Malaria and Me

I have the constitution of a General, thank God, when it comes to travel. I rarely get felled by illness, I have only gotten food poisoning once in my life (Ethiopia), and I generally don't ever get sick.

So the past month has been a mystery to me. Actually, it has been more than a month but whose counting?

I have not been able to sleep, have woken up in the middle of the night sweating like I had run a marathon, and have been plagued by the most fantastic dreams anyone who does not do drugs reguarly would wish to have...or not. It has gotten better and worse, depending, but it has never been anything debilitating and I attributed it to "living in Africa."

Until last night.

My boss is visiting and she introduced me to her friend who has been working here, on and off, for about six years. We commiserated on various topics but then got to health. I described to her my symptoms.

"Malaria," she said, without a doubt.

No! I don't get sick and I don't get diseases, I insisted.

"Malaria!" her boyfriend from France said, having had it many times.

No!

Then, I started to wonder. I decided to go to the British clinic this evening to get tested.

Guess what? I have Malaria. I have apparently had it for years.

"You have a flare-up," the Doctor said. "What have you been doing to to take care of yourself?"

Nothing. I have not been tested in years.

He laughed at me.

"All of those countries in Africa and Southeast Asia and you thought you were immune? Just be glad it isn't the cerebral kind."

I sat in horror, like one does when finding out a horrible test result, and said, "Is it transmissble to others?"

The Doc, who has spent more than 30 years of practice in sub-Saharan Africa and has "seen it all," said, "Nope, not at all transmissible to others, and the fact that you have probably had Malaria for about the past five years is a good testament to your immune system, you'll be fine."

He gave me a prescription for something and I left, all stressed out and upset.

When I got home, I decided that if I have lived with this bastard for five or more years, then it was time to let it go.

But still, I have Malaria.

Malaria and Me.