Bug Bite!

My head hurts. It really hurts!

Yesterday around 3, it started. Sort sneaked up on me and smacked me in the back of my head. It’s is “un grand mal de la tete” and it is accompanied by fever and chills. I slept 14 hours last night. Got up at 7 and went back to bed for two hours.

Nathalie sent me to the hospital this morning to get a malaria test. Negative.

But I got an opportunity to observe how the healthcare system works in a public hospital. Overriding everything was an attitude of courtesy. Everyone was polite and orderly and quiet. But I couldn’t figure out what the system was.

I paid for my consultation ($5) before I saw the doctor and was immediately called for my exam. He sent me to get a test with instructions to come back with the results. As soon as I sat down to wait for the test, which involved a simple finger stick, I was called into the testing room. Fifteen minutes later I was in his office being told that I have an infection, not malaria, and I need to return on Monday morning for a blood test.

There’s not much difference in how health care is delivered in the US and Senegal. The cost is radically lower here. The surroundings in the US are a little nicer: Here, we sat on hard benches in the hallways, but everything was very clean. The women who deliver the care wear really exotic head coverings because they are Muslim…and I’m not talking about the Flying Nun sort of head gear. I came home with two prescriptions that cost $5.50.

I still feel crappy. But time is essential for healing. Time heals all wounds and wounds all heels. It is the difference between a bad haircut and a good one. And I will probably feel better tomorrow morning.