Another One Bites the Dust

Trip to the hospital: 64 Cedi

Medication: 15 Cedi

Counting down the hours until you go home based on Malaria treatments?: Priceless

It started out innocently enough. We went for Indian food Tuesday evening, so naturally my stomach hurt in a too-full kind of way. But then on Wednesday it still hurt. Sweet, excuse to sleep all day. Then Thursday it still hurt, but I figured I would just hike it off (I don't recommend that method). Then Friday it still hurt. So I sent a text to my program director, something casual about 3 days of stomachaches and should I be worried. She instantly called and was like uhhh yeah.

So I was back to the hospital. After chatting away with the doctor about Ghana and my research and all he got to the issue. He determined it was the pre-cursor to ulcers. Which was interesting because I've had that for years (thanks Berkeley), so funny that my mind didn't instantly go there. He asked if I wanted a blood test anyway just to double check. I was going to pass it up but Auntie Rose said I should just do it.

Good thing I did, turns out I have ulcers and malaria! Wow! So yeah, that'd pretty much definitely give anyone a stomachache. Ha. 

It was all fun and games until I thought I was going to die. I now 100 percent understand how and why malaria kills so many people. I would not wish the feeling of those little plasmodium eating you alive on anyone. I won't go into detail, I'm pretty sure the description alone would cause a person physical pain, but the crazy part is that you wake up the next day after starting treatment feeling better. Crazy that so many people die from something so easily and quickly treated because they don't have the means or access. 

A big giant thank you to everyone who called, texted, emailed, and facebooked! It's way easier to be sick when so many people are looking out for you. 

Some malaria facts:

*In Ghana, malaria is transmitted by the Anopheles mosquito

*Only the female mosquito bites (a blood-meal is necessary in egg production)

*This mosquito is active between 10 pm and 1 am

*Some 1.2 million people died from malaria in 2010

*Something like over half of us UC-EAP kids have gotten it

*It sucks

Thanks Parasitology and Public Health! If you want to know about this little protozoan parasite, here's wikipedia.  

The image of death. 

Hahahah.

Die plasmodium Die!