I felt so terrible
yesterday. I had a severe headache, stomachache, and diarrhea, so I could not
do anything. But I had two Skype meeting yesterday, so I could not leave the
office. One was at 11am, and second one was at 5pm. It was so painful to wait
until 5pm to attend the meeting. I did not want to cancel the meeting because it was
for my preparation of the next project with World Vision. Internet connection was not good, so the
meeting at 5pm was over so quickly without exchanging specific information. I
could not stand my condition anymore, so I had to leave right after this
meeting. It was first time to come back home early in the evening; it was only
5:50pm, but I deliberately lay down on the bed and slept for a long time. And I had to go toilet
in and out frequently at dawn.
Today in the
morning, symptoms have almost gone, but I have already lost my appetite. It was
an unpleasant feeling that I was hungry but had no appetite. However, I had to
eat breakfast by force because I had to take medicine. Unfortunately,
stomachache came again right away, and diarrhea also came again. Whatever I
eat, stomachache and diarrhea always followed in a twinkle. In and out within a
minute… The Aga Khan Medical Health Centre opened at 8am, and I was the first
one for malaria/ typhoid check-up. A clinician initially failed to collect my
blood, so two new syringes were used to take my blood. The examination would
not take long because I was the first patient, so I decided to sit down and
wait. Soon enough, many people stood in line to have medical service. This
Health Center recently extended its service hours to 10pm, so I guess there
should be many patients who visit this place. After 30 minute, I got the
result; no parasite for malaria, but typhoid test was S. Typhi O: 1/80, S.
Typhi H: 1/80.
I finally got
typhoid. It was not severe typhoid, but I had the minimum requirement to be
diagnosed as typhoid. I knocked the doctor’s door, and came to see a doctor to
have prescription, but he told me to pay the consultation fee first. So I waited in a line and paid for that fee, and came
back to the doctor. He wrote something on the backside of my result sheet, and
I went to the pharmacy with that to get medicine. The medicines were Cephalkem
for antibiotic and Cetamol for headache. Although it turned out to be typhoid,
my pain has somewhat eased off mentally because at least I knew what the
problem was. I thought I was physically strong, but it was not true; I am one
of the normal people who are likely to get typhoid or malaria. I have heard the
stories that most of Korean volunteers in Tanzania were suffering from malaria
and typhoid. Local people also take it for granted that they contract those
diseases. But I should not make slight of it because some people die of malaria or dengue. I do not know which food
caused typhoid, so now I am afraid to eat any
local food. It has been 4 months since I came to Africa; if my physical
condition cannot bear this new environment, I have to change my plan of living
in Africa for a long time. I realize again that I really have to be careful of
eating food and preventing mosquito bite.
Living in Africa is
not surely easy. Especially since I came to Tanzania, I have been nauseous whole 2 months
and had sudden serious headache/stomachache from time to time. What food makes
this problem? I indulge in headache
pill, stomachache pill, diarrhea pill, antimalarial pill, mosquito repellent,
torn bed net, cockroach spray, vitamin, and plus, typhoid pill. Without a firm
faith and will, coming to Africa would never
be fun. I wish to be stronger enough to continue my public health life in
Africa. I am not done yet. So, I will be okay; no… I SHOULD be okay.
 |
| ... Go away, Typhoid! |
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