Journal- excerpts from a personal journal regarding my own experience in Makeni's healthcare
July 15
...For the past few days, there has been a squiggly line going across my foot that itches so badly that I think I may go crazy. Maybe hookworm? We'll see what that's about, going to the clinic tomorrow.
July 16
...After finally getting internet access to do a little research, and after the growth of the squiggly lines overnight, I am entirely convinced it's hookworm. Went to the clinic, and they were convinced that if there was a worm in there they'd be able to see it move. That is a guinea worm; a hookworm isn't actually a worm, but a little larvae that gets lost underneath your skin and leaves a trail. However, they've decided if it's not a guinea worm, it's not a worm at all. They gave me something for the itch and told me it's in my head. Where's my albendazole??
July 17
... I went again today. My experience with the man who has somehow become in charge of my foot has been frustrating to say the least.. It was him, the girl wrapping my foot, and another couple of nurses crowded around my foot today, and he said, "Oh good, that one line is gone." And I said, "No it's not. It's very obviously still there. Plus, there is a new loop down here. It's actually quite larger." He says, "Oh no, that was already there" and laughs at my idiocy. He continues, "But it's not a guinea worm." I replied, "Yeah, I agree. But there are other kinds of worms." And the other nurses just laughed and laughed because it was obvious that nobody had sassed that man before in his clinic. My mistake. A head nurse finally decided to call in someone else for me to see tomorrow, and told me to come back at the same time tomorrow. After she leaves, he wait’s a minute to tell me again, "It is getting better, it's not a worm. It's in your head." And storms off. A delightful experience. It still itches.
July 18
...Visited another hospital today. They told me to come in another time to come get medication, so that they could see what happened with the lines on my foot. Waiting games.
July 22
...In other news, the red lines have gone up my ankles, and have also shown up on the back of my legs. I must have gotten it from our visit to the beach, where I was sitting on the edge of a towel and had my legs in the sand. Woops! I've taken to pacing, as sitting still drives me absolutely insane with the amount of itching going on. Yikes!
A week and a half later...
I finally got albendazole! This was ridiculous. For the past two weeks I have been told, "It's all in your head, you are making it up, it is nothing." I finally got someone to believe me! One of the nurses let me in on a secret though... he thinks that they were holding off on diagnosing it until they had the medication in stock. Very tricky. I'm hoping this will go fast!
(After running into a South African physician at the grocery store, I took the advice to also apply a paste of the pills directly to the hookworm marks that had grown across my foot and up my ankles. Within 24 hours they had dried out, and within a week the lines started to disappear. The problem is all taken care of now, but serves as an example of what the medical resource situation can be like in Sierra Leone. Tiring!)
...For the past few days, there has been a squiggly line going across my foot that itches so badly that I think I may go crazy. Maybe hookworm? We'll see what that's about, going to the clinic tomorrow.
July 16
...After finally getting internet access to do a little research, and after the growth of the squiggly lines overnight, I am entirely convinced it's hookworm. Went to the clinic, and they were convinced that if there was a worm in there they'd be able to see it move. That is a guinea worm; a hookworm isn't actually a worm, but a little larvae that gets lost underneath your skin and leaves a trail. However, they've decided if it's not a guinea worm, it's not a worm at all. They gave me something for the itch and told me it's in my head. Where's my albendazole??
July 17
... I went again today. My experience with the man who has somehow become in charge of my foot has been frustrating to say the least.. It was him, the girl wrapping my foot, and another couple of nurses crowded around my foot today, and he said, "Oh good, that one line is gone." And I said, "No it's not. It's very obviously still there. Plus, there is a new loop down here. It's actually quite larger." He says, "Oh no, that was already there" and laughs at my idiocy. He continues, "But it's not a guinea worm." I replied, "Yeah, I agree. But there are other kinds of worms." And the other nurses just laughed and laughed because it was obvious that nobody had sassed that man before in his clinic. My mistake. A head nurse finally decided to call in someone else for me to see tomorrow, and told me to come back at the same time tomorrow. After she leaves, he wait’s a minute to tell me again, "It is getting better, it's not a worm. It's in your head." And storms off. A delightful experience. It still itches.
July 18
...Visited another hospital today. They told me to come in another time to come get medication, so that they could see what happened with the lines on my foot. Waiting games.
July 22
...In other news, the red lines have gone up my ankles, and have also shown up on the back of my legs. I must have gotten it from our visit to the beach, where I was sitting on the edge of a towel and had my legs in the sand. Woops! I've taken to pacing, as sitting still drives me absolutely insane with the amount of itching going on. Yikes!
A week and a half later...
I finally got albendazole! This was ridiculous. For the past two weeks I have been told, "It's all in your head, you are making it up, it is nothing." I finally got someone to believe me! One of the nurses let me in on a secret though... he thinks that they were holding off on diagnosing it until they had the medication in stock. Very tricky. I'm hoping this will go fast!
(After running into a South African physician at the grocery store, I took the advice to also apply a paste of the pills directly to the hookworm marks that had grown across my foot and up my ankles. Within 24 hours they had dried out, and within a week the lines started to disappear. The problem is all taken care of now, but serves as an example of what the medical resource situation can be like in Sierra Leone. Tiring!)