Thursday, May 10, 2007
It has to be Malaria
A funny thing happens when one gets sick here; the diagnosis is complete before the symptoms are fully described. Malaria!! Sore stomach, Malaria. A bit tired, Malaria. Headache, Malaria. Bone protruding from your leg, Malaria. God forbid you have a fever; in this case the Malaria drug is prescribed and administered before the thermometer has beeped with its reading. We have all been sick now and all have undergone the Malaria test. A sharp stab of the middle finger, drop some blood on a slide and wait an hour. Each time, after everyone (except Jeanine) has said, “its Malaria” the tests have all come back negative.
I’m not saying that I’m not scared of getting Malaria but my fear is amplified by the panic all around us. Abby and I are taking Malarone, which should, not only keep Malaria away but it should, minimize the fear of getting it. Nik had to stop taking it because of the nasty little side effect of insomnia. Now my fear of insomnia is beginning to get right up there with my fear of getting malaria and the fear is keeping me awake nights. So if I go off the Malarone, my fear of getting Malaria will go up a bit – if that’s possible – and my fear of Insomnia should go down, thereby letting me fall into a sound slumber.
Perhaps sleep is overrated as a mean of reinvigorating oneself. I’ve had less sleep in the last 3 nights than I had last Wednesday, during the day, and yet I’m certainly less tired now than I was when I awoke on that day. So what have I done to reinvigorate myself? I taught school today (perhaps I missed my calling) and played some “football” with Abby this morning. I ran around – walked fast actually – the hospital and Nursing school looking for a few people this afternoon. I also listened to Uncle Kracker while I worked in between. So to stave off drowsiness, do what I do, sleep less and listen to Kenny Chesney and Uncle Kracker singing, When the Sun Goes Down. Ok that probably won’t work, so take medicine that may or may not ward off a local disease that has Insomnia as a side effect. Just don’t come crying to me when everyone tells you you’ve got Malaria, because you could just have Somniferophobia.
I’m not saying that I’m not scared of getting Malaria but my fear is amplified by the panic all around us. Abby and I are taking Malarone, which should, not only keep Malaria away but it should, minimize the fear of getting it. Nik had to stop taking it because of the nasty little side effect of insomnia. Now my fear of insomnia is beginning to get right up there with my fear of getting malaria and the fear is keeping me awake nights. So if I go off the Malarone, my fear of getting Malaria will go up a bit – if that’s possible – and my fear of Insomnia should go down, thereby letting me fall into a sound slumber.
Perhaps sleep is overrated as a mean of reinvigorating oneself. I’ve had less sleep in the last 3 nights than I had last Wednesday, during the day, and yet I’m certainly less tired now than I was when I awoke on that day. So what have I done to reinvigorate myself? I taught school today (perhaps I missed my calling) and played some “football” with Abby this morning. I ran around – walked fast actually – the hospital and Nursing school looking for a few people this afternoon. I also listened to Uncle Kracker while I worked in between. So to stave off drowsiness, do what I do, sleep less and listen to Kenny Chesney and Uncle Kracker singing, When the Sun Goes Down. Ok that probably won’t work, so take medicine that may or may not ward off a local disease that has Insomnia as a side effect. Just don’t come crying to me when everyone tells you you’ve got Malaria, because you could just have Somniferophobia.
