A Night in a Malawian Government Hospital

Well I am going to keep this post super short (hopefully) b/c I am not feeling really up to writing today...but I just wanted to let you know what has been going on here with me these past couple days...

Tues. May 24th
Sitting down to dinner and mid way through my first bite of my huge cabbage salad (cabbage, green peppers, carrots, tomatoes...yum!!!) which I had already put dressing on I realized that...OH NO...I forgot to wash the cabbage! (a huge no no!) Well too late! I sat there and really enjoyed the rest of my salad and hoped and prayed that my mistake wouldn't make me sick...

Wed. May 25th
Woke up not feeling super great. (stupid stephanie not washing your cabbage!) If you know me I am not one to really give in to being sick too easily. I got ready for school and was about to walk out the door when I thought you know what...I am really not feeling well...Stephanie you really shouldn't push it...especially since you are in the bush of Malawi and there isn't any doctor around...stay home and rest where you will be near a toilet!  I fought bad stomach cramps, body aches, and a headache all day...and good thing I stayed near a toilet because I was in and out it all day with really bad diarrhea. God totally knew what He was doing prompting me to stay home. So I basically laid on the couch all day reading and listening to BBC on the radio. That night as I was making myself eggs for dinner and getting ready for bible study (which I was leading) I was thinking ok well that's enough of being sick I think I will be fine tomorrow. As I was heading to bible study though I started really not feeling well again (you know how it always comes in waves) and feeling like I could be getting a fever.  I cut bible study a little short so I could head to bed. As I was climbing into bed I took my temperature... 99.1 F...so I took two advil to prevent the fever from getting worse in the middle of the night. Two hours later I woke up and had to go to the bathroom. As I was walking back inside I thought to myself...you know I am feeling VERY hot...what is the deal? So I took my temperature again...102.5 F!!! Yikes! Why so high when I have medicine in me that is supposed to be taking it away? Called my parents in the States to ask for advice on what to do...should I talk more medicine or wait it out?? Well I ended up just trying to wait it out for the rest of the night. Between my frequent trips to the bathroom outside (soooo inconvenient when you are sick!) and laying in bed either too hot or too cold to fall asleep....I didn't sleep much. Around 5am I took more advil and at 6am I woke up and decided I needed to ask Gift to take me to the hospital (remember that Gloria and Elliot are not in Dzuwa right now so I am alone in the house).

Thurs. May 26th
So I woke up...slowly shuffled outside and over to Gift's house to ask him to take me to the hospital. Being sick in the bush of Africa is just sooooo not fun! or easy! Its not like at home where you can just crawl out of bed in your pajamas and your mom will help you to the car...then you ride maybe 10-15 minutes to the doctors office...and you wait to be let into the examination room where everything happens. Gosh I wish it was that simple!!! No I had to bucket shower to get all the gross sweatyness off of me from my awful night...then had to get dressed in actual clothes...pack a bag for a couple days b/c who know what might happen...then climb in the car and ride 2.5hrs on bumpy dirt roads to the hospital. When your head is killing you and all you want to do is lie down and sleep bump dirt roads are your worst nightmare! I wanted to cry the whole ride just wishing I was back in the comfort of my mom's car in America making the easy, familiar drive to my normal doctors office. Thankfully Ronald and Ulemu (JTW staff people in Kasungu at the Lighthouse internet cafe) know some doctors at the Government Hospital in Kasungu so once Gift and I arrived in Kasungu they were able to help get me into see the doctor very quickly. Gift and I met up with Mpatzo (Women's Block doctor) at the hospital and she immediately walked me in to see her boss (the head doctor I think of the whole hospital). He talked with me asking me my symptoms (bad headache, body aches, super high fever, awful diarrhea)...and then after I had described them what I had eaten (darn that unwashed cabbage!). They decided to test me for malaria just to make sure. Unlike in America where everything happens in the one doctors office room in malawi if you need different things to happen you have to walk all over the place to get them done. So I had to walk to the lab to get tested for Malaria then back to the office to meet with the doctor again. Almost didn't make it back to the office I was feeling so awful...thought I was going to pass out and throw up everywhere. Test came back negative for malaria so he decided it was food poisoning. He then took my temperature around 100 this time and then my blood pressure. He really didn't seem too concerned up until he took my blood pressure and they actually took it multiple times to make sure the machine was actually working right because get this....my blood pressure was an AMAZINGLY LOW 77/49!!! (just for reference a normal blood pressure is 120/80 and mine is typically around 110/70) OH MY!!! So they immediately admitted me so they could start IV fluids! I really had no idea how sick I was until I got to the hospital. It was there I started really feeling my worst. Who knew dehydration could happen that fast! So I then had to walk (ahhh!) again to another office where a guy put an IV in my left arm with a HUGE needle (I cried...tried not to but couldn't help it I was feeling so sick) and then had to walk to the ward I was being admitted to...about 2 seconds out of the door of the IV room I really couldn't even stand anymore and they had to get a wheel chair to wheel me to the women's ward. In the women's ward they tried to put another IV into my right arm so they could try to rehydrate me faster...I cried again (whoops) and the nurse chickened out because she felt so bad for hurting me. She then took me to a private room where I would stay for the night. They gave me two bags of IV fluids (one bag of saline solution and another solution I don't know what its called) and after both bags I started feeling much better. They also started me on a course of Cipro. Gift went home to Dzuwa and Ronald shut down the lighthouse for the rest of the day so he could come take care of me. In Malawian hospitals you have to have a "guardian" with you because they are so understaffed. Your guardian is responsible for tracking down the doctor or nurse when you need something. So Ronald was my "guardian" for the rest of the day...we watched some movies (thankfully I had packed my computer) and he was even able to track down Mashed Potatoes for my lunch! Later that night Ulemu returned from her meetings in Dzuwa and came to relieve Ron and spend the night with me. The night was not very restful to say the least. We had to leave the lights on b/c we had no mosquito nets and there were a TON of mosquitos. I tied my zip-up around my head to try to block out the light...it worked but it wasn't exactly comfortable. I slept pretty restlessly the entire night listening to this one kid crying and one woman throwing up SOOO loudly all night! Kind of scary! Apparently though my zip-up (which also covered my ears) blocked out a lot more awful noises...Ulemu told me the next morning she heard not only the kid crying and the woman puking but also multiple women screaming from giving birth and two serious traumas coming in!!!! Praise the Lord I didn't hear any of it!!! (she also told me a day later that her pastor's wife died in the same room I stayed in a few months earlier...good thing I didn't know that when I was actually staying there!)

Fri. May 27th
Friday I was feeling much better (although not 100%). Was still super tired, still had diarrhea, and body aches but I was able to sit up and communicate with people. The doctors came in late morning and examined me again. This time my blood pressure was 102/64 and they ok-ed me for release. As I was walking out the door looking for where I paid for my stay and my cipro I was informed that all government hospitals in Malawi are FREE! Geez!!! Amazing! I was expecting to have to pay a couple thousand kwacha for my visit (I had debated with myself when choosing hospitals where to go because I didn't really like the last hospital I visited b/c I didn't really trust the doctors there but it was super cheap...I decided though that it would be better for me to pay more to get better care so I came to the city...and it ended up being FREE!) God is great!

Now I am staying with Ron and Ulemu a couple more days while I continue to recover. I am soooo thankful for them and how gracious they have been taking me in and caring for me. They have even been so great in trying to find food like the food I normally eat when I am sick at home :-) They made me "sick eggs" (aka soft-boiled eggs) a smith family tradition when you are sick...hence the name "sick eggs"...and helped me find all the ingredients to make soup (soup in a can doesn't exist in Malawi...or at least in Kasungu). Delicious!

As of today I am really feeling much much better! Still a bit tired but all other symptoms are gone :-) Praise the Lord!  Thanks to all who somehow heard about my sickness and have been praying! Please continue to pray for my recovery!

(bahhh soooo tired of typing...apparently I am totally incapable of writing short posts!)