Malaria Take 2: Part 2

So on the road to the hospital...

Well there is a nearby clinic called "Heart and Hand" about 2 minutes from our house.  I know a few people that went there and got good treatment and I knew they did IV's.  I knew the treatment probably wouldn't be quite as good as Choitram's Hospital (Plan B), but at least we'd get there soon and John would get treated quickly.  When we drive up, its closed! Ok, I guess God doesn't want us to go there.

So plan B, drive over the mountain rode about 20-30 minutes to Choitram's Hospital which is described as the best hospital in Sierra Leone.  The mountain road is the road that we take to get to town.  It is a dirt road and winds it way through a beautiful mountainous area.  Unfortunately it is under construction and it is also rainy season which means muddy gunk that people get stuck in. 

On the way there John wanted me to test him for malaria.  I brought a test kit and opened it but there was no syringe to suck up the blood.  So I took the one-time-use retractable 'poker' and poked him with it hoping I'd get enough blood to squeeze a drop onto the tester.  Sadly I couldn't! I felt like a failed as I was trying to squeeze his finger harder to eek out a drop of blood.  If it was positive I figured we could just start him on treatment right away.  Although we knew it was positive we decided to wait till we got there.

Just a few minutes from our house, we see an area that is blocked off by a digger except for one small area for cars to pass.  Unfortunately that small area is muddy and one taxi is stuck and one car is behind it and probably will get stuck also.  Abdul starts screaming at the window "I get patient I get patient." There happened to be tons of workers and people around because of the road construction.  John starts begging the people to help get them unstuck. It takes a few minutes and a John promising them money if they all pitch in and help get the car unstuck. 

With about 20 people pushing the taxi they are able to get it to move forward.  The whole process took about 5 minutes but it felt more like 15 minutes, particularly because of the way John and Abdul were begging and trying to impress on people the sense of urgency.  I had to hold back tears myself because I know John must have been feeling so horrible to be begging the way he was for help.  He handed someone 20,000 Le to share between the people.

On we go! Abdul was an AWESOME driver.  He was putting the pedal to the medal as they say.  He used to run a taxi service... Pastor by Sunday, and taxi driver by Monday through Saturday. We got there in probably 15 minutes.

When we arrived they came out with a wheelchair which I was impressed with and quickly wheeled him back to the 'emergency area'.  I was so thankful they had bed for him.  They laid him down on a bed and prepared to give him an IV.  John was trying to tell them that he couldn't feel his hands or his face.  The nurses ushered me back to registration to fill out some forms.      

Ten or so minutes later and I was back and John seemed to be a lot better.  He was joking and talking with the nurses.  At that point a wave of relief fell over me as I finally felt like everything would be okay.
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Well that's it for the in depth story of events of last Thursday.  The short version of what happened in the time that followed is:

-He was treated and on an IV for most of Thursday but the Dr. did send him home that evening (Yay!)
-He still felt weak, feverish, and achy for 3-4 more days after that  The day after we got home we had to go back to the hospital to get his tests results.  His hemoglobin was at 13.2 which is awesome.  Last time it got down to 8.5 or so.  He did throw up quit a bit on the way home though :(   
-We lounged about the house watching one of the seasons of Quantum Leap, Sherlock, and started watching Battlestar Galactica (courtesy of fellow missionaries the come with hard drives full of shows that we dump onto our hard drive)
-John left today to go back to the well site to check on things (... Just for the day... even though I was on strict orders by several people to chain him to a bed till further notice)

I am so thankful to God that He provided for John's care and that he is all right now.

Also, Tuesday on the way into town I had my first manual driving lesson.  I stalled a few times but John said I did better than he thought I would do.  I know that I need a lot more practice to feel comfortable driving manual especially since most of our cars are now manual and I NEED to know this for emergencies.  (John had been trying to get me to learn since we got here, and I resisted until last week happened.  Now I have been the initiator of my lessons. :)