Malaria

The last ten days I have been battling malaria. This is by far the sickest I have ever been in my life. I started out taking first-line anti-malarial oral drugs. They had no impact and my fevers were soaring up past 103 so the decision was made to switch me over to Quinine. After three days on quinine I continued to get worse with temperatures rising above 104. At that point (on Sunday) the nurse who was treating me referred me to the hospital.

I was admitted to Medi-Heal Hospital in Eldoret shortly after arriving. My white blood cell count's were nearly four times normal. My malaria test was highly positive even after five days of strong treatment. I also had a urinary tract infection, respiratory infection and tonsillitis.

Within 10 minutes of my agreeing to be admitted I had an IV started and was given no less than six drugs. When it was at it's worst I actually dreamed that I was in heaven and was disappointed to wake up. After three days in the hospital I was starting to improve a bit and we realized that we wouldn't be able to pay the hospital bill if I stayed an additional night. So I fought to be discharged with my IV in place.

So for the last few days I've been receiving IV infusions from home. The fevers and chills are completely gone now. I'm just about as weak as a newborn kitten though. I continue to fight this respiratory bug and have a difficult time even thinking about eating anything. I would greatly appreciate your prayers as I continue to try to fight this thing.