bad news

well, not a good week here in ghana. on wednesday i had gone on a four day trip to mole national park in north-west ghana and my mom, who had been having diarrhea, a headache and nausea off and on for a few days decided that she would stay in accra at the volunteer abroad house while i was gone. after feeling better on thursday and friday, she awoke on sunday drenched in sweat, dehydrated and nauseous. she felt worse and worse as sunday progressed before she went to the lister hospital in accra and was diagnosed with malaria, an intestinal infection, and a urinary tract infection. to make matters worse, i was still a 14 hour drive away. i arrived at the hospital around midnight on sunday, where she was still feeling incredibly sick and quite scared too, given she is so far from home

thankfully, after a night of little to no sleep she began to feel better on monday morning as the antimalarial drugs and the iv antibiotics began to kick in.. i still can't believe she got malaria... we have take our malarone religiously, have slept in mosquito nets every night and have avoided going outside at dawn and after dusk. she will be in the hospital until thursday and we will be flying home early, most likely this coming saturday. mom is in good spirits though and slowing feeling better and better

i must say that this private hospital is a top class facility, better than many you would see back in canada. she has a private room with satellite tv, a bar fridge, a beautiful bathroom with a state of the art shower head, and of course air conditioning. and the care from the nurses and doctors has also been fantastic. they are courteous, caring, and answer her many questions with smile. i can't say enough about the quality of the care at the lister hospital. after sleeping two nights in a car, i came back to VA house because i am going to kasoa to say good bye to our homestay, the clinic where i worked and retrieve our luggage. of course, mom is very sad at the way her trip has ended and is distressed that she will not get to see our house family again.

i will quickly say that the week previous to this was the best week i've had in ghana... i was in maternity and helped deliver four babies and i must say it was incredible. and later in the week i was able to see wild elephants and sit on a crocodile (and no it was not sedated in any way) i wish i had more time to say more, but i must get to kasoa and then go see my mother