The joy of medicine

I just saw that it has been over a month from my last post. I ended up having to return to the beautiful medical hut at the Peace Corps office in Dakar for further testing. And when I say beautiful, I mean it has a refrigerator, microwave, hotplate, hot water, and even a toaster, but it is otherwise gray. In the states, if you are sick but not contagious and can walk around, you often work even if it is only for a few hours a day. As a PCV, the med staff is a little reluctant to send you back to your site that may or may not be an hour bicycle ride from the nearest land-line phone in between medical tests and procedures. This allows for a PCV to end up in a situation like mine: prolonged medical hold away from site.

A recap of my medical history over the past month and a half:

Total number of weeks on medical hold in either the national capital Dakar or my regional capital Kaolack: 7

Highest fever: 104˚F/40˚C
Ambient (outside) temperature at that time: 102˚F/39˚C
Cause of original fever: UTI/Pyelonephritis (Kidney infection)
Number of days on ciprofloxacin: 17 (the
normal dose for a UTI is 3-5 days)
Procedures done to rule out kidney stones and kidney abnormalities as causes for the intense and prolonged kidney infection: ultrasound (twice), abdominal CAT scan
Number of consultations with specialists: 2 (urologist and gastrointologist)
Procedures done in attempt to find causes for gastrointestinal issues that arose during week 2 in Dakar: many stool samples and sigmoidoscopy (procedure to look at the last part of the colon)
Number of times I was given a gown to wear during these procedures versus not: 3:5