Typhoid Part II: Electric Boogaloo

So the funny thing about typhoid is that it tends to come back after being treated. About two weeks after recovering from my first bout of typhoid, I came down with it again. It's an unpleasant affliction: dehydration, dizziness, extreme fatigue, and all kinds of intestinal discomfort. A lot of people also get fever, but I was thankfully spared that bit.

I went to my doctor, and another round of Cipro was prescribed. For those of you who have never had the pleasure of taking Ciprofloxacin, their tagline of "If you the disease doesn't kill you, our drugs will" should serve as a good summary. Seriously, the symptoms I mentioned above are all included on the list of side effects caused by Cipro. Don't believe me? Have a look.

This however, turned out to be the least of my problems, because most of the way through my second week of nuking every bacteria in my body, I woke up with a high fever, joint pain, headache, and a very sore throat. Now some of you will notice that these are also the symptoms of Ebola, that's because you are paranoid. They are actually the symptoms of nearly every disease you can contract in West Africa. The doctor prescribed another antibiotic to ward off what was becoming an increasingly severe throat infection. At this point, I was losing faith in modern medicine and was thinking of heading to my local witch doctor.

This is literally the sign for the witch doctor.

There are signs everywhere for the witch doctor near my work. The sign above being my personal favourite. The giant wolf attacking the woman in the bottom left corner being the most bizarre thing I have seen on a sign in Ghana. However, the sign does fail to mention that he can also cure night witches. These are women who are able to practice black magic without the aid of potions and can cause everything from tuberculosis, paralysis, infertility, and death. So, if you are suffering from a night witch making your life a living hell, I know a guy.

A few more days passed and I wasn't getting better. At this point, my throat was about four different colours and I was entering my second week of feeling like the 6 steps to my kitchen were the equivalent of walking through the desert for 40 days. As a result, it was time to go back to the hospital, where I was given a bed, an IV, and a very loud television for 3 days.

My roommate and others stopped by (my thanks to them for keeping me sane and bringing me food and water) to keep me company when I was in the hospital, but as the Ghanaians are as liberal as the Americans with their overuse of narcotics as pain killers, I mostly just slept. The one thing I remember distinctly was a soap opera that was on one afternoon that had "Three Blind Mice" as the only song that played in the background. It was just as irritating as it sounds.

At this point in time, it was determined that once I was stable, I should return home to seek additional medical treatment in Canada. I had been on antibiotics for 22 days in the last month and my weight had dropped from 175 lbs to 158 lbs. So if you are looking to lose weight, skip the tape worms and Jenny Craig and go straight for the typhoid and tonsilitis.

It is very important that things be properly labeled!

The journey home went well, no ebola checkpoints and I got a marriage proposal! Seriously, a woman checking my passport actually asked to be my wife. It was mostly a joke, I think.

Returning through London Heathrow was a little overwhelming. I always find it difficult going from a developing world context back to the West. Things tend to shift from being simple and straightforward to opulent and confusing.

Nevertheless, it is good to be back home resting and working with Canadian physicians. I know that I am extremely lucky to both have had the opportunity to work in Ghana and the ability to leave when my health was in question. These privileges illustrate the extreme inequalities that persist in the world and I will talk more about this in my next post.