Hi all,

I’m back among the living Sunday afternoon finally. It has been a long week. Eric wrote something like this in his blog ,

“Five little monkeys jumping on the bed one fell off and went to Nairobi

Four little monkeys jumping on the bed one fell off and went to hospital with malaria.

Three little monkeys jumping on the bed one fell off and had to stay at the hospital with a student who had tonsillitis while she also had malaria but was being treated out patient with shots.

Two little monkeys jumping on the bed one fell off and ended up in the hospital with malaria.

One little monkey jumping on the bed and he sure is tired! (having to do all the jumping by himself!)

Let me tell you about my experience. Tuesday was my birthday and the 5 of us went out to lunch, Mark only had a Sprit and that was it, clue #1. He was complaining of feeling dizzy every time he bend over, clue #2. Tuesday night after to talking on the phone with my daughter I started to feel sick and had a fever, clue #3. Wednesday, Liz took our student with persistent tonsillitis back to the doctor and they admitted him to give him some IV antibiotics. I asked Liz to pick up the medicine the doctor order for another student who had malaria because by this time I was thinking that was what we had. She called and said the doctor wanted to see us and do a blood test before he would give us medicine. (what does he think this is America?) So we took motorcycles to the doctors. On the way some jerk who was driving about 60 MPH passes me and came so close he hit our review mirror.

Liz, Mark, the kid with the tonsils and I got blood drawn and Mark’s results were a 3 and Liz and I were 2 on a scale of scant to 4. Mark was admitted because of dehydration. I was given 3 shots, 3 days in a row. The government tells the doctors what to give as “first line defense against malaria.” So that’s what I had. Even at a 2 I was feeling sick enough I had to go home so Liz stayed with Mark and the tonsil kid. Now it turns out that the first line defense didn’t work for me (both hips hurting by this time from the shots by the way). So I was admitted Friday.

Let me tell you about the “hospital”. After they take your blood and give the little cotton ball to hold on your elbow, then they just throw the cotton ball out the window onto the ground blood on it and everything. While you wait 2 hours for for the typhoid test (he tested me for typhoid too because of my temp) to be done you watch others throw cotton balls outside. If the doctor orders a urine sample you go out of the hospital to the outhouse with a bottle that is about an inch tall and 1/2 in wide to catch the urine. I don’t know how they do it, but they come back with a sample. I was nauseated and really noticed how bad some people smell! Finally you get your lab work back and to go back to the doctor and he admits you. You spend the night in your clothes, there are no hospital gowns. The sheets are hand washed and hung on the line out back to dry so they at least smell good if you could smell them over the smell of antiseptic they used to clean the bed. The sheets are patterned, stripes, and flowers but no Princess Sheets. (Actually I was hoping for Square Pants Sponge Bob sheets.) Quite different than in the States with only white sheets. There is no cafeteria, but I couldn’t eat anyway. When they start your IV they discard all the stuff on the floor. You can’t find a trash can anywhere. There is electricity, but they try not to use it much. There is a bare bulb hanging from the ceiling. Oh and don’t forget your own pillow because I think there is only one in the whole hospital. And every one that passes your door stops to stare because they have never seen a white person in a hospital before. And if you close the door they just open it and look at you and reclose the door. The beds are not electric because the electricity is not reliable and the only call light you have is your husband who walks down the hall and gets the nurse when your IV needs changed. There was a nice Australian nurse working there and she gave us the key to the only “flush” American toilet in the building. You have to use a bucket of water to flush the toilet. And speaking of no electricity, when I needed a new IV bottle one time, there was no electricity and so they brought in a kerosene lantern for light. The smell of that helped my nausea (NOT) There were no admission papers and no one ever took my blood pressure or temperature. No one asked if I had any allergies and the doctor almost ordered Penicillin for me which I’m very allergic to. Just to make the whole experience a little more interesting the president of Tanzania arrived at a soccer field with 3 helicopters and we could hear every word of his speech. Of course we could not understand it, but they had 6- foot speakers so I could hear him. I think every one in any part of town could hear him.

One think I can say for sure is that the people here know how to treat malaria! Cause I’m almost better. AND it only cost me $43.00 American dollars, less than a co-pay

That’s all from this little monkey who hopes she never gets malaria again. Pam