Eleven Months Later...

My intestines of steel finally gave in. After 11 months of impeccable health, I finally caught a case of dysentery. Actually two. Both amoebic and bacterial. My opinion, it's not as bad as I thought it would be. Basically I woke up in the middle of the night and felt kinda feverish and weaklimbed which made it hard to sleep. I moved into my house and when I woke up I still felt kinda icky. So I waited for the market bus cause it was sunday, planning to go into Niamey and see my medical officer the next day.

Well the bus was about 2 hours late, and at about the 1.5hr mark, I didn't feel so bad. So I went back to my house figuring I'd sleep it out and see if I still felt icky that evening. The bus brings people back from market and then returns to Niamey again in the evening. Mostly though, I really wanted to spend more than a week at post before coming back in. The fear of scolding has made me avoid Niamey even when sick! ok, not really.

But yeah, so I still feel icky after sleeping all day, though I still didn't have the runny shits, just a little cramping and weakness. So I catch the evening bus at 5:30 and finally make it to Niamey around 7:30. Though the cold night air blowing in through the windows made me feel worlds better. The Nigeriens asking me if I'm from America and why I don't speek french however, did not. Go figure, I spend all day agonizing over whether or not my gastrointestinal distress is enough to warrant a trip to civilization, and by the time I arrive I feel fine.

So the next morning I go and poop in a cup, only a little cramping, feeling better over all. Though, the particular shade of mustard with a smooth jelly coating convinced that I was, infact, sick. That and the powerful aroma I left lingering in the rest room. Later that day my doctor confirmed that I had amoebas and bacteria and gave me a pile of drugs.

I have to say, the drugs have been knocking me on my ass solidly for the last 3 days, hence my still being here. Overall I would say that the daily cocktail used to treat it was more unpleasant than the actual illness. Oh well.

So, that's all I really have to report, or atleast all that comes to mind. Heading back to the bush in a few minutes but figured you would all enjoy hearing about my immunological misadventures. Now if I can hang out for the next 11 months I'll feel pretty good. Hopefully this isn't the sign that my immune system has finally been broken down.