August 10-18, 2011

Bonjour,

 

The daily e-mail has fallen by the wayside for the last week or so.  We will try to bring you up to date on all that has been happening.

 

On Wednesday, August 10, the Posts had invited the Engelharts over for lunch.  Joe and Dan ran errands in the morning and were back home for lunch.  I was doing some more sorting and packing.  The Engelharts arrived about noon.  After lunch, Jennifer and Margie surprised me with a birthday party.  Joe said, "Whose birthday is it?"  When they said, it was mine, he got worried; he thought he had missed my birthday.  But, we were just celebrating early.  My birthday is on the 28th. 

 

That evening, we were getting the vehicle loaded up.  We loaded my sewing machine.  When I went to get my sewing boxes, they had been taken over by tiny ants which were eating the plastic.  So, I dumped everything out on the sidewalk and killed some ants.  While I was working on that, I got too hot.  I had a headache followed by vomiting.  So, I went to bed.  On Thursday morning, I felt better.  Joe went into Bassam to get car insurance.  We headed out around 11:00 to go back to Ivory Coast.  We got about twenty minutes down the road, and I started vomiting.  So, we turned around and went back to the Posts' house.  I had a terrible headache and could not stop vomiting.  Joe went to get some medicine for me.  The headache let up about 10:00 P.M.; the vomiting stopped, and I was able to get a good night's sleep. 

 

On Friday morning, I was feeling better.  So, we headed out again.  We left about 8:00.  After we had been driving for about an hour, I told Joe that I thought I was going to puke.  About thirty minutes later, I felt very dizzy and told Joe that I thought I was going to pass out.  The next thing I knew, we were headed back toward Abidjan.

 

Joe said that I went completely limp and then went into a seizure.  He reached over and could not find a pulse.  He got out of the car and came around thinking that he would have to do CPR.  Just about that time, I started breathing again.  Joe said that Bonnie was laughing at me, and Gilbert said, "I don't know if this is funny, Bonnie."  Joe put it into high gear and headed back to the Posts.  On the way, Bonnie got car sick and threw up all over herself.  Joe gave her a bag, but she didn't get it into the bag.  Danny said, "Dad, Bonnie got puke in her eye."  Bonnie said, "I can't see!"  Gilbert said, "Dad, Mom opened one eye!  That's good!"

 

The Posts kept the kids for us, and Joe and I went on to the doctor.  The doctor's office is on the third floor, and there is no elevator.  Joe helped me up the stairs.  The doctor saw us right away and admitted us to the hospital.  They have an operating room and a few hospital rooms at the end of the hallway.  They tried several times to take my blood pressure but could not get a reading because it was so low.  They started me on an IV right away.  It took a few tries to get the needle into my arm.  Then, they did a blood test to find out what the problem was.  They discovered that I was in the beginning stages of Typhoid fever.  It is treatable with antibiotics.  So, they got me started on that. 

 

I spent three days in the hospital.  Joe stayed with me because my blood pressure kept fluctuating, and they were concerned about that.  I have not had trouble with high blood pressure before.  On Sunday morning, they did some more blood work to check my cholesterol and that type of thing, but all of that came back normal. 

 

The Posts were such a blessing in keeping the children for us.  We talked to the kids several times.  They wanted to know what we were doing.  Danny needed to know the exact details about where we were sleeping, what we were eating, etc.

 

On Monday morning, I was discharged.  It was a holiday.  We had to go to three different pharmacies to get all of my medicine and a blood pressure cuff.  They told me to monitor my blood pressure and keep a record of it.  They told me to come back on Thursday for a check-up. 

 

The kids were so happy to see us when we got back to the Posts' house.  Bonnie jumped up on me and said, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!"  The boys gave me hugs and wanted to make sure that I was okay.  Jennifer had lunch and supper for us on Monday.

 

On Tuesday, Joe went into town to get some groceries.  Then, he came back and got lunch ready.  I just took it easy. 

 

On Wednesday, Joe went to Anyama to have some work done on our vehicle.  They thought that they could get it all done in one day, but it did not happen.  So, Joe spent the night at the Engelharts' house.  I just took it easy and made some simple meals.

 

This morning, Joe has quite the marathon day.  He is riding into Abidjan with Bob Engelhart to pick up Bob's car that has been in the shop (about a one-hour drive depending on the traffic).  Then, Joe will drive the car out here to get us to take us to Abidjan for the doctor's appointment (about 45 minutes).  Then, he will take us back to Bassam (another 45 minutes).  He will then head back to Anyama, give Bob his car, and hopefully pick up our vehicle (another hour and a half one way).  If all of that goes as planned, we will head back to Ghana tomorrow (about six hours with a one-hour border crossing).  In Africa, that's a big IF!  : )  Keep us in your prayers!

 

Meanwhile, Kristine has been holding the fort in Ghana.  The power has been off more than it has been on. 

 

A demain,

 

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie