The mystery

Earlier this week on Tuesday night I woke up around 12:00 with a migraine. This was nothing new. I get them often here, sometimes twice a week. Most of the night I was up and down from bed making frequent stops to the bathroom. These trips made me wonder if this migraine was something more than it seemed. At 5:00 in the morning I called my principal, Justin, and told him I needed a sub. I rested all day and felt well enough to return to school. Later in the week I went to the doctor knowing they would take blood samples, urine samples and then call me the next day with the results.

On Friday I got a call from the doctor at Reddington hospital telling me it wasn’t malaria, my urine was fine, however, there were traces of Typhoid in my blood samples. He thought these traces were from my injection in 2008. So, he concluded it was bacteria. To treat it he said to take vitamin c and multi vitamins. I was already taking these so he suggested a course of antibiotics. And it was at this time that I decided I would need to seek a second opinion.

I was relieved to have the weekend come which meant two days of rest and so I canceled all of my plans, which included a walk in the forest with my friend Staci. I had to cancel last week as well due to my driver being out of town.

I woke Saturday with joy that I wasn’t in much pain. My stomach only had a little bit of nausea and it was raining and thundering outside which made it a lovely day to get cozy and comfortable. I tried to fast all day and made it until 2:30. I ate some plantain chips and rice crackers with Staci and we munched and chatted about our next weekend plans. She had stopped by after her Boy Scout meeting and this visit made my day. Well, those chips were like razor blades in my stomach. For the rest of the night I had stomach cramps and pain.

That night I called another doctor called Hobicche from Lebanon. I was told that he was a great doctor with really poor bed-side manners. But, right from the start I liked him. He called me darling over the phone and told me to come to his house tomorrow, a Sunday, at any time. I asked for directions and he told me some landmarks but told me to just call him when I was on my way. So, I called Matthew and arranged for him to pick me up at 1:00 after his church. As we were pulling out of the garage I called Dr. Hobicche to get directions and he told me he was eating lunch and told me to come in an hour. So, I went back upstairs to read and rest for an hour. I once again called for directions on our way and he told me to come at 2:30. So, we got to the landmark of Mega Plaza (which one of my kids families owns) and waited. I called him a little after 2:15 and he said that he would come and get me. So, Matthew and I pulled the car onto the main road and just parked. After 5 minutes I got a phone call from Dr. Hobicche asking me what color and make my car was. He found us and then followed them to his house. He lead me to his office asked me a couple of questions, pushed on my stomach and gave me a prescription.

When leaving I asked him how much I owed him and he said “Nothing.” “Wow, Thank you so much!” I replied. He said something along the lines about having to move around a lot. But, I couldn’t decipher his thick Lebanonese accent.

The whole visit took around 5 minutes and we were home by 3:00 with Buscofan and the renewed hope that I will be better by tomorrow and that there are kind people who care about others even amidst the rat race of Lagos.