SA FAR(I) AWAY - 7th inning stretch

this should have been posted two weeks ago... but when you read it you will understand what has kept me from ending the tales of my trip.

the story continues.......

its 8:30 pm on the 30th of July. I am HOME!!! I have been in the vicinity for a few hours but sleep calls me - and for a change - i can't fight sleep.... i actually will let it claim me.

There is something to be said for those words. I...... AM...... HOME! the place where things feel familiar and comforting - like your favorite slippers. Where you can reach for the light switch and lights go on, the refrigerator is full and COLD and keeps lots of goodies in there - most HEALTHY, some not so much, but there none the less for my choosing at any second.

I had an eventful trip home... could an eventful month end any other way??? The drive from Jinja to Kampala was nerve wracking and calming . Nerve wracking because the roads are going to kill me, and calming because i am on my way home. John, my driver, pointed out things for me as we drove that i didn't notice during the drive into Jinja a month ago. I also asked about a lot of things i wouldn't have been brave enough to ask a month ago. I got to the airport in one piece and had my last bumpy, pot hole ridden ride. (also known by the Ugandans as "the African Massage")I had a bit of time to kill before my flight, 3 hours, but it took all that time and then some to get checked in and actually ON the flight. The African summit ended over the weekend and EVERY summit leader person... was leaving at the same time with excessive luggage and families. HOOOOOOOLY SMOKES! The heat was ungodly with all the bodies and the cramped spaces... i almost passed out - literally not figuratively. The flight left almost 2 hours late which meant i would miss my connection to NY in Dubai. That did not please me in any way shape or form since i had already been up since 4:30 am on the 28th - (which is actually 8 hours forward in time from NY) and it was then 2:40 am and i had to wait 6 hours to get onto the next flight to NY. Finally i am on the plane to NY at 7:50 am - the flight leaves in 40 minutes. I switched my seat with the woman behind me as she wanted to sit next to her husband. I sat next to some guy who couldn't sit with his legs in his own space. i have a bruise where my leg kept getting crammed under the arm of the seat because i kept moving over. I watched a bunch of movies on the 13 hour plane ride home but for the life of me i cant remember the names of them..maybe by the end of the blog.

My skin feels weird. Literally. I cant explain it , YET! i dont know if it comes from the fact that i have been taking vitamins regularly since i left, all the water i have been drinking, the different water i have been showering in and the soaps used, or perhaps it is the lack of "processed & junk food." i am sure it is a combination of all of it.

While i was in Uganda, i was not feeling well. The last week and a half left alot to be desired in the health wise forum. Not that it was really bad, but for a few days i needed to sleep, DESPERATELY. Those of you who know me , know i don't sleep - not much anyway so that was a problem. I also had a huge rash that went up the back of my calf for about a day. I think i was bitten by some bug ...but that went away more quickly..... I would sit through classes , barely, and then escape to my hotel right after. My appetite went out the window and good old fashioned coca-cola was my friend to keep my stomach where it should be. After a few days of sleeping alot things settled a bit and i felt..... better, not great but better. I didnt think i needed any urgent medical care....so onward i went. the last few days people started leaving so every other night we would be saying goodbyes. I hate goodbyes.... hate them hate them hate them. (Perhaps it is why i am rather reclusive... i dont like to say goodbye... sooooo, i dont hang around with anyone to whom i have to say goodbye. lol.. such introspection... i am beginning to scare me!!! ) But back to the story....so its now friday morning and i have a meeting that i need to attend.... i have 150 kids i need to costume by a week from today for a dance recital. YUP! nothing like jumping right into work asap!!! no time for jet lag, being sick, settling back in to a routine - nada! So, off to work i go..... where i am out in the heat here... which is different from the heat in Uganda. There it is their winter. A mild 70-75 degrees. They thought i got sick because i was walking around in a tank top and no jacket. The summers there are HOT!!! and this was nothing to me. Here it is 85 and humid and i am in an attic, where it is easily 10 - 15 degrees hotter and digging through costumes. Again , heat , heat, heat...almost passing out, literally. Hummmm, twice in two weeks......seeing a pattern?
Well, i get home about 3 after an afternoon of this and literally fall into bed. by 7 pm i am burning up. Not just hot but a blistering, solar flare hot. I have no thermometer, as i havent been sick in centuries so there is no cause to record temps. But even i know my body is at an uncomfortable level of boiling from the inside out. I am sleeping under 2 down comforters and its 85 and humid out.... i am freezing and shaking, i can hardly stand and the walk to the bathroom is torturous...and i am very thirsty...and forget to stop in the kitchen for water. I am to tired to walk back the 30 feet. My lips feel like the sand on the beach in the heat of summer. I still cant get the energy up to walk back to the kitchen. All that runs through my mind is Brigitta who told us she had contracted malaria even though she was taking medication against it. "it feels like flu symptoms" she says. Weak, thirsty , muscles hurt....only really bad flu like stuff.....! In my head while huddled under the covers i am deleriously thinking "Murphy's F'n Law follows me AGAIN and maybe i need to go to the hospital" - i know malaria can kill you if not treated - but i never did ask just how quickly it would do that. I guess i just wasnt that motivated or MORE that i just couldnt get up the energy to move. I made it through the night obviously, and called my DR. Of course THIS is the saturday they are closed getting the office carpets cleaned and he is not on call.....some other Dr. is. Well i dont like Dr's as a general rule... and in a few you will understand one of the reasons why. So then i call the infectious disease Dr.... whos office SAYS they are open on Saturdays at 9....i try again at 9 10, 915 - no answer. I can drive to the office it is just on Broadway by CVS - it is now 945 and still no one in the office. I call again and get service - tell them i need to speak to the DR... they say he will call me back. I wait in his parking lot hoping it will be soon. Five minutes later i am talking to him telling my symptoms he says go to the hospital ER. YEEEECCCCHHH! not the way i had planned on spending my day - you never get out of the ER in under 5 hours - even for a paper cut.
AGAINST my better judgement i go to the ER. where i fill out tons of paperwork... then the triage nurse asks me how long i have had these "migranes?". "Migranes?" i ask "what migranes?" He says "the ones you say here - have you had them before?" Now, i KNOW i dont feel well, and i do suffer from cluster headaches which are like migranes - only worse... but i certainly didnt write that! So i tell him to read again a bit more carefully. Which he does .. and then turns to me with an attitude like i am nuts.... (stop laughing) and says "and WHAT makes you think you might have Malaria?????" - like i am some hypo-condriac (sp?)!!!! THAT response already has my teeth on edge. Calmly i explain i have been in Africa for 4 weeks......then the look changes from oooh, not crazy hypo-condriac person.. to hummmm, maybe she night have it, lets call the infectious disease Dr. to see whats what! DUUUH!!!! After 2 hours i am shuffled back to a little cubicle where i am told to put on one of those oh, so fashionable gowns... which of course i wont - put it on i mean. The new nurse from ER comes in and says that i HAVE to put it on because the DR wont see me without it.....so i throw it over my shoulders.... "Now its on me" i say! ... and the Dr. walks in... he doesnt seem to have a problem with the way i am wearing the gown. I explain all the things again... they take 4 , count em, 4 bottles of blood. NOT vials... BOTTLES! they insert an IV because i am dehydrated. So, then more waiting begins...i hear the ER Dr talking to my infectious diseases Dr. ... then i wait some more... i notice the IV solution isnt going down... its been in 45 minutes and the blood from me is seeping back OUT into the line.... :::: thinking to myself... "this shouldnt be happening - should it??" hummmmm, so i grab the IV off the hook... and wander around looking for ..... "anyone , anyone".... lol... (extra points if you know the movie that's from) finally i find the new ER nurse... show her whats not happening and what IS happening... i can tell shes not pleased that i am wandering around like that... TOUGH!!! it's Hour 3 & 3/4 and i haven't heard anything from anyone .... except that they want to keep me overnight for observation.....NOT HAPPENING!!!!
so, i wait another little bit and the ER dr comes in and tells me that while my "white blood cell count is good .....my other thing that is like white blood cells is not. below 75 is good over 100 is bad - i am at 92. So i am more bad than good!? And we are surprised by this exactly how?? lol...
Dr cutie pie wants me to stay so they can run more tests.. HA! nope! they arent going to give me anything because they dont know what kind of infection i have ... so.. all in all they pumped abotu 5 glasses of liquids into me, something to make my stomach stop roiling and they still cant tell if i have Malaria......SO, i signed myself out! Why did i waste my time there anyway? I had an appointment scheduled for the following Tuesday with the I/D Dr. for a follow up visit and a booster shot so i could have waited... no one seemed to concerned if i had Malaria or not ... so i guess i wouldnt have died by tuesday.
Monday comes - i am feeling a bit low again... but i have to work you know Friday creeps up quickly. Tuesday comes, still yucchy, work, work , work, run to Drs in the middle... he calls the hospital for the malaria results - after ALLLL those bottles of blood .... THEY NEVER RAN THE TEST FOR MALARIA!!! Can you believe it? ( Murphy's having real fun with me now.) So he tells me to go to the lab and have a blood test done AGAIN. Perscripition in hand i go to the closest lab. It is ten minutes to 3 the lab says theyre open til 3 - good. I go in some "voice" from behind the wall says theyre closed. I say ... "the door says youre open til 3".... voice says " yes, but were doing paperwork and were done drawing blood for the day"...me, who is loosing faith in the medical field by leaps and bounds...as i am leaving i says "BUT the door STILL says OPEN and IS OPEN". As i get down the hallway i hear the door lock and the sign being turned. I call my DR.. tell him the lab is closed he will not get results tomorrow - i will have to come back in the morning. DAMN!!!
I text a note to a friend of mine... venting my frustration... he mistakes it for being directed at him, I try to smooth it over telling him it wasnt directed AT him but TO him... initially, it makes me sad that he took it that way - but i have my own things on my mind and just want to get home to sleep - i cant worry about him right now. I have to worry about if i have anything i can spread to anyone...so i cant even go to talk in person - i am sure he will understand. Later. Maybe. Then again maybe not. When i am feeling better and i can explain i guess i will know.
Wed morning comes... i am up early(sad for me) - need to go to the LAB again... and then get to work. Spend 1/2 hour in the lab waiting to be called in for the blood letting. when i finally get called in - they look at the script.....and tell me they dont do that there! WHAT do you mean "you dont do that here??????" this is a blood lab place thingy! "Youre kidding me right??? " No the lady behind the THICK plexi glass states. I think she is the woman from yeterday but cant be sure... I would reach THROUGH the plexi if i had strength... but i dont... I am drained, mentally physically, emotionally!!!(I didnt want to worry anyone so i didnt mention this to any friends or family - so, i have about a brain full of stress more than my poor braincells can hold a this point) i want to sit on the floor right there and scream and cry and rant like some psycho!! THIS is not, not, NOT really happening , is it?? i am sure i am in some bad Nightmare on Elm Street loop.... ( if you dont know what i am referring to - go watch the movies) I call the I/F Dr one more time.... he says i have to go to the hospital and they will do it - IN THE ER!!!! AAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!! i tell him - in not so many words that it will have to wait i need to get to work.. he says to call him later and tell him when i am going. I says "Ok" .
I go to work, go home feed dog, let dog out.. its about 430... i head to Hospital and call DR... he says his parter will take care of me. So i go to the ER and have to fill out more paperwork... I wait 45 min or so... see triage nurse... she too looks at me like i have sprouted wings ... "why are you here for this??? we are so backed up it will take hours to see you for this.....come back at 1030 pm!!! or 11 ish. The look on my face must have told her i wasnt going any damned place any time soon. She called the I/f Dr on call... didnt get anywhere... i called my IF Dr AGAIN....told him the story ... he says (now hang on to your hats folks ) NO, you need to ADMIT yourself into the hospital , THEN , my partner will see you !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well at that point everything just let loose.... i was like a possessed person, speaking loudly into my phone at him..... "Are you fucking kidding me ????? Admit myself for a blood test that YOU should have ordered when i was here on Saturday for 5 hours. i AM DONE. D.O.N.E !!!!!! Done with hospitals, labs and you !!!! If i have Malaria, you will know when i am DEAD!!!! and i hung up the phone and went home to bed! You just cant make this stuff up!!! I still have the bruise on my arm from the IV drip.... it had backed up out of my vein when i took it out and left a bruise inside my elbow the size of a golfball....
(The upside of being sick is, i lost 25 lbs while i was gone. I had to go buy new pants... and even now some of them are falling off.... ...another 25 and i will be at bellydancing weight.... which i have until April to get to and plenty of time for the gym.....because for my birthday i am going to bellydance in the bandshell at Tanner Park..... but that's another blog......)
I went to work on Thursday and Friday... everyone , miraculously, was costumed and cute. They gave me flowers.... and made me come onstage... I am not liking the spotlight. I like to be unseen... melt into the woodwork. deep, deep down little embers burn in the bottom of my heart though ...happy someone took the time to think of me and let me know it and more importantly let OTHERS know it - its a rare thing. I tell people they are doing a great job or are missed all the time. It is nice to hear it!

and now i will go on to the next adventure.......in a new blog......stay tuned!!!

love you all....
B xxxo