What do I have??

It feels like a miracle that I am sitting here typing my journal tonight. I am really beat. I didn’t sleep at all last night because I felt so sick. I had severe cramping pains in my abdomen and finally decided to see an African doctor at 12:00 noon.

We went to the clinic and I couldn’t get a full breath. We were sitting in a small and very full waiting room. I was feeing very sick and the doctor must have noticed because he opened a consultation door for me and ushered me in. I would have thought that I was specially treated because I was American… but I can honestly say I was the “sickest” person in there.

He began tapping on my abdomen and back. Both were incredibly painful. His eyes showed concern. He left the room to grab a nurse and a blood pressure machine. I turned over on the small table trying to get comfortable and noticed only one thing in the sparse room, a large oxygen tank. Nothing else was available at this clinic other than that one tank and a small microscope. I cried when he left the room. I thought to myself, “What if I am seriously sick? What if I need surgery? Where do I go?” Questions were running through my head like a freight train.

Without proper equipment, he could not rule out a kidney infection or appendicitis. So, he told me I had to go to a clinic ½ hour away for an ultrasound of my kidney and appendix. I left there feeling really weak and even more scared. When I got to the ultrasound clinic, I had to wait for 5 hours. I began to notice the pain subsiding a little by the 4^th hour.

During the long wait, I imagined them finding something awful in my right kidney. I have had a stone in that one since 2001. For years my biggest fear has been that thing dropping while I was overseas. I tried to have it removed years ago without success because it was so large. I kept thinking in that crowded clinic that maybe the stone moved. The questions droned on, “Without the advancement of medicine in Africa, would they have to cut open my back to retrieve it? How long would I be in a hospital and what would the hospital be like?” But even so, I kept praying and telling God that I would trust Him even though I was afraid.

When I was called, I changed into a robe, laid on the table and clenched my teeth when the cold gel touched my skin. The technician said, “Your bladder is not full. You need to drink 4 bottles of water and come back.” What? Sheesh. That seemed impossible. Well, 4 bottles of water and ½ hour later I was back on the table… His instrument traveled under my ribs searching for the cause of pain. When the kidney came into view, I recognized it immediately. But something looked strange… I couldn’t see the stone. “Sir,” I asked questioningly… “Do you see a stone in there?” He smiled a gap-toothed smile, “No Mam, I don’t see a thing.”

I left that clinic with a clean bill of health. After a urine test, blood test, ultrasound of the pancreas, kidney, appendicitis, duodenum, intestine, and gallbladder, malaria screening and 9 hours of waiting, the pain eased. I went home feeling tired but relieved.

I have thought today about the ability to get quality doctor care here. How frustrating it must be for doctors to not have the available diagnosing equipment in emergency situations. But even more than that, I think I have a better understanding of what Africans go through, even when they are in extreme pain. By God’s grace, my pain was decreasing. But what would have happened if it had increased? What African person has sat in these very clinics and has felt so afraid of dying without having access the proper help, medicine or equipment? Someone told me that there are 5 ambulances in Kampala. Not that I have ever seen one. How is it possible to care for more than 2 million people that way?

I came away from this situation enlightened and more in tune with what African’s as a whole feel when they are sick. I can’t even imagine if I didn’t have money. To have no control and no assistance, it is a nightmare. I think God allowed this experience so I could empathize better with the sick and poor. I cried, I worried, I prayed, and I waited just like all other Africans. Can I just say how much I appreciate the United States??

Ultrasound in Africa: $37.49 (9 hour wait) Ultrasound in America: $?? (1 hour wait)

Bottom line - I probably have a virus in my large intestine!