“Welcome to the Club“ & its a BIG one!

Its hard to imagine that there is a club where all those whom have malaria are initiated into.. But, well there is.

The 14th of November, I wake up feeling like ‘you have been run over by a truck/bus/train’. I hadn’t had any alcohol in a few days, so I had 3 savannas the night before, welcoming Jo and Lucho home could not have caused it. I thought maybe I was getting sick, and was imagining a sore throat, and body aches, wondering how could I have flu. So, I ordered some fruits for breakfast to give myself a vitamin boost. I sat down with baby Estella and Jo for morning, but all of a sudden felt horrible, and went to the bathroom, and ended up laying down from 10 am till 3 pm. The only thing that could come to mind was that I had malaria. After a few texts to a friend to find out the symptoms, and talking to folks that have had it, I got enough energy/courage to go to the clinic to get tested. It was a nightmare. Imagine feeling like a train ran over you, and having to walk through chaos with the sun blaring on you to sit in a clinic in which you would never see yourself in, in the states. My initial thoughts were, is it going to be clean, will it all be sterile. 500 Shillings ( less than 50 cents), later I got a metal poker that was wrapped in its own sterile wrapping to poke me for some blood. Now the odd thing was, the slide then touched the blood on my finger, vs. just dripping it onto it.. ( Boy I hope I don’t get AIDS or something..) Anyhow, I won’t even go to explain the unsterile process of what the slide was dipped into, to get the results. But lets just say, I wanted to go to the bathroom while there, but after opening the door, and smelling the odor, nearly throwing up, I decided to just sit down and hope I didn’t pass out. A few minutes later the doctor calls me, and lets me know I have malaria. 2 parasites found. But, don’t ask me what strain, because I have no idea, and didn’t know I was supposed to ask. Apparently, you ask what strain you have because there is one strain that stays in you, while the others don’t. I’m crossing my fingers and hoping that the strain I have will leave my body once my treatment has finished.

Anyhow, I get back to Mikadi and eat some plain pasta shells, and take my first dose of malaria pills. One thing that I would have never expected is how exhausted you get doing anything. You just have to lay down after doing anything. So, after eating and taking pills, I took another nap, woke up, went to toilet, then another nap. Nap then Nap then Nap.

I took my second dose at 3:00 am when I woke up, with some rice I took from the kitchen.

Day 2 –

Feeling better, or so I thought. I decide to take a shower. But just taking a shower, I was exhausted. I came back and laid down. Slept till 10 am, and although no appetite, decided to eat some food along with some milky mango juice to take down my 3rd dose of pills.

Some of the symptoms in which you can have: Extreme tiredness, hot or cold flashes, body aches, dizziness, loss of appetite. Just imagine what it would feel like if a train ran over you.. That’s malaria! Now, its best to get tested or start taking meds at the first sign of malaria, vs waiting the entire day like I did. The less you wait, the less pain you deal with.

So, I’ve been initiated to Africa, and welcomed to the Malaria Club. I have been the most careful by taking garlic pills, taking pro-biotics, wearing long sleeves, and using mosquito repellent. So even if you are careful, you can still get malaria. After this experience, I am going to get back on my Malarone, and hope not to get malaria again. If anyone wants to send a prescription of Malarone, feel free! So far my dad has been able to get me a month’s worth.

I never thought I would say this, but sometimes you do get homesick. Getting Malaria, isn’t the best feeling, and makes you appreciate the western world for the lack of diseases.