Souvenir From Ghana

Starting on the Sunday morning before we left Africa, my stomach started feeling a bit grumpy. It was okay for the plane ride and I felt okay when I got home but still knew my stomach was not right. By Thursday, my stomach was really in knots. My intestines hurt bad and I was just feeling very puny. I went to bed early but woke up at 5 or so violently ill. After several hours of being stuck to the bathroom for reason or another I decided to call my dr. I couldn't get a hold of her so I contacted my nurse friend who noted that I seemed to be getting dehydrated and gave me tips to hydrate myself. She said to call the hospital and see who was covering for my dr. So in between being violently ill I tried to figure that out. Ultimately I couldn't find anyone to see me and was told to go to the hospital where Kyle and I spent 5 hours getting me treated enough to go home. 2 LITERS of IV fluids (uh, yes... I was dehydrated), a massive amount of antibiotics, stomach medication (for cramps and pain) and zofran for nausea. After all my blood work and urine testing came in, it was decided that I likely picked up a strand of E. Coli that my body just couldn't handle. So I am on antibiotics for the next several days and feel a lot better today. Still tired and my head hurts but very improved from yesterday. This was not the kind of souvenir I wanted from Africa but the good news is that I waited until I got home to get sick where good health care is easily available and my husband could take great care of me. They really aren't joking with you when they tell you to be super careful what you eat when you travel abroad... I explained to him the kinds of foods we ate and he said it could have been from anything that different peoples guts have different e.coli in them and when a new type is introduced we can get ill trying to get rid of it.