MOM – I’M FINE.
In hindsight, when my friend Tom asked why my arm was hot on Saturday night, I should have known it was a fever. When I slept on Sunday and Monday, I should have listened to Tom when he said that I had malaria when I complained of being hot and tired and having a headache – he would know better than me, right? But I paid good money for a prophylactic that I thought would keep me safe. But a simple blood test and a 15 minute wait proved me wrong. Let’s just say that last night was rough, and leave it at that. If I had listened to Tom and gone to the clinic earlier I could have avoided some pain, but now I know.
The intrepid Joan, my steadfast roommate, is taking such good care of me, getting me food, water, and milk (whole milk! Wow, that’s hard to drink!). She’s forcing me to eat so I can get off the naughty list. If your stomach felt this way, you wouldn’t want to eat either! But Agrace pointed out that medicines made for the tropics are strong (again, she would know), so I need to eat/drink up.
Today a third of the class came to visit me, and from the texts I’ve received, I think at least half the theology department knows I’m sick. I’ll play hooky today and possibly tomorrow, then need to hit the ground running on Friday; we have to have our research proposal done by 9 April, and exams start 12 April, which includes time to study.
Thanks! Now that I'm a member, I really have no desire to prove my credentials again. 🙂 I hadn't eaten much before getting truly sick, and wondered where my body found anything to dispel. I still wonder, actually.
Welcome to the Malaria Club! Though it was 37 years ago, I remember vividly the nurse in Liberia telling me, after I'd spent an entire night losing everything I'd consumed in the previous month (or so it seemed), that if I hadn't eaten "a good breakfast" the malaria medicine would make me sick. She didn't understand why I was laughing.