Getting stronger

Slowly but surely, I’m finally gaining back a bit of strength after battling a very frightening case of malaria.

As you remember, I was diagnosed about a week ago with malaria and a chest infection, which were making me quite faint, feverish and tired.  In the beginning went on a dose of strong anti-malarials and antibiotics to kick the parasites out of my body. They didn’t work. After the first three-day treatment, I was extremely weak and couldn’t eat anything so I went to the hospital (first time) and was given more drugs to counter the malaria. Well, they worked – a bit too well – and once again I was unable to stand on my own, eat or sleep because they were so strong.

Unfortunately, after a day on those second medications, I was taken to the hospital (second time) and admitted for dehydration. I was given 2 liters of fluid through a seriously scary IV and left to rest at the hospital for the day.

During this time, I was advised to move to my preceptor’s home to rest. I was previously staying at the Makecho’s, but because there was a lot of noise there and I wasn’t able to rest properly, I came to Dr. Amin’s. The change of location has been a great blessing for me as I have been brought back to some sort of health through lots of fresh fruit, a hot shower and a lot of good rest at Dr. Amin’s.

I’m still clobbering through the house a bit – it’s still very difficult to be on my feet for more than 5 minutes – but I seem to be getting a bit better since I’ve been off these strong medications.

That said, I should let everyone know that I am planning on coming home as soon as possible to rest a bit more and be in familiar surroundings. The details are still coming in, but I may be leaving for Nairobi as early as Saturday – but that’s not certain yet. I should know over the course of today what the plan is for my evacuation.

Thanks for keeping me in your thoughts. I’ve received many emails and facebook notes wishing me a speedy recovering, so thank you.

Will update again soon.

Love,

K

Congrats! You've got ...

Living in Kenya inherently comes with a level of danger. Daily bus rides are perilous, choosing food that won’t make you sick is a Russian roulette game, and the sheer amount of people that have the common cold can give even a mild germaphobe serious anxiety.

Though I’ve tended to avoid most of these dangerous/uncomfortable situations on my last three trips to Kenya, I have finally succumbed to contracting one of the most feared sicknesses … malaria.

Yeah, I have malaria. And interestingly enough, I don’t just have malaria, I also have a chest infection, which I probably caught from the copious amount of hands I shake on a daily basis.

I’ve been feeling pretty terrible the last few days, which mostly manifested into a bad cough, headache and fever. But today, I became quite faint at work and decided to go get tested for malaria and typhoid, at the urging of my co-workers of course. So I headed to the lab to get my blood taken and 15 minutes later, the verdict was in: malaria and a chest infection. The physician gave me lots of medications to kill anything living inside my body and told me to get lots of rest and water. But the kicker? It’s going to get worse before it gets better. Apparently, the medication for malaria is quite strong and will most-likely knock me off my feet for a few days. It’s a bummer for sure, but I’m hoping it does the trick in the end and I’ll be feeling better by next week.

Given the fact that I’m not feeling well (among several other factors going on currently) I have decided to return early to Minneapolis. I haven’t yet settled on a final date, but will keep everyone updated as things move forward.

Other than that, things have been going fine. Being sick has consumed most of my days, so I don’t have much else to report other than that. But on a good final note, I found my camera! It was under a million items in my bag (which I thought I emptied earlier this month). I’m very happy about that, so look out for photos to come.

Now it’s time for dinner and rest. Wish me luck and a speedy recovery. I’ll need it .

Cheers,

k