Sick Sick SICK!

Early last week I had two visitors. My friend from my study abroad program in Switzerland, Jo, was visiting her sister, Iris, in Ghana because she was a study abroad student there. So, they decided to come overland to Senegal just to see me! It was really nice to be able to see a friendly face.

So, we went to my village. As soon as we started eating lunch that day, my stomach started hurting--BAD. It was cramping up and basically dehabilitated me. I was writhing in pain on my thin mattress saying how sorry I was for being sick and a bad hostess. I thought it would pass; it had happened before and was usually done with in an hour or two. Only, it didn't stop. I was still writhing when I finally decided to call the med office at 5:30 that evening. Our doctor told me to take some Cipro and see if that helped. Well unfortunately, I couldn't keep that down, nor any water or food. SO, I called back, explained and she said to see if I could get some kind of transportation out of my village. Unfortunately, by that time, 7:30, it was already dark and NO ONE would leave, even if I paid them extra. The doctor then decided she would call an ambulance in Ourosoggui, the closest town with a hospital 50 k away. So I waited. And waited. waited. waiting, still waiting....

At 12:30, after 9 hours of intense abdominal pain, a gutted sedan pulled up to my front door and ushered Jo, Iris and myself out of the village. It took about an hour and change to get there and when we did, I was exhausted, dehydrated and scared because I was in a hospital in the middle of the desert in Senegal.

I ended up getting a malaria test, which was negative, and an IV, which was TERRIFYING! First IV ever. I mean, it all ended well, but still, needles and Africa make me think of germs, etc....We had to stay in the hospital that night. Luckily, we had the room to ourselves. Unfortunately, there were no mosquito nets around or even a place to hang the one that I had brought with me from home. There was a huge hole in the wall where the AC unit used to be; therefore, shutting the door to keep out mosquitoes was futile. The sheets were stained with blood and other fluids. The walls were smudged with dirt. Made me want to go home to Minneapolis and leave Senegal far behind.

But! I survived. I am healthy, for the most part, now. So, it can be done. I later went to Dakar and stayed in AC with a nice bed and sheets, so I'm not struggling. But, it made me so happy that I can leave the lifestyle here. Living in a village without electricity really does make emergencies very difficult to fix. This experience showed me how to fix a situation like this, but it was definitely not preferable. I am so thankful for the facilities in the West and I can't wait to get back to them. I am also going to look into getting the hospital beds with mosquito nets because the number one reason people are there in the first place is malaria. See what I'm getting at?