to wear on you. After that, all I could do was take as many pictures as possible for the poor siblings who had to miss parts of their brother's wedding. Can you imagine having spent all that money and effort to go to Pakistan for a wedding and then missing it. I know that by that point they were so worried about their kids they didn't give a second thought to the wedding festivities, but I felt so bad for them - and for the groom who might have also been disappointed.
Luckily, both girls were back to normal by the time they came home from the hospital, and we were all able to spend another week together bonding with each other and our new addition of Chachoo's wife. I know plenty of kids who go to Pakistan for short or long visits alike that don't have any problems - my own son has been twice now with nothing more than airline travel colds. (Thank God!) I'm not sure why the girls ended up so sick. But I was hyper-vigilant about drying every dish and utensil before use, and washing all vegetables or fruit with soap and water - and then drying them completely - before cutting or peeling. This ended up in looking quite rude sometimes when I would be at a social event at someone's house and be offered food on newly washed (and therefore wet) dishes. I would wipe them dry with my scarf even though it looked like I was saying "I think your plates might not be clean enough for me, so I am going to wipe them off myself." I tried to explain, but people can understandably still take offense. And perhaps some of my precautions are over the top or unnecessary, but I saw the hell M's siblings and their poor daughters went though. I don't mind being thought of as rude or crazy or over the top if there's even a slight chance of preventing that.
