I have been here 20 days exactly and wo-behold I got myself malaria! I have been doing better than ever with my preventative medicine; taking it everyday like clockwork, been using insect repellent, sleeping under a net and definitely not going outside after sundown! But I got it! Grrrr
I knew as soon as I got it too – I was feeling quite good in the morning and biked to work… then the headache came….and didn’t leave.. despite panadol and brufen. I also felt very strange and heavy in the head, which then became accompanied with a side of nausea. Got the test and the whole lab laughed at me for about half an hour! Ohhhhh malaria!
I found out about 2pm and decided to close early. I told the other medical assistants etc but people kept coming and coming and coming! And of course I ended up closing last out of everyone – how?
I even dealt with two emergencies with my malaria on board; a one year old boy bought in in shock and unconscious. Thank god for APLS – the drummed in A.B.C He was peripherially shut down and cold and his capillary refil was about 7 seconds – I pumped him full of fluids and went to check on him in 2 hours and he was up and breast feeding….. whew.
Because all the other doctors had gone I also dealt with an adult emergency – a lady 25 bought in because she couldn’t breath. Her hands were all flexed up and stiff. I knew as soon as I saw her she was hypocalcemic and was breathing fast due to acidosis – so pumped her full of Ringers Lactate and WA LA – hands and breathing became normal!
After that I called it a day – slowly managed to bicycle home and crawled into bed for 5 days solid! My head just felt weird the whole time, dizzy and heavy and the nausea was ongoing! I just slept and read books and slept and watched movies and sometimes sit with the kids quietly. Even now when I’m writing this on Day 5 of malaria I’m feeling ready for another sleep and it’s lunchtime! Ha ha – nighty night
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