Almost Malaria.

It has not been a great weekend. Prepare yourselves for a less than uplifting post.

I woke up Friday morning feeling very off. Decided to try and go to work anyways. By 10 am it was clear I was going to have to go home. I called the driver I use (his name is Joseph and he takes excellent care of me in any way that a driver can: he always stays with me until whoever I am meeting arrives, he lets me make lots of stops and doesn’t charge me, he sympathizes with me when I am sick and calls the next day to see how I am doing) to pick me up early from work. After trying to buy a fan and 10 litres of water, Joseph brought me home with the plan to pick me up again at 6 for a sailing course I had signed up for (and was really looking forward to). I had been looking forward to this sailing course for three weeks. It is with the Lilongwe Sailing Club and was going to be two full says of sailing on the lake and hopefully meeting some good people – and I love sailing!
After getting home and realizing that I had a fever, I decided it was time to go to the doctor (thank you Louise for the most useful thing I brought with me – the thermometer). I have not had a fever in over five years – so for me – this was a serious red flag. Also, the advice I have been given repeatedly is that a fever in Africa is not the same thing as a fever at home – take it seriously!
A colleague from work came to pick me up and we went to the clinic near my house which was recommended to me by the World University Service of Canada office that did my orientation as the place to go for any illness. Two hours and a blood smear later the doctor diagnosed me with Malaria. Relieved to have a diagnoses and medication to go with it, I went home prepared to ride it out.
Unfortunately, the medicine did not start to work as quickly as I had hoped. I have never been as sick as I was on Friday night. For someone who has not had a fever in five years or thrown up (save for a 22nd birthday gone awry) in four, this was not something I was ready for.
My body ached in every joint, it hurt to roll over in bed, I had a high fever making me sweat through my sheets, but then alternating with chills, diarrhea and vomiting making it impossible to keep anything except water down ( I tried the rehydration salts but I think that is what made me throw up). Not a great Friday night.
My roommate gets a present for being amazing and taking great care of me. Including placing numerous international calls in the attempt to reach my mother or one of my grandmothers while I lay crying on the bathroom floor (and you have all seen that bathroom floor now from the pictures) wanting to die. I feel horrible for how much I must have upset my mother with that phone call.
My roommate decided it was time to call a friend who had had malaria just to get a sense of when we should start to see some improvement. He was surprised at the medication I had been put on and suggested going a doctor he knows for a second opinion in the morning.

After finally getting some sleep thanks to gravol and a fan we headed to Dr. Huber’s clinic on Saturday. He is from Amsterdam and has a wonderful clinic. He is warm and took a lot of time explaining to me what was happening. After three different blood tests Dr. Huber confirmed that I did not have malaria, but a bacterial infection.
I was shocked to learn that many doctors in Malawi diagnose malaria even when there are no parasites. He said that it is often easier and makes all the parties involved happy to hear that it is malaria. The patient gets a quick diagnosis, the lab technician is airing on the safe side, the pharmacist gets to sell the drugs, and the doctor gets you out of his office. Dr. Huber said that he has seen many situations where malaria was diagnosed in a completely different case – everything from gastro-enteritis like me to appendicitis!

I was really unsettled to learn this. I had been trying to remain positive and supportive of the Malawian medical system. Cautious not to fall into the easy trap that many westerners do in discounting the Malawian doctors and viewing their treatment as second rate. But after this experience, I am not sure what to think. I know that I do not feel safe seeking out any Malawian medical treatment after this. And no longer feel paranoid for bringing all those medical supplies with me even though I got a lot of flack for it (on both ends). It is very disconcerting……..

Oh, and good news: I am back to work tomorrow and should be all better by the end of the week.