Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Bonjour,

 

Bonnie threw up during the night and was still throwing up this morning.  Joe was also sick with a very bad headache last night; when he woke up this morning, he still had the headache and was throwing up too.

 

Joe was going to drive to Abidjan to go to the doctor, but he really did not feel up to driving.  Dan offered to drive, and Jennifer offered to keep the boys.  We got to the doctor's office a little after 9:00.  They did a blood test on Joe right away to check for malaria or infection; they said that it was a toxic, bacterial infection.  We took that to mean food poisoning, but we have all eaten the same things.  They gave Joe two shots.  Meanwhile, Bonnie was seeing the pediatrician.  He said that she was dehydrated and needed to be put on an IV right away.  He thought that if she was on the IV all day that she might be able to go home tonight.

 

The nurse took us to a hospital room.  It is right down the hall from the doctor's office.  They just have six "hospital rooms," but they are nice, air-conditioned rooms.  First, they had to take blood to check for malaria or infection.  It was quite a chore to hold Bonnie still while they had that needle in her hand.  After they got the three vials of blood, they hooked her up to the IV.  She did not want any part in that either.  She was crying and saying, "Get this cord thing off of me. I want to go home."

 

Joe got two shots, and then he found where we were.  He went to tell Dan that we would be staying.  Dan went on home.

 

Bonnie and Joe both slept most of the day.  Bonnie would wake up every once in a while to make sure that I was right there.  If I wasn't holding her, I would pick her back up, and she would go right back to sleep.

 

Joe was supposed to start taking his antibiotic this evening, but he started throwing up again and hasn't kept anything down. 

 

Around 18:00, Bonnie woke up and was feeling a little better.  It was the first time she had smiled or talked all day.

 

About 20:00, the doctor came in to tell us that Bonnie has a bacterial infection and will need to be on an antibiotic for a week.  He said that he thought she was doing well enough to go home.

 

Dan had brought our stuff in case we had to spend the night.  Just as he pulled up, the doctor told us we could go home.  So that worked out well.  We headed back home.

 

The boys were excited to see us.  But, they were already all geared up to sleep with the Post boys.  They said their hellos to Bonnie.  Then, Gilbert said, "Post boys, we've got to get inside.  The bugs are biting." I went in to see how their day went.  Then, I came back to the house to check on my patients.  They are both asleep now.  I am going to get some sleep too while it lasts. 

 

A demain,

 

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie