Adventures in African Health Care

Disclaimer: Okay, so I'm recording this here because I'm trying to keep this blog at least somewhat accurate in recalling my time here and this was a somewhat important event. That being said, I got sick. So if you don't want to hear about it, go watch this clip of a kitten fighting a watermelon. Awww, so cute!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vmoZEaN_-o&feature=feedrec_grec_index

So yeah, I got food severe poisoning. I know what caused it. It set in over the course of about three hours. At five on Halloween, I'm making jokes about not having brought a decent costume. At eight I was ill. I declared myself unable to stay conscious and breathe properly at about eleven.

I paged my father, who knows people in the emergency clinic. He came to get me to take me to the facility only to find that I was having difficulty walking. We managed to get to the clinic and wake up a guard. They got me settled on the one bed that they have in the emergency room while a health officer showed up. The officer was one of the more exotic looking people I have met here. He was tall, had tribal scaring, and wore what looked like a tablecloth around his head. He was also kind, competent, and very good at managing a complex situation.

The officer prescribed a huge IV, a few shots in the IV connector thing of something polysyllabic, and glucose. My father left with an interpreter to go to the pharmacy for the supplies since there was no medicine in the health center. They woke up the pharmacist who sleeps there and came back with the materials very quickly. The IV didn't hurt, but felt very chilly.

I was very cold so a blanket was found for me. The blanket had fleas, but I didn't care. Everything else was very sanitary. I started to feel better after about fifteen minutes. I went home about two hours later.

I was completely dehydrated and still very actively ill when I went to the clinic. I don't like to think about what would have happened if such a good system wasn't in place. I am extremely thankful for all of the people who assisted me.

My health is almost back to normal now, although I will have to make some pretty important decision regarding my diet, at least in the immediate future. I know what made me sick ( a special "holiday treat" from the staff here) so at least I can avoid that. It blows my mind that the price of the medicine used to re-route what my body was doing and rehydrate it to a working level cost a total of US$5. What an adventure! I hope I never, ever, do it again.