Malaria!

Sorry for the extended absence—I was indisposed. On Tuesday, I went to town and wasn’t feeling great, so I came back home almost immediately. Dr. Addae is in Accra, so I called Grace, who came over and from my symptoms (fatigue, fever), she figured that I had malaria, so we went to a hospital near Bon Appetit to get tested. The name of the hospital was Supercare Hospital and it said on the sign that God is the Supreme Healer. I wish I had given more collection two weeks ago. While waiting for the test results at Bon Appetit, my fever was getting worse. Grace came back and told me we had to get to the hospital right away because I had a bad case of malaria. When I got there, I had a fever of almost 41, which works out to over 105 Fahrenheit. They gave me a suppository (fun!) and hooked me up to an IV and gave me some more drugs and I started to feel better almost immediately. By night-time, I was feeling pretty well fine although I had to stay overnight. The next morning, my fever was back, although not as high. That is normal though. So Wednesday was full of more drugs and IVs. I was hoping I could go home Wednesday night, but they made me stay again. By Thursday morning, I was feeling fine. The treatment for malaria lasts three days, so I took the last of those pills. I was pretty adamant about getting out, because I was going stir-crazy. Nobody likes hospitals, but they’re even worse when you have one book that you’ve already read and no TV and nothing else to do. I needed to see the doctor before getting discharged, so I told the nurses that I’d like to see him when he came. Somehow, the message didn’t get relayed, and I almost had a severe breakdown. Fortunately, he showed up at about 8 last night and I was able to leave, after paying the bill, which came out to about $140. I am going to call BCAA to sort out how I can get them to give me that money. The care at the hospital was really good, at first. The nurses were great and they did so much to make me as comfortable as possible. But by late Wednesday, things were starting to frustrate me. The nurses were just trainees (most of them, anyhow) and the doctor wasn’t there full-time. They kept making basic mistakes when changing my IV bags, meaning that blood would leak out of into the hose, clogging it. This would mean they would have to flush it out, which isn’t always pleasant. Or fluid would spill everywhere. It was worrying to say the least, especially when I had to start giving them instructions. I have zero medical training. Today I am going to talk to Jennifer to find out what the Peace Corps do with their volunteers when they get sick. I am not going back to that hospital again. I’m certain that I’ve painted a picture that is much worse than reality, but I figure I should be honest and not sugar-coat everything. The nurses were all very nice and I appreciate everything they did for me, but if I ever get sick again, I’m going to a hospital where there is a doctor around 24 hours a day. It was interesting being in a private hospital, coming from one of the three countries in the world in which they are illegal. The care was really fast, which was pretty new, and the place wasn’t overcrowded by any means. But settling the bill is a strange thing. You always wonder if they are prescribing unnecessary things, or ripping you off. It’s funny how economics comes into play in health care. In the Canadian system, because the price is essentially zero, demand is so high, creating the problems we have. But with private care, there is incentive to cut costs to make money and who wants discount medicine? I guess that’s why the best systems have a mix of both. I am not going to make some sweeping conclusion to finish off this post, however. I am so thankful that I am out of the hospital and feeling better. Being sick is terrible and being sick in a foreign country is even worse. Fortunately, Grace and Dr. Addae’s brother Nana did so much to help me out (including paying the bill—I have 100 cedis to my name; about 1 cent. I do have US cash though) Tomorrow is Thanksgiving dinner at the Peace Corps place, but with my recent luck, I’ll probably get sick or eaten by a lion. I hope everyone is doing well at home. I can honestly say that I’ve never missed Canadian winters more than on Tuesday afternoon when my fever was at its peak.