This picture is disgusting but a good representation of how I was looking and feeling.
This picture describes my week.
This is also towards the end of the week when I was actually getting better. The rash had left my face at this point but as you can see my eyes are still swollen, just not as bad as before . And that blood would be from me tearing out my IV while sleeping. Ohh dear.
(Ewwwwww)
So coming into Nepal to do ministry didn’t really go as planned for me. Tuesday afternoon we got to Asha Nepal, a home for women who have escaped or been rescued from trafficking and their children, but I had a wicked headache that had started earlier that day and all I wanted to do was sleep. So as soon as dinner was over I fell into bed where I stayed for the next 4 days with my headache, a high fever of 101 to 104, diarrhea, and throwing up. I began to not eat anything and I could barely drink because it would also come up, I was slowly drying up. I was miserable all the time and I was missing ministry. About a week and a half before in Tanzania I had been in bed for 3 days with the same exact symptoms, only it was worse this time. I felt lazy but I was too weak to do anything.
Well Thursday we decided to go take my blood to see if I had malaria or typhoid. It was the first time ever and I was nauseous. Poor Shannon got her hand squeezed off. They took enough blood to do a thrillion tests I swear. We went back home and were told to come back in a few days for the results
Saturday morning rolled around and I was still just as sick. So 5 days after arriving in Nepal we went to the hospital to be checked by the doctor who said I needed to be admitted. I sat there throwing up in his office with a 104 fever wondering how on earth I could afford this.
(They made me take this picture…of course they all look good)
They put me in emergency until a room opened up and tried to get an IV in my arm which didn’t work because I was dehydrated. My first IV experience ended up being traumatic and terribly painful as they kept stabbing me and saying, “Well it won’t work there.” I wanted to say, “No duh, there’s no vein there. Its dried up!” The whole hospital experience kind of made me a bit sassy. I took some anti-nauseous medicine and chugged salty water for an hour until they found a vein. The bed had no pillow and felt like I was lying on the cement floor. There was also construction outside the open window I was lying by, lucky me. Other patients were wheeled in and put in beds beside me. I felt freezing, exhausted, and grossed out by the germs around me. I began to wonder what my hospital care would look like in America. I began to wonder if I would ever see America again.
I stayed there over night attached to an IV and oxygen since I began to have trouble breathing. Lovely Shannon stayed with me before Reese and Jeannie showed up, my old teammates. I think I tried to cry when I saw them, but my body was too dry to squeeze out tears. Long story short I needed better care so Jeannie worked out insurance stuff for the next hospital which was even more expensive to stay in. Jeannie also considered calling AIM and flying me home because as a nurse she knew how serious my situation was, but by this point I was too sick to travel. I was then transferred by wailing ambulance to Cewic Travel Care Clinic. There they checked me out again. At this point it had only been a little over 24 hours but I was sick of blood tests, needles, and people touching my body. Nurses would come in every 20 minutes to give me something or take my blood. They took an ultrasound (something to do with seeing my organs because they were trying to shut down) and they took x-rays to see how my chest was doing, full of fluid apparently…not good. My possible diagnosis was Rickettsia or Measles
.
(Nasty IV…I had too many to count)
I lay in bed thinking. Dang Africa got me sick. I now have a love hate relationship with Africa.
So somehow I ended up with fluid in my lungs, a cough, sore throat, my liver became enlarged, my eyes became irritated and bloodshot, my face swelled up, my entire body and face broke out in rash, I got mini blisters all over my fingers, I was extremely dehydrated , I couldn’t eat, my organs were trying to shut down, I had diarrhea, and a continuous fever of at least 101 up to 104 at all times.
I was dying.
Not fun. I just wanted my Mommy.
One night I got chills and was super thirsty, and they couldn’t get the IV back in. I tore out two of them in the night. I thought I was having a mental break down as they bruised me trying to get needles in and I sobbed, but Shannon told me after it was a panic attack. It was terrible and I hope it never happens again. I didn’t know it was a panic attack and I thought I was losing it for those few moments.
The hospital made me measure my pee and stuck medicine down my throat, in my veins, and up my bum. Once again, not fun. For 7 days I was poked and forced around. I layed in bed with a constant fever wondering if I would ever see my family again.
Honest. I was frightened.
(My home for the week)
One day I had to go in the ambulance again to see an eye doctor. He was a kook. His office was like traveling back in time to the 50’s The Doctor told me I had dots on my eyes and that I would have to come back in a week. Jeannie and I looked at each other like, “What a loon!” But continue to pray for my eyes as sometimes they still ache and burn and it’s hard to see clearly. I can see the dots he said are on my eyes.
As the next Saturday came around I stopped coughing so much, and could breathe on my own. My rash almost disappeared and I began to eat and drink normally. My fever finally left the day we were discharged. Hallelujah. It was normal for the first time in 12 days. My body was exhausted but healing. I was finally in recovery mode.
(Feeling better at the end of the week, lovely Jeannie and I)
I just wanted to give you a short overview of my experience. Thank you for your prayers. Please continue to pray there will be no lasting effects from this sickness. It was so scary to be sick in a hospital far away from home and family. All the messages made me feel loved though so thank you. Praise God I am recovering and am out and about again spreading some Jesus and love around.
What I had is still unknown. There are test results in Bangkok and France. Please pray that they find a diagnosis for my peace of mind. It’s frightening not knowing.
Also, thanks to my nurses Jeannie and Shannon, and my team mates Emily, Leyna, and Reese…for being there and taking care of me while I was sick.You girls mean the world to me! =)
And a special thanks to the Britt, Olson, Genaw, Flaherty,and Dezsi families who generously helped me with my medical bills. God bless!
Much love!!
(Now I only have ringworm to deal with…easy peasy after the hospital.)
