Malaria and Me...Part 1!

Well I figured it is about time I finally sat down and wrote about my experience in Kenya. Many of you supported me through prayer and also financially, so I wanted to give you the chance to hear about my experience. 

This is going to be a very open and honest perspective from me.  It is never easy for me to write  about things that I struggle with but in this story I am going to be real and very open with all of you. To some people this experience would have been a breeze but for me it was traumatic, scary, and shook my faith and everything I believed in. Many people do not talk about malaria and the effects it has on a person so I have decided to describe in detail my experience and all that this disease entails during and after!

 Everything was going very well and I was learning so much about the children and the culture and just everything and absolutely loving it! At the end of February (just a little over 2 months into the trip) I got really sick. Beware here comes the gory details of it all.. haha! Nauseous, chronic diarrhea, pain like I've never felt before, SO fatigued, every muscle and joint in my body hurt, high fevers, night sweats, and so on. So we decided to go to the small clinic (remember we are 9 hours from Nairobi out in a little village). They tested my blood and they diagnosed me with typhoid fever. Two days after I was diagnosed, my friend, Christina, was diagnosed with typhoid as well. After about a week of the medicine I was feeling much better. I was able to go play with the kids and do work around the building! I was so happy to be doing better!

Christina was such a faithful friend sitting
outside my room since it was too
small for her to be in there. 

Two weeks after I was diagnosed with typhoid the real challenges began. (I think I actually had malaria two weeks before and they diagnosed me wrong but I can never be sure) Christina and I woke up feeling very odd with strange headaches and just EXTREMELY tired. So we went to the clinic again and were tested. However, when we went to the clinic this time they had no power so they were unable to do the more “accurate” testing instead  they did a thing called a “rapid malaria test”. It came back positive. We were both diagnosed with malaria. We had to trust the tests and the medicines they gave us and just kinda go for it. The medicine they gave us was to last for three days and the doctor said that after three days we should be feeling better. After the third day I was still SO sick. So much pain. To be honest, I was scared. Well we went back AGAIN to the same clinic and they tested my blood again and said I STILL had malaria and that the medicine didn't work for me which they told me was  VERY rare. Christina was cleared from malaria. So I then had to get an injection of strong medication and then had to take one dose of four pills.  After the shot and medication I was laying on my bed and everything was going dark and I couldn't think straight. In my mind I thought, "well this is it". But a few minutes (maybe longer-not totally sure of the timing) later things started to clear up and I began to actually feel somewhat better. At this point I was able to Skype my family and I thought “oh good I am coming out of this awful sickness and I am going to be fine”. However, in the back of my mind I was still extremely paranoid and scared. (major side effects of the medicines)

Well the next morning I woke up having severe tightness in my stomach and back. I wasn't sure if this was normal or not. All of this was just a guessing game for me because I obviously had never had malaria before. So I was very unsure of what to expect. I had many other symptoms as well but the list would get awfully long. haha! Our bodyguard knew a man who was going to Nairobi to see his family and so we got a hold of him and he drove us 9 hours to Nairobi. That ride was the LONGEST and most painful trip ever. Every bump and swerve and movement we made I could feel throughout my entire body. The entire trip I  kept thinking I was going to die and that there was something even worse wrong with me. I also questioned everything! I began to think how can I truly be saved if my faith is so small? How do other missionaries do this? Was I really willing to give my life to serve Christ anywhere He wanted me? How could I let this happen? And so many more questions that I was really trying to work through amidst the pain.

We arrived in Nairobi at 11pm and stayed at Stephens home. (a man we had never met but I seriously believe he was sent from the Lord! His family was a HUGE blessing! His wife and three kids took care of me and were like family to me) Stephen took me to a hospital and they tested my blood and they told me they were immediately admitting me. I really did not think this was going to happen. I was shocked! They put me in this closet sized room and began treatment right away.....

This is the end of part 1 of my story. On my next blog I will explain those three days in the hospital and the lessons I have learned since then. 

"It is during our darkest moments that

 we must focus to see the light."

-Aristotle-