African Flu

Tammy and I had our first African experience with sickness this week.  On Monday, Tammy started our with just a headache, which progressed to sinus congestion with sore throat on Tuesday.  Initially, we just thought it was a cold, but by Thursday she was so miserable, I took her to the doctor (Some of our staff said that she had the "African Flu," but I'm not sure that it's the flu).   We're really fortunate that one of Agape's Kenyan board members is a physician in Kisumu, so all of the missionaries in the area go to see her.  Her name is Dr. Ruby Sokwala, and she is a wonderful physician!

So, I took Tammy to see Dr. Ruby, who gave her a shot of antibiotic and a prescription for an oral antibiotic.  She instructed us in the future not to mess around with sickness in Kenya, but at the first sign of symptoms to come see her.  Because we're in a new country, we've never been exposed to the sicknesses in Kenya, so we are much more susceptible to catching these "bugs."  Evidently, with the respiratory sicknesses, it's easy to get pneumonia if you leave it unchecked.

I caught the same bug Friday night, so I went in and got the same treatment as Tammy on Saturday.  I'm feeling a lot better today, but Tammy is still battling a nasty cough . . . so, if she's not feeling better tomorrow, we'll probably head back to see Dr. Ruby!  Please keep us in your prayers, especially that the kids will stay healthy!

Oh yeah, Americans will get a kick out of this . . . here's a breakdown of the approximate cost for a doctor's visit:

• Medical Visit:  500 KSh (approx. $5.50)
• Antibiotic Injection:  500 KSh (approx. $5.50)
• Oral Antibiotic:  550 KSh (approx. $6.00)

Needless to say, it's going to take a long time to meet our deductible at these rates!