I Survived Malaria

Thank you for all your prayers. I am much better now.

Malaria is terrible!!!! It is worse than I imagined. I see people come to the clinic with malaria and they definitely aren't well, but they seem able to function. Employees who get it take medication and are ok to work the next day. Although I prayed I would never get it, I assumed if I did, it wouldn't be that bad. I would be able to handle it. Well, I was mistaken. I have so much more compassion for people with malaria than I did before. They are very sick and still find a way to walk to the clinic or work. They are just a lot tougher than me.

My symptoms began on Saturday. At that point I didn't know I had malaria. My stomach began to hurt at lunchtime and I got a headache and fever in the evening. I took some Alieve and by morning, my headache and fever had left. I made it through Sunday ok. I was just really tired. Monday around 2:00am, I awoke with a very bad headache and knew I must have a fever. I was in so much pain, I couldn't go back to sleep. So, I just waited until people woke up. Suzy came and asked me if I was exercising and I said "no, I don't feel well." She sent in Margaret to check on me. I had a slight fever so she gave me a fever reducer and pain reliever for the headache. When she checked on me two hours later, my fever had increased and I felt very nauseous. I also had joint pain. Suzy and Caleb did a paracheck on me (that tests for malaria) and I was positive.

Bummer.

Well, at least we knew what it was so I thought "give me Coartum and I'll be back in shape by tomorrow." That was not the case. I felt incredibly nauseous, my head hurt, I was alternating between really hot and really cold and my whole body ached. I thought I might be able to work a bit and answered my door when Bona came looking for more registration books. As he talked to me, I couldn't understand what he was saying. I realized I wasn't feeling well and turned to sit down. After that, I don't know exactly what happened. I fainted. I don't remember blacking out. I just remember being on the floor with someone holding my shoulders up. Bona called for help and people came over to help me back to bed. I was still really confused about what happened. I spent the rest of the day in bed thinking, surely, I will feel better tomorrow. We have movie nights on Mondays so Suzy came and got me and set me up on the couch. Unfortunately, I started feeling pretty bad and went back to my room. Night came and went and I was so nauseous, I couldn't sleep.

When the sun rose on Tuesday, I was upset to discover I did not feel any better. In fact I was worse. I couldn't eat or drink and had all the same symptoms of the day before. That day I got really weak and the vomiting began. I could barely walk and had to have help going to the bathroom. By Tuesday night, I was not showing any signs of improvement.

Wednesday morning came and I still hadn't slept. The vomiting continued so they changed my medication from an oral medication to IV. Suzy put me in her room so she could keep an eye on me. I was able to sit outside for a bit, but still couldn't eat, drink or sleep and I kept throwing up. Wednesday night was the worst. I began the night sleeping in Rachel's room (no one wanted to risk me fainting again - it had happened twice so far), but moved back into my room when I was too restless to sleep. My legs were doing something weird and I couldn't stop moving them. That led to another sleepless night. At this point I was so hopeless and discouraged. I just cried out to God and begged for help. The lack of sleep was doing me harm physically and mentally.

By Thursday, I felt a little better. My fever had reduced and my headache was gone. The nausea began to decrease as well. Thursday night, I felt good enough to sit at the dinner table with everyone else. Even if I couldn't eat, it would be nice to see everyone. Unfortunately, I felt sick after about 10 minutes. I rushed to my room, but didn't make it, vomiting right in front of our veranda. I was really bummed. I thought I was getting better.

Thursday night was a turning point, fortunately. I SLEPT!!!!! That made all the difference. I woke up Friday feeling better than I had in days. I was still really weak and tired, but I was able to go to devotions. At last, the malaria was behind me.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday I had to rest a lot. After being in bed for four days and not eating or drinking, I was exhausted and had to lay down and sleep every two hours or so. It is now Monday and I am feeling good. Still a bit tired, but fully recovered.

Thank you so much for your prayers. They really got me through. Although I would never want to get it again, I did learn a few things from having malaria:

1. With God's help, I can endure a bad sickness. I acknowledge being a wimp and there were times I thought this would break me. However, I made it. It was awful, but I am ok. It will help me in the future when I am sick and feeling discouraged.
2. When you are sick, you learn to drop your pride and you must accept help (something that is hard for me). God has blessed me with amazing people here. I was really well taken care of by so many people. Suzy was constantly checking on me and praying for me. While I was in her bed, she washed my sheets and cleaned my room so it would be nice and fresh when I got back. Amy was always asking what she could do for me. She would bring me anything if it meant I would eat and drink (chicken broth, cereal, crystal light). She even helped me to my chamberpot, half naked and waited while I finished. Rachel gave me a few massages that helped ease my pain. Sabet emptied my chamberpot and vomit bucket. Margaret gently started my IV. I lost count of how many people saw me vomit. So many more people helped me. Thinking about it makes me cry and I appreciate them so much.
3. I have increased compassion for the patients with malaria. They are so tough and I have a lot to learn from them.

Thank you for everyone that prayed for me and sent me messages. They really encouraged me. People I didn't even know were praying for me. So thank you, thank you, thank you! God is good.

Malaria - The Worst Thing Ever

Some of you may have hear by now from the prayer request that Suzy sent out that I have malaria. I wanted to ask for your prayers too. I tested positive yesterday morning and have felt absolutely terrible since. I haven't slept in 36 hours and feel so sick. I even fainted twice yesterday. Please pray that I will find relief soon. I am taking medication for it am supposed to feel better soon. I was told that your first bout with malaria is the worst, and I can vouch for that.

I will write more when I am feeling better. Thank you for praying.

Rebecca Released

Wednesday afternoon I went to visit Rebecca and the other ladies in jail. Rebecca seemed to be doing well, more hopeful. We did a Bible study on suffering and calling out to God during the hard times. I invited all the ladies to join us. There were around 20 there. Some of them scooted close to us and the others stayed where they were. As I read verses from the Bible and talked about God never leaving us, more people came over to listen, including some of the prison wardens! At the end, I led them in a prayer to ask Jesus into their hearts. Most of them said they already had done that, which is good. I encouraged Rebecca to read the Dinka Bible I left with her.

This morning (Friday) Mary, Rebecca's mother, came by the compound to tell us Rebecca has been released. She was ordered to pay 300 pounds. They are letting her go home for the night as long as she reports back to the jail during the day. She will have to do that until the money is paid.

We praise God she was let go and we continue to pray for her life as well as the life of the baby she is carrying.

Chamberpot

I was never going to share this story, but Suzy and Amy convinced me. It's good for a laugh, although at my expense!

Our bathrooms are located in the middle of the compound. If you have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, it's kind of a drag to have to walk outside to the toilets. If it's raining, it's especially a bummer. Plus, you have to look out for frogs and snakes. Not so much fun when you are half asleep. As a solution to this issue, we have susu (Swahili word for pee) buckets in our room. If you have to pee, you can go in the bucket and then empty it in the toilet in the morning. For those of you who haven't been here, it may be hard to understand why a person would pee in a bucket instead of walking outside to the bathroom. I resisted for several months, but then gave in and started using the bucket. Suzy had special covers/seats made for our susu buckets which slide over the top of the buckets. They arrived on the truck and we refer to them as our chamberpots.

Each morning, I empty the bucket. I leave it on my porch during the day with water and soap inside. At night before I go to bed, I put the bucket back in my room. One night a few weeks ago, I had a little accident. I had a cold and had taken medicine that made me drowsy. Around 4:00am I stumbled out of bed to use the susu bucket. I sat down, went and headed back to my bed. As I stepped away, I noticed water on my floor. I thought, "Huh... that's weird. Where did the water come from? It's not raining." Then it hit me, you idiot, your bucket is still outside. Yes, that's right, I peed on my floor. So, half asleep, I got water and a scrubbing broom and cleaned my floor. Not what you want to be doing at 4:00am while doped up on cold medicine.

You could say this was my lowest moment in Tonj. Until, I did the same thing a week later.

Christmas in September

When Mike and Amy came, they brought me lots of fun stuff. My friends Amber and Danielle sent really cute clothes. It was so fun to try them on and they fit! They also sent some essentials like crystal light, good and plenties and skittles. :) I can't explain what a blessing it is to receive things from home. We get used to making do with what we have and God always provides everything we need. When we get supplies (fun or necessary) from home, it's like Christmas and every item feels like a luxury item. We take nothing for granted here. Thanks to everyone who helped send these gifts.

Back to My Roots

This week the person who does our laundry hasn't been here so I have been doing it. It reminds me of when I came here with RdR my first trip and did laundry the whole time because I couldn't work in the clinic (no latex free gloves). I have actually enjoyed doing it very much! I love to see giant piles of laundry and see how fast I can get them done. Stick me in the kitchen and I am miserable, give me laundry and I am happy as a clam.

Full House

On Wednesday our compound was full again. The Kuj family came back and with them came Mike and Amy! It was surreal to great them on the airstrip. It seemed like this day would never come and now they are here. Also on the flight was Rachel who is from California. She wants to be a doctor and will be helping in the clinic for three months. Josh also came. He is from New Mexico and will be teaching the pastors. He'll be here for four months. Lastly, Caleb, our other clinical officer returned from his break. It's great to have everyone here.

Now that everyone is back, I feel more relaxed. God provided for our needs and I am grateful for the past two weeks as I have learned much about trusting him. My role will be changing a bit now that Amy is here. She does the accounting for In Deed and Truth Ministries and will be taking over some of my administrative jobs. I will continue to help Suzy with some projects, assisting in the clinic as needed and oversea the kitchen staff, but my new focus will be to help Sabet with anything he needs, administratively, especially with the pastors school. I am looking forward to it.

IDAT Project Fame (Idol)

Sunday night we watched a show called Tusker's Project Fame. It's like American Idol in Africa. We decided to put on our own show: In Deed and Truth (IDAT) Ministries Project Fame. Everyone was given time to prepare their song. Then on Tuesday night, it was show time. It was really fun! I was so proud of everyone who participated. Everyone gave their all in their performances. After each person sang, everyone else became a judge and gave a yes or a no. Fortunately we made it all to the next round! For round two, we all did a second song. I chose "Danny's Song"by Kenny Loggins. Here is a photo of each contestant:



(Dennis was up first. Here he is waiting for the judges' opinions)



(George was next. He performed an original song, written by George)



(Margaret sang a great song, but I can't remember what it was called)



(I sang "I'll Be" by Edwin McCain)



(Even shy, quiet Mercy did it. I was so proud of her)



(Stephanie closed the show. Her round 2 song choice: "I'm a Little Tea Pot")

Back to Normal

Praise the Lord... I am all better. I am 100% healthy and back to normal. It's such a relief to feel this way after three weeks of feeling yucky. God healed me just in time.

We have two more days before the flight arrives and everything needs to get finished. Our poor clinic is severely short staffed this week and we are short on the compound side too. So, we are just relying on God to get us through the day. He has been so wonderful to provide for all our needs. It's a continual lesson about trust.

Yesterday morning, I had no idea who would translate for Sunday School. The three people who I was counting on were not able to do it. I just prayed that God would provide someone miraculously. Even as we sat down to start the service, I told Beverly we would have to cancel Sunday School because we had no translators. Then a boy around twelve years old heard me and said he is in class six (fifth grade) and could translate. Hallelujah! The rest of our service was just beautiful. We were a small crowd because the governor was in town. Most of the Dinkas in our congregation weren't there. However we did have several people from Uganda and Kenya there. The service went so smoothly. Everyone pitched in where needed and it was special. We really felt the Lord's presence there.

Please pray for strength as we have much to do.

Uganda Truck... Check!

I can check another item off my list... receiving the Uganda truck. It arrived Sunday afternoon around 4:00pm. We had asked some of the construction crew to come help unload, but they were no were to be found. So all of us (ex-pat staff and missionaries) pitched in and started unloading. First item... 200 bags of cement weighing about 110 pounds each. We took turns in the truck lifting the bags down to the others using wheelbarrows to take them to to storage room. All of us were covered in cement and sweat. After we were more than halfway through, Albino arrived with reinforcements. We had an additional 10 pairs of hands to help out. Around 7:00 we finished unloading the truck except for the brick machine. That came off today. I was really proud of the way everyone pitched in to get it done.

God is Good

Since my last post, things have gone really well. God is so good. Friday and Saturday were very productive days. I got many things on my list done. It's neat how God provides. Saturday morning we were going to do a stock check. However, Friday ended up being a very slow day at the clinic so we were able to do it Friday afternoon instead. Fridays are usually very busy days so a slow Friday is VERY rare. The new governor was in town so many people were in town seeing her instead of at the clinic. While I was stressing about having to do that along with a lot of other things on Saturday, God knew we would be able to do it on Friday. It was such a blessing to have it done early and be able to check that off. It's just another reminder to me that God will help me get the job done and I don't need to freak out!

Today was also salary day. Another potential stressful situation. There are always unhappy people on salary day. I geared up for the drama and was pleasantly surprised when everything went smoothly. The people who normally put up a fight were fine when I told them their salaries were deducted for the days they didn't work. It could not have gone better. That was truly from God.

Another blessing is the arrival of our truck. We have another large truck coming from Uganda which is bringing construction supplies for our new clinic. It was supposed to come today which was going to be hard since I had to help with the women's conference. We got word that it would arrive on Sunday instead. Whew! And some of our staff said they would come in on Sunday to help unload.

Many other items on my list were also accomplished. I delegated many of them and they were finished quickly. I still have quite a bit to do, but I don't feel as overwhelmed now. When will I learn not to worry?!

I am also starting to feel better. I finished my last IV dose of medication yesterday. The other medication that made me feel so sick is getting out of my system now. I had a fainting spell today, but now am ok. I expect to be able to eat and drink normally soon. I don't have any more stomach pain so I think the amoebas are gone. I'll be retested in two weeks.

God is so good. Thank you for your prayers. I really appreciate them.

Overwhelmed

Today I felt overwhelmed, anxious and tired. I touched base with Suzy after she had been enjoying a family vacation. I came away from the conversation with an enormous to do list. Some of it is big stuff (like receiving the truck from Uganda) that I don't want to mess up. I know this all has to be done, some ASAP some by next week, so I have no choice but to do it. But seeing my list has made me anxious and and stressed. Before we talked, I was just thinking, they will be back in six days, you can do this. It's just exhausting being the go to person all the time. But, I am glad they are getting a break. Then to be hit with more stuff made me hit a wall. Anyone of those things on their own, would be fine. But the combo overwhelmed me. I laid down and just started to cry. I think being sick for three weeks made me more emotional than usual. It turned into a "I wanna go home" moment. I realized then I didn't need to freak out alone. I have people here to support me. So, I went to Stephanie and asked her to pray for me. She did and I let out all the tears. I am now all cried out and feeling better. Just a little tired from the crying. However, I do feel God's peace now and will be ready to tackle the list tomorrow. I know that if God has called me to do this, he will provide the strength for me to accomplish this.

Rookie Pranks

A couple days ago I had some canned peaches and got an idea for a prank. The syrup the peaches come in looks very similar to urine. It was time to prank the rookie. I asked Dennis if he would ask George for a urine container. He told George he wanted to test his urine to make sure everything was ok. George said, no problem. Dennis brought it to me and we filled it with the peach juice. Then he submitted his sample to George. A little while later George went to Dennis and told him he needs to get his blood sugar tested because he didn't even need to test the urine to detect how much sugar was in there. He was concerned Dennis had a major problem. Dennis came to me and told me George's findings. We laughed so hard because George still didn't know it was peach juice. Now, how do we tell him? We thought if the sample was still at the lab, we could have someone drink it to really freak him out.

Unfortunately, he had already discarded it. So, we were standing around chatting and I asked him different questions about the lab. Could he test things other than human samples? Would he be able to identify them? Do people ever submit something that's not their own? For example, has anyone ever given him juice to test. He said that in school they used to do jokes. I asked if anyone had done that in Tonj. He said no. Then I said “i think someone might have done that very recently” He paused and then got what we were saying. We handed him papers that said “busted” and cracked up. George was a good sport about it. He insisted we didn't get him because he accurately diagnosed the high blood sugar and did not give any other findings!

Welcome to Tonj, Rookie

PS Based on my silly posts, you may think we clown around too much. I can assure you we are working most of the time! I am thankful for these light moments in what can be a very stressful place.

Dropped Off To Die

A few days ago we had a sad case in the clinic. An emaciated woman was dropped off at the clinic and then abandoned. She was very sick and needed a care taker. We asked the guard and night shift worker why they let someone just leave her alone and they couldn't give us an answer. So, the next day we sent them to her village to find a relative. They came back with a man who said he knew her. We told him she needed to be referred to Don Bosco for TB and HIV testing. We had stabilized her as best as we could and now there was nothing more we could do for her. Keeping her at our clinic became a hindrance because it prevented her from getting the care she really needed. He said no one wanted to take care of her. She had been left to die. We told him that was not ok. He said he would leave and come back with food for her. We wondered if he would abandon her too. We told him if he left her here, we would go to the police. Fortunately, he came back with porridge and told us her family was planning on leaving Tonj in the morning to escape having to take care of her. We weren't going to let that happen so we decided to take them home. We drove her there with a couple of our guards. They began to fight when our car arrived because they didn't want her. Somehow they convinced them to take care of her and left her there.

It was really sad. How terrible she must have felt. Just dumped somewhere to die. I pray that she will somehow feel loved and find hope and get the treatment she needs.

Joshua Panakeem

I got to name Elizabeth's baby! I feel so honored. After seeing her a few times and the baby still had no name, I suggested Joshua. I have been reading through the book of Joshua and have loved reading about his courage and leadership. She said she had to ask her husband. A few days later, Margaret told me she brought him to the clinic and his book said “Joshua.” Woo hoo! She went with Joshua! I think naming a child is one of the neatest things and such an honor.

Previously when we were discussing names, she told me a funny story about her son Emmanuel who is two. Emmanuel though his new brother's name was “Panakeem” which is the dinka word for clinic. I thought that was so cute and funny. It makes sense. His mom went to the panakeem and came back with a baby. She has probably referred to the clinic a lot so I can see his confusion.

I think Joshua Panakeem is a great, solid name!

Judy

Last night at our prayer bonfire, George told us that you would be teased as a kid if the smoke went your way because it meant you pooped in the road. Stephanie told him, she was told smoke follows beauty. George than asked "what does Judy do?" We all paused for a second, confused, and then started laughing. He thought she said the smoke follows Judy. Oh I laughed and laughed!

God Bless the Clinic Staff

I am so thankful for our clinic staff, especially Dennis and Margaret. They are so patient with me and never make me feel bad about coming to them. Sometimes, I feel bad because I am sick again and don't want to bother them with another complaint.

This most recent issue is from the amoebas in my stomach. Once I was tested two weeks ago, I took medication and felt better. Then after a week the pain started again. Since that indicated the amoebas were still there, I was put on Metronidazole. They told me many people can't take that medication due to bad side effects. The biggest side effect is vision and hearing impairment (while on the medication). I was on the lookout for that and was relieved when that didn't happen to me. After two days, I started to feel awful. I was very tired all the time (even though I was getting enough sleep), I felt nauseous, I had no appetite and I had a bad taste in my mouth that made food and drink taste terrible.

I got frustrated and discouraged. How can I be sick again? Do I have malaria now? I waited for the fever to come, but it never did but the other symptoms persisted. So, it wasn't malaria. I didn't want to go to Dennis and Margaret again. Then I remembered Margaret saying she can't take Metronidazole because it makes her feel really sick. I asked her what it does to her and she said: nausea, lack of appetite, bad taste in her mouth, etc. Just the symptoms I was having.

Finally an answer to my problem. I didn't have a new illness, it was just the medication making me feel this way. Thank the Lord. Then I realized, uh oh... I still have three more days to take the medication. How can I go on feeling this way for three or more days? Maybe Dennis will say I can stop taking it (although our pharmacist told me it was important to finish the dose). No go. Dennis said I had to finish it to get rid of the amoebas. Darn it. He did offer me an alternative though. I could take Metronidazole through an IV and avoid the side effects I have been feeling. He was very surprised when I said, "lets do it." What sane person chooses an IV over pills? After feeling terrible for three days, I was desperate for relief.

So this morning I got my first dose. It only took about 15 minutes and Margaret took good care of me. I have to go back the next two mornings for the last two doses. Sometimes I feel like a drama queen or a hypochondriac, but I am not... I promise!!!! I just want to feel 100% again. I think I am almost there now that I don't have to take the pills anymore.

I am so thankful for working with a ministry that has a clinic. I feel so bad for other missionaries who don't have such easy access to medical care. God knew I needed to be close to it!