Sat nite: I couldn’t sleep but for ten or fifteen minutes at a time having climbing fever, headaches, and upset stomach. Jerome and Adriana Fisher has arrived on Friday afternoon and left by early bus for BKO on Monday. We had dinner at a Kayes Ndi restaurant Sat eve and then enjoyed desert back at the Reach Across guest house catching up with Michelsons and Bridos. No one else got sick, so we don’t accuse the restaurant.
Sun morn: I skipped church being exhausted still. Today was to be a special day of prayer after combined service at Djiabougou. Jenn actually only stayed part of the prayer time which was followed by The Lord’s Supper. There was also a mis’ry BD swim/meal party for Marion Hagg at the Kamonkolé Palace which I had to skip. Some pain started in my upper right chest; at first I thot it was muscle pain and put on some back rub, which had no effect. I didn’t eat anything all day. Some diarrhea and vomiting. I started taking extra strength paracetemol, 650mg, every eight hours, all week. Jenn bought the Chinese 3 day malaria treatment which I started on Sunday afternoon.
Terrible suffering on Sunday night: the chest pain, from bronchitis, was terrible, like a knife stab, and every breath was laborious to find a position of the head and throat that would not take in too much air that pained me. I sat partially upright on the sofa over half the night. I prayed much for release of the pain. I was encouraged by Hezekiah’s payer in Is 38 later on Mon morning.
Finally Monday morning Jenn drove me over to the Clinique, the only 400 m from my door would have been too exhausting to walk, and Dr Soumaré himself saw me and soon wrote a prescription. We bought it quickly at the new pharmacy across the street, I took it, and threw it all up, along with day two of the malaria treatment, within an hour! Later I was able to hold down some tomato soup. On Sun and Mon I couldn’t even read! I barely read two chapters of devotions each day, that’s it. No movies, either! By Monday afternoon the pain had abated, PTL. A number of friends came to offer prayers: Pierre, Oumar, Issa, Founeké, Kodjos, Djikiné. etc. Oumar left Early Monday for Nouakchott for a month of learning form the Fulani church leaders over there.
Tuesday: oatmeal in the morning was not tolerated, nor anything else until some scrambled eggs and tomato soup in the evening. Extremely weak and still some fever which lasts until Sat. Weighing I discovered I had lost 4-5 kilos dropping to 80! Just walking around the house was exhausting.Wed: stronger, but not by much, ate a bit and kept it! I developed a deep chest cough and was wracked by it for days, especially at night. The cough syrup didn’t seem to do much. On Thursday we had the Brazilians over for lunch as Vera Lucia was in town, and I surprised myself and ate well, but had a long rest afterwards.
Friday, too! Rodney arrived Fri afternoon for his Area Director visit and I tolerated desert at the Harris’. I was able to stay up for the entire morning for the team discussions and then the meal. Rod moved here Sat and I was fine for evening desert social time. I drove for the first time all week! I was fine for the long church / prayer time on Sunday, dinner at Harris’ before Rod left, rest time, then a visit to Sandy J’s (Peter is away in BKO for two weeks). My cough lingers, strength is up, and I seem to be back in the land of the living, alleluia!
