The Amoeba’s Ugly Cousin Strikes Again!

I’ve had an upset stomach since Thursday and, so I thought it was time to see a doctor and get things sorted. The whole going to the doctor and getting some medicine is not an easy process here. This is the part of the life of a missionary that most people never hear about, but I’ll give you the inside story. First off, a trip has to be made to the lab. It is about 20 minutes away if the traffic isn’t too bad. The tricky part is you have to take the sample to the lab within 30 minutes of collection, other wise it’s no good any you have to throw it out and try again. Thankfully, Chris was able to take it in for me on time.
Next comes the trip to pick up the lab results and see the doctor. I picked up the results, no problem, but then had to wade through both cars and sea of human traffic in an attempt to find a parking space. After about 30 minutes, I thought I’d finally found a good one, sure it was about a 10 minute walk from the doctors’ office, but it was some place to put the car. Therefore, I parked and started trekking up the torn up side walk, grasping my daughters hand a mid a swarm of other people tying not to sprain an ankle as we pick our way through the rubble. Eventually I gave up and joined the other people who opted to doge cars on the busy road. I was feeling rather weak, so I stopped for a Gatorade from 7-11 on the way.
We get to the doctors office building and climb up to the 3rd floor. Thankfully, the wait was not as long as most doctors’ offices are in the States. This was especially good as the building I was waiting in was very stuffy and smelled like leaking gas.
The doctor informed me that I had a blastocystist (at least I think that’s what he called it). He explained it as a bug that burrows into your intestine causing bleeding, diarrhea and other symptoms. It also feeds on iron and folic acid, which would explain why I’ve been so exhausted lately. Because this is the second time I’ve gotten this lovely bug, he recommended that I stick to eating only cooked produce for awhile. He also gave me a prescription for some really nasty medicine, Flagentyl. It does the trick, but you feel really awful while taking it. In fact, I had to get a prescription for anti nausea pills to take with it.
Now that I had a diagnosis and appropriate prescriptions, I was off to the pharmacy. Well, the first pharmacy only had 2 pill for one of the medications I needed. The next pharmacy had my regular heartburn medication, but none of the others. After waiting in line at two pharmacies, and feeling rather sick, I was ready to call in the reinforcements.
So, I headed back to my car, only to discover a parking ticket! I drove home and called Chris in his office to ask him to continue the hunt for my meds. We decided to load up the whole family and drive back into town to look for them. This way, one of us could double park and be on hand to move the car if the cops complained. I didn’t need two tickets in one day!
The near by pharmacy was “out of stock.” The next pharmacy at the hospital had the nausea medicine but said that the manufacturers weren’t supplying the Flagentyl anymore and to call our doctor for a new prescription. So, we called him. He called yet another pharmacy, and they said they had it. Finally, after 4 hours from when I left to go to the doctors and 5 pharmacies later we were home with all the medicine I need.
When retelling this story to my Mom I told her that the next time she was at a drive through Walgreen’s she should thank God for it!
So, how do I cope with all this frustration and with being sick yet again? My answer is worship music. Thinking about how great God is and how important his plans are, puts my small frustrations and problems into perspective. As I listen to words like, “present suffering may pass, Lord your mercy will last, as I open my eyes to the works of your hand. Hope will rise, glory shone, in my life your will be done” on my Hillsongs, “Mighty to Save” CD (thanks to a Christmas gift from a church in Florida) I make it my prayer. After all what’s a little sickness and hassle in the light of eternity?