Sexy, not Superman

I am superman. I am unbreakable. I do not get sick.

This is what I have always believed. I remember in 2nd grade I got the chicken pox. After that, I didn’t miss a day of school for ten years. My senior year my mom wanted me to miss a day of school so that we could go and visit schools in Virginia and North Carolina. I argued with her. I actually didn’t want to miss school and break my Cal Ripken streak.

The point being that I don’t get sick. So, even here in Mali, as everyone around me got sick I thought I was immune. I’ve seen fellow volunteers get, and suffer through malaria, schisto, infections, worms, diarrhea, giardia, and other various parasites.

I swam in places I wasn’t supposed to and ate things I probably shouldn’t have eaten. But let me ask you, if it is pushing 120 degrees and you have a gorgeous, rolling river right in front of you, are you really going to turn that down? Or when all you’ve eaten is rice and sauce, and you see a beautiful green leaf of lettuce, how can you not take a bite? You hope it has been washed and bleached before being sold to you, but you definitely do not say no to a green vegetable.

So, I take risks. I got a parasite called schisto because I swam in a river that probably wasn’t safe. My nose has been stuffed up for a while, and I can’t remember the last time I’ve had a solid stool sample.

For once, I decided that the first step was at least admitting that I am in fact sick. All those problems added up together and I have felt incredibly tired. I tried to play basketball the other day. Never in my life have I felt so useless on a basketball court. My man was blowing past me as if I weren’t there. I, in fact, wasn’t really there. Mr. Marathon Man had no gas left.

Now, here I am in Bamako, after having make the long trip here, finally taking care of myself and getting right before I head back to the middle of nowhere.

I truly hate being away from site for this long, especially if it’s not to go sit on a beach somewhere.

But, as I write this now, I am feeling much better. The support from the PC Medical staff has been incredible. I know I haven’t been the greatest at describing my symptoms. Telling the doctor that I feel terrible probably isn’t overly helpful.

My doctor Aissata was amazingly patient, and somehow deciphered what I was talking about.

I ended up with some sort of nasal spray, a couple other pills, and orders to hydrate as much as possible. I’ve also been sleeping in the penthouse suite at the Bamako stage house. Sleeping with the AC blasting and a comforter exactly like the one I own back home is probably as good a remedy as anything else.

Now I’m just trying to be patient until I get cleared to go back to site. As long as the last of my tests come back clean I’ll start my trip back to site. It’s definitely nice to feel how strong the support system really is for us volunteers. Sometimes its easy to feel like you’re all alone way out in village. In Bamako, with the doctors and other volunteers around, it was nice to be surrounded.

I have definitely felt completely supported here in Mali.

On the other hand, I miss my kids in Dialafara, and now that I feel like Superman again, I need fly on back home.