FINE! I'll drink more water!

I don't like water.  Most people know this about me.  I just don't like it because it tastes like nothing.  And, to be honest, I've survived 30 years without any major repercussions from NOT drinking tons of water (or any water, for that matter)....30 year, that is, until now....

Monday night at around 12:30 I started experiencing some pretty severe stomach pains on my lower right side.  They came out of nowhere so I assumed they'd disappear out of nowhere as well.  But they didn't.  And me, being the tough person I am (ok, fine....me being the STUBBORN person I am), refused to go to the doctor.  But then at about 2am, I threw up.  And then I got a fever and crazy cold sweats.  And then I dragged myself to my computer and googled "what side is your appendix on" (right, for the record).  And then I called my roommate (because I honestly couldn't even walk to her room) and told her I needed to go to the hospital.

Unfortunately, it's harder than you'd think to find a place that is open in the middle of the night.  Fortunately, my roommate R (MVP of the night, for serious real), found a place that had a doc on call.  We rushed over there (just in time for me to lose my stomach again, right in front of the clinic) and they hooked me up to an IV and gave me some drugs and a few injections and then I was sort of in and out of sleep/consciousness for the next few hours (I remember waking up and asking if they gave me 'sleepy' medicine at one point).  

At around 6 I was told I had to go to a different hospital to get an ultrasound and an x-ray.  One of our colleagues used to be a doctor and she had called in a favor with the radiologist at the hospital where she used to work.....if we picked him up on the way, he'd open up the department early.  So we went and got the tests done only to find out that they were pretty inconclusive.  Back at the clinic, the doctor was convinced it was appendicitis.  He really didn't want me to fly later that day (oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I was supposed to go to Kenya that day for work - but not just any business trip, one that I was genuinely looking forward to!) and he wanted me to get a CT scan (even though I'd have to get the scans to Blantyre in order for someone to read them). 

R, on the phone, getting things done in the wee hours of the morning

At this time R had notified the office and called our emergency insurance company to plan next steps.  They wanted to set up a medivac to get me to Joburg for an emergency appendectomy.  The thought of this was scary for a few reasons....

1). they wanted to do an appendectomy (aka they wanted to send me to get sliced open!) even though there wasn't conclusive evidence that I even had appendicitis (and they were basing it off of the opinion of ONE doctor...who happened to be a surgeon)

2). flying on an airplane might actually induce a rupture because of the change in air pressure...but don't worry, there would be a doctor on board (sorry, but that's not all that comforting).

3) my friend's colleague (a doctor) told him I'd be better off having the procedure done in Malawi (to avoid flying) - and that the doctors could do the surgery but the pre/post op (anesthesiology) may not be up to snuff (eek!).  

So.... now I'm scared.  I thought the medivac was a bit extreme but I was quite scared to have any sort of surgery done in Malawi....so we went for a 2nd opinion at the hospital recommended by the UN/US Embassy (which, in hindsight I should have gone to first...despite the fact that it's really far away).  It just gets to a point where you really don't know who to trust...and that is sort of scary in itself.  I ended up seeing a GREAT (American) doctor who was extremely helpful.  He ruled out appendicitis and deemed that it was likely a kidney stone instead (which, by the way, is no day in the park, but much much much better than appendicitis in my book).  I would have been jumping for joy at this diagnosis....but I was hooked up to an IV...and I was completely and utterly drained.

after several hours of that IV, I was feeling MUCH better!

I don't recommend requiring emergency medical attention (in the middle of the night) in a 3rd world country, but this one seemed to turn out pretty well (except for the fact that this probably DOES mean I need to drink more water).... and the 2nd moral of the story is: have good peeps to keep you company/sane.  R was literally on the phone ALL night long and the thought of me having had to do that alone makes me want to get sick all over again.  She was a savior in every way possible....

This morning I woke up feeling well enough to fly, so here I am in Nairobi - only a day late and a hospital admit later :-) And yes, I'm drinking plenty of water.....