Malaria

In 2001, our eldest son Charles, returned home from serving in the Peace Corps in Zambia, Africa.  He had not finished his tour but the Peace Corps insisted he end his two-year commitment early since they surmised he had fallen into depression and seemed emotionally spent.  It was a difficult term as he was the first Peace Corps Volunteer in his village and could not convince the villagers that clean well water was better for them than polluted river water.  Fetching water from the river was women’s work and well digging was men’s work.  They would have water whether or not the well was dug.

Feeling quite discouraged, he traveled around Namibia for about 2 weeks then headed home via Germany.  He had wanted to spend two weeks visiting relatives in Austria but that did not work out so he just came home.

Once home, he began readjusting.  He seemed to have a cold with sniffles that came and went.  Four days later, the “cold” returned more strongly, this time with a high fever.  The fever would go down but spike a few days later.  He surmised it was malaria as he had been warned of it and seen it in Africa.  He said they just iced them to bring the fever down.  I applied many cold packs and the fever subsided.  After a couple of worsening bouts of this, I decided the emergency room was in order. 

At the first emergency room visit at the nearest hospital, the paperwork took so long, the fever subsided and he was normal by the time the doctor saw him.  There were no signs of distress.  Charles shared that he thought it might be malaria but since the doctor had no experience with malaria he referred him to a specialist.  The specialist appointment would not be until a week later.

The next night, the fever spiked again.  Charles was shaking uncontrollably and said we needed to put him in the bathtub with ice.  Months ago, our bathtub stopper broke and since we never used the bathtub except to shower, I just never got around to fixing it.  Now I needed it.  So I then called a neighbor/friend Gene.

“May we use your bathtub?” I asked.

“What for?” Gene quipped at this strange request.

“We need to put Charles in ice to bring down the fever.  The stopper in ours is broken.”

“Of course.  Come on over.”

 We bundled up a shivering Charles for the trip over.  The bathtub water was running cold and all the ice in the house was dumped on him.

This was now ten at night.

 “Can we have all the ice you’ve got?”  Gene asked his neighbor.

“Sure.  What’s going on?”

“Charles has a spiked fever that we are trying to bring down.  He thinks it’s malaria.”

“Take him right now to Hoag Hospital Emergency where I work.  I will call the infectious disease specialist to meet you there,” volunteered the neighbor.

 Upon arriving at the emergency room, the fever had subsided and Charles was “normal” again.  This is what happened the last time we went to the ER.  This time he was given Tylenol for muscular pain.  Blood work was done and the specialist gave orders to admit Charles and start treatment.

 It seems that because Charles stopped taking the Malaria preventative pills once he returned home, the disease flared up.

 This infectious disease doctor had studied in Africa and when he learned where in Zambia Charles was, he knew exactly the strain of malaria he had and what proper treatment was needed.  After a week in the hospital, Charles was released and deemed cured.  The doctor then told us the extent of his attack was serious and it was halted just in time.  Most people die from it.  Had Charles not returned home when he did, he probably would not have survived as this treatment is very specialized found only in few places in the world. Orange County, CA is one.

 God works all things for good for those who love him and are called to his purposes.