i'm sick though not with malaria.

It's Zahava. I'm not doing too good.

Finally, we learn to make actual good food, and I can’t eat any of it. I’m having incredibly intense heartburn, apparently. I called my doctor last night in tears. I told her that since Friday night I have been having really intense pain in my chest every time I swallow. I feel like I swallowed a pill wrong. It kind of feels like when you swallow a fish bone and for the next few hours you can feel it every time you swallow because it scratched you on the way down. Well, it feels like that plus really bad heartburn. She asked me to remind her which malaria medicine I’m on. Doxycycline. She said, “Oh no. Okay. You’re having heartburn. A side effect of Doxycycline is really bad heartburn. You need get off it now, and we’ll switch your medication. You also need Prilosec, an acid reflux medicine.” I said, “Okay. I can do that. Should I stop my current malaria medicine before I can get the new one, or should I wait?” She asked, “How long will it take you to get a prescription?” I said, “It doesn’t work like that. There’s a pharmacy down the street. You just walk in, say what you want, and they give it to you. I could get it tomorrow.” She said, “Okay. Good. So, yeah, don’t take the medicine tonight, and start again tomorrow with the new one.” (I was expecting more of a “What kind of crazy system is that that you don’t need a prescription?!” response, but oh well.) She said I should only get a week or two worth of each and have someone in America send the rest because she doesn’t trust Ghanaian medicine. (Email from my mom after she spoke to the doctor.) “If you were in a developed country, she'd want you to see a doctor, but since you're not, she doesn't think you should.” She also said somewhere in the conversation that I need to get off the medicine because “you will not last a semester on Doxycycline.” Thanks, way to freak me out.

Today Rivky and I went to the pharmacy. We got a week’s worth of each medicine. The acid reflux one they had was a generic brand made in Ghana. A little sketch, but I decided I’d buy it and call my doctor. An hour later, I was really in pain from the half liter of water I had been drinking, so I took the medicine. Then Rivky and I spent the next two hours walking all around campus adding and dropping classes. (Don’t even start with me about the stupid system they have in place with registration.) By the time we got back to the room, I was ready to faint. Because of the pain, I haven’t been able to eat much since shabbos. I barely ate anything yesterday. This morning, I had one slice of bread with a tiny bit of cream cheese and a liter of water. I tried to have potato chips, but it just wasn’t going to happen. I had absolutely no energy. Rivky went to drumming (which I couldn’t go to because it’s outside, and I would have fainted), and I collapsed into bed and called my doctor. I was going to ask her if the generic brand is okay, how many times a day do I take it, and what kinds of food does she suggest I eat in the meantime? The receptionist said she doesn’t work on Wednesdays, and no one else is available. I should find a doctor where I am. I hung up the phone and started bawling. I was so hungry and in so much pain. After about ten minutes, I had controlled myself enough to get up and eat something. I made a packet of instant oatmeal and cut a slice of bread. I forced myself to eat them because it hurt so much but I knew I needed calories. It’s now a few hours later. I’m feeling a little more energized, but my chest still hurts. The website of the acid reflux medicine says 1-4 days to see effects and 2-4 weeks for full recovery.