The fun never ends...
I didn't quite expect my last few days at BFMS to go like this...
On Tuesday I was supposed to have my going-away party. I was really looking forward to it because it was my chance to buy drinks for everyone (RAs, Wildlife Officers, etc.) to say "thank you for everything". I woke up that morning with the runs. Not so much fun. But I thought it was probably some Ghana belly and that if I slept all morning, I would be OK. By 12 noon, I decided that there was no way I would be well enough to have the party. So I had to cancel it unfortunately. Osei went around telling people that I was sick and then after that, I had a steady stream of visitors coming in to see how I was doing.
Elizabeth and Constance came by to pray for me (such a sweet thing to do) and Charles dropped by too. Osei convinced me to go to the hospital in Nkoranza and came with me as well. I got there pretty late and the lab was closed. They called my friend in the lab Daniel and got him to come back after working a long day at the hospital to do my blood tests. Again, everything came back negative - malaria, parasites, etc. The doctor was pretty sure I had malaria (again!) and he wanted to admit me to the hospital for observation. So I spent my second last night at BFMS in the General Women's Ward at St. Theresa's Hospital in Nkoranza.
It was strange. This time, I had completely different symptoms than the last bout of malaria. This time I had diarrhea, a high fever, nausea but no vomiting, and no headache. Very strange. And how unlucky can you be to get malaria twice in 3 months? Anyways, let me tell you about my first stay in an African hospital. Thank goodness I had Osei and Daniel with me who could make sure that my papers went to the front of the line and I could see a doctor relatively quickly. They brought me up to the ward and hooked me up to an IV to rehydrate me and gave me a shot of Artemos (right in the ass) for the malaria. Ahhh... African hospital. The lights, TV, and radio would have stayed on all night except that I convinced the nurses to turn the radio off. I was so exhausted I managed to sleep well with the lights and TV on anyways. The hotel staff was awesome though and took good care of me. Nurses really are the backbone of the entire operation world wide and are unfortunately under paid and not properly respected for the work they do. Osei stayed with me in the ward and Daniel checked on me a few times too. They went and did things like buy food for me, a phone card so I could call Geoff, made me hot chocolate, and called BFMS regularly to report on my condition. I definitely owe both Osei and Daniel a nice gift from Canada for going out of their way to help me!
By the next morning I was feeling a little better, at least my fever was gone and I wasn't nauseous anymore. Tony and Alfred came to visit me, Alfred actually came to take Osei's place. The doctors discharged me and Alfred took me back to BFMS. Alfred and Bea's family had to take care of me by cooking, cleaning, pumping water, doing my laundry, etc. because I was still a little sick. I slept for 12 hours because I was so exhausted.
The one good thing about my last night at BFMS was that the colobus loud called at midnight. They rarely call at night and it's a spectacular thing to experience. I'm convinced they were saying "goodbye" to me. The last time they called was on Julie's last night at BFMS too. Coincidence? I think not!
The next morning Charles and Effia helped me pack up my room and clean and store stuff for the UofC students next year. I would've done a better job but at that point, I couldn't have cared less. I got a taxi to Nkoranza and got myself and my 3 months of research to Hand-in-Hand safe and sound. I'm slowly getting better. I have to be well by tomorrow since I'll be heading to Kumasi then Accra to pick up Geoff on Sunday. I'm so excited to see him! It's been a really long 3 months! We'll meet up with Scott in Kumasi on Monday and then come back to BFMS on Tuesday to say "hello/goodbye" to everyone.
So even though my last few days at BFMS weren't the greatest, they were definitely memorable. And it's nice to know that I have some true friends here who went out of their way to help me out when I needed it most.
On Tuesday I was supposed to have my going-away party. I was really looking forward to it because it was my chance to buy drinks for everyone (RAs, Wildlife Officers, etc.) to say "thank you for everything". I woke up that morning with the runs. Not so much fun. But I thought it was probably some Ghana belly and that if I slept all morning, I would be OK. By 12 noon, I decided that there was no way I would be well enough to have the party. So I had to cancel it unfortunately. Osei went around telling people that I was sick and then after that, I had a steady stream of visitors coming in to see how I was doing.
Elizabeth and Constance came by to pray for me (such a sweet thing to do) and Charles dropped by too. Osei convinced me to go to the hospital in Nkoranza and came with me as well. I got there pretty late and the lab was closed. They called my friend in the lab Daniel and got him to come back after working a long day at the hospital to do my blood tests. Again, everything came back negative - malaria, parasites, etc. The doctor was pretty sure I had malaria (again!) and he wanted to admit me to the hospital for observation. So I spent my second last night at BFMS in the General Women's Ward at St. Theresa's Hospital in Nkoranza.
It was strange. This time, I had completely different symptoms than the last bout of malaria. This time I had diarrhea, a high fever, nausea but no vomiting, and no headache. Very strange. And how unlucky can you be to get malaria twice in 3 months? Anyways, let me tell you about my first stay in an African hospital. Thank goodness I had Osei and Daniel with me who could make sure that my papers went to the front of the line and I could see a doctor relatively quickly. They brought me up to the ward and hooked me up to an IV to rehydrate me and gave me a shot of Artemos (right in the ass) for the malaria. Ahhh... African hospital. The lights, TV, and radio would have stayed on all night except that I convinced the nurses to turn the radio off. I was so exhausted I managed to sleep well with the lights and TV on anyways. The hotel staff was awesome though and took good care of me. Nurses really are the backbone of the entire operation world wide and are unfortunately under paid and not properly respected for the work they do. Osei stayed with me in the ward and Daniel checked on me a few times too. They went and did things like buy food for me, a phone card so I could call Geoff, made me hot chocolate, and called BFMS regularly to report on my condition. I definitely owe both Osei and Daniel a nice gift from Canada for going out of their way to help me!
By the next morning I was feeling a little better, at least my fever was gone and I wasn't nauseous anymore. Tony and Alfred came to visit me, Alfred actually came to take Osei's place. The doctors discharged me and Alfred took me back to BFMS. Alfred and Bea's family had to take care of me by cooking, cleaning, pumping water, doing my laundry, etc. because I was still a little sick. I slept for 12 hours because I was so exhausted.
The one good thing about my last night at BFMS was that the colobus loud called at midnight. They rarely call at night and it's a spectacular thing to experience. I'm convinced they were saying "goodbye" to me. The last time they called was on Julie's last night at BFMS too. Coincidence? I think not!
The next morning Charles and Effia helped me pack up my room and clean and store stuff for the UofC students next year. I would've done a better job but at that point, I couldn't have cared less. I got a taxi to Nkoranza and got myself and my 3 months of research to Hand-in-Hand safe and sound. I'm slowly getting better. I have to be well by tomorrow since I'll be heading to Kumasi then Accra to pick up Geoff on Sunday. I'm so excited to see him! It's been a really long 3 months! We'll meet up with Scott in Kumasi on Monday and then come back to BFMS on Tuesday to say "hello/goodbye" to everyone.
So even though my last few days at BFMS weren't the greatest, they were definitely memorable. And it's nice to know that I have some true friends here who went out of their way to help me out when I needed it most.
posted by Avatamsaka Monastery Choir at 7:45 AM
1 Comments:
Sigh, sometimes you do get rather unlucky when you travel - a combination of stress and different conditions, I suspect.
At any rate, I do hope you get better soon and enjoy your trip with Geoff! It must be nice to know that the distance is at an end for now, and will be at an end soon.
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