Golly gee willikers, I have a story for you all!
First let me start by saying I’m okay…I think. Also, this blog will contain gross things, but it’s really funny!
Okay, so I have been so blessed this entire race to not get sick. A lot of people on my squad have gotten sick from malaria, typhoid, stomach pain and so on, but for me, not even the slightest of not feeling well. Well, the day we traveled from India to Zambia, I threw up.. on a security guard as she was scanning me…sorry ma’am. A few hours later on the plane, on my lap…and on EVERY plane after that. We took 7 planes to get to Zambia…
When we got to our location, I felt fine! Really, 100%! I hadn’t thrown up in a few hours, I had an appetite, and lots of energy. Needless to say, I blamed it on stress and travel. I was fine, back to normal until April 25, when I suddenly out of no where threw up 40 times in an hour. The strange thing is, I wasn’t nauseous, not one bit, not even after I threw up. Still felt…100%. So I blamed it on the 3 grilled cheeses I ate for dinner…yes I said 3, why you judgin?
A couple weeks go by, no vomiting, until last week it started happening a lot again! After everything time I ate, ministry, anything I did I would throw up…but I felt fine!! My team started to get worried, honestly so was I. So we went to the doctor, there I pooped in a cup, urine sample and blood sample. Came back that I have a bacterial infection, that I probably contracted in India. Great. The doctor proscribes me medicine and I’m on my way.
The medicine helped so much, I was no longer throwing up and I was back to my awful, awful eating habits. Mom if you’re reading this save the “I told you so, you’ve got to change the way you eat” for later:) but she’s totally right.
Our team kinda has two ministry hosts…we’re going to call them mmmm… Mario and Louigi. Well, the first day of ministry, Mario picks us up almost two hours late. We thought that was just a one time thing, but really it’s everyday.
This Thursday we had planned to do hospital ministry, help out the nurses with whatever we could, get to know the patients etc.. for those that don’t know, I want to be a nurse. So this was a dream ministry for me! I was so so so excited! I love the building of relationships, not just having a 5 minute “hey,how are you? can I pray for you?” conversation, but really getting to know the person and making an effort. One of my favorite parts of the race, and life really.
On this particular day, Loiuigi picks us up, late, we head to the hospital and my team is thrilled! We get there, only to find out that we have missed all of ministry because we were late. Oh I forgot to mention, I had been throwing up the night before again. It’s probably a good thing we were at the hospital because my Timmy (my tummy) decided to not feel well and I vomited during our meeting with the ministry people…and didn’t stop.
Loiuigi, well he’s his own type. He has the biggest heart, but not the biggest time management skills…or communication skills. My teammates are telling him that since we are here we need to get me to the doctor. He said “okay I will just go find one” comes back 30 minutes later, without a doctor. He tells us to follow him and we end up talking to the pastor of the chapel in the hospital. About an hour later, Loiuigi finally understands that I need to see a doctor.
On our way to another wing, Loiuigi pulls Mikayla out of the room for a chat, she comes back and says to Kylee “um, can you come with us?” She agrees and on walking to the other side she informs us that it’s not okay to have nose rings (Mikayla and I both have our noses pierced) so we needed someone without a nose ring to talk to the doctor…!! Oh my gosh. If that’s not hilarious I don’t know what is. Really the nose rings were fiiinnee!
When we arrive, Loiuigi wants to leave us there and he go somewhere else. So he tells Kylee, when you see the doctor just yell (from across the hospital) DR. FRANCIS!! Like she knows who the doctor is! Loiuigi then leaves.
The doctor comes out, we assume it’s him and yell the appropriate name. He takes us back, starts asking me a list of questions about how we are cleaning our food and what not. So Kylee, you know she’s able to speak because she doesn’t have a nose ring starts telling him everything that’s been happening and how we’ve cooked our food (IT IS NOT THE FOOD). The doctor then starts to argue with Kylee, and in that moment I saw steam coming from her ears. He looks that the list she wrote everything down on and with the most serious face I’ve ever seen says “what’s pooping?”! We thought he was kidding.
After trying to explain it to him, Mikayla looks at him and says “FEEEECCEESS”. We then learned that pooping is only an American term! After making several jokes about Trump, telling Kylee everything she said was wrong, and telling me it was just the way we cooked our food to be more careful, the doctor sends us on our way with about 5 different perceptions, and a shot. We have to go to a different part of the hospital to receive the shot.
At this point, my teammates are furious because the doctor was, let’s be real a fat joke. Loiuigi finally comes back right as we are finished and takes us to the pharmacy…the wrong pharmacy. I politely tell him that all I need is the shot and he continues to get the pills from the pharmacist. Kylee cut in and said “Loiuigi, she doesn’t need those pills, we have them at home from last time!” He then starts to inform her that “it’s all alright” about 30xs. Great, I’m now paying for medicine I don’t need. On our way to the next pharmacy to get the shot, Louigi explains that we are in a hurry, for what? I have no idea. So there is a Zambian man and 3 mazoongues practically running through this hospital.
Loiuigi also tells us that alllll of my medical treatment will be free today!! Why might you ask? Because Loiuigi had told them that he is our CATHOLIC FATHER! We are not catholic, and he is not our father! But hey, free medicine? He’s my daddy.
Get to the pharmacy, and they DO NOT HAVE THE MEDICINE! So Loiuigi tells them I will take the supplement shot… so I did. Hurt terribly. Our team has now been at the hospital for quite some time, so everyone is expecting to leave after my shot. Loiuigi then takes us to two more wards, where I started to pray for a women and almost passed out, so my teammate took me to a room and there I slept. We were told the shot was going to make me drowsy, I just didn’t think that fast!
My teammates have repeatedly told Loiuigi that we need to go home, on the way he makes five, five stops! This isn’t a joke. I’m still throwing up and Mikayla is now sick. But don’t worry, Loiuigis tire got rotated, for an hour and a half. He also takes us to a house, and proceeds to tell us that in his middle school days, he and his friends played house and we are currently at his mothers house in that context. The last stop he takes us to a five star hotel and has us take a look in the gift shop, also sit in the lobby for about 10 minutes. Just sit there. No purpose. Then says “okay are you ready?”..he brought us there!
Loiuigi has a truck, we ride in the bed because there is six of us. When we all climbed in the back he says “you’re just going to leave me alone?”
This is being sick on the world race. Have a nice day everyone!
P.S. I wish I could say this was all a joke, but fortunately, every bit of it is real! On a serious note though, I am still really sick. I’ve been to 3 doctors and none of them seem to know what’s wrong. It’s starting to become draining in every way and even harder to be away from home. So please keep me in your prayers! The doctor here wants to do a CT scan (I got a concussion in India) and he seems to think “the CT was read wrong” because they told me I didn’t have a concussion when I did.
