Friday, July 6, 2012

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

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