I am the Anti-Malarial

Saturday, August 16, 2008 10:22PM

OK, so I didn’t report everything in that last post. Thursday night, as Lauren, Sonia, and I were preparing dinner, I felt tired (read feverish) again. After much encouragement from Sonia and Lauren, I called Dr. Luboga on his cell… he was driving up the driveway. I told him all my symptoms, exhaustion, sweats, headache, stomach cramps, etc. He said something to the effect of you’re now a real Muganda because you have malaria. Sonia made sure to tell Lauren that in the park, I forgot one dose of Malarone and took another dose late. It’s hard to remember things when you’re on vacation.

So, on Friday I slept late (I blamed it on the malaria, but I would have done it anyway), but still worked at Kittetika C/U and got 8 blood samples. A little disappointing, but every bit helps. The Makerere students were very nice to me. Henry said “you’re going to get it much worse that we get it because you have no antibodies.” Thanks for the encouragement Henry.

I went home immediately after because I was so tired and feverish. I made a very basic Shabbat and slept. And slept. And slept. I tried reading some books, but I was too tired. I spent some time thinking about malaria. I thought about how there are little parasites in my red blood cells destroying them one by one. I think it might have been a hallucination… I also thought about how it’s a real shame that people should die from something that responds so quickly to cheap treatment. I spent $3.12 on the medication at a private pharmacy. Government pharmacies provide the medication free of charge (though the one I went to was out of medication). It angers me to know that people still die from it.

I am now taking my malaria prophylaxis with a new zeal. I feel much better now that I have completed the 3 day treatment, but I still feel tired.