Attack of the Killer Tape Worm

It was a bad week for updating the blog. Work was insanely busy as the project team from the BBC arrived on Tuesday and we worked quite hard until Friday afternoon. Wednesday was full day meetings and then a dinner that lasted until 2:00 am! So needless to say I was bagged by the end of the week.

But the work bit of my update is not nearly as interesting as the next bit…

All last week I had been having stomach pains and just not feeling right. On Friday afternoon I finally had to leave work to go home because my face was bright pink, I was feverish and my stomach was killing me. I managed to rest until the evening and then went out to supper with friends to welcome two new people who arrived, Dave and Stephanie. I have been in touch with Dave and Stephanie since August- we managed to get in contact via Selena. They are both working here in Nairobi and just arrived last week. So it was great to finally meet them and to introduce them to the fine Indian food available in Nairobi.

I went home directly after the dinner (still feeling ill) but couldn’t explain why my stomach ached yet I could eat about 2 portion sizes more than I normally ate. The next morning I still was not feeling well and noticed that my throat was swollen and red. I managed to get to the Doctor’s office around 11: 30 am. Brief side note- the Doctor’s office here is the ONE process chain in Kenya that is actually efficient! You see the doctor, go to the lab, get your results and are out of there within half an hour! Amazing!

So I went into the Doctor’s office explained my symptoms, had some lab tests and then came back to his office half an hour later.

When I went back into the Doctor’s office he said “So… do you know what is living in your stomach?”

My response “Umm… no” (my eyes watering, about to burst into tears at this point).

“Oh well- you seem to have a tape worm.”

In my not so subtle way I then shouted “SHUT UP!” I could not believe this!!

He said “No really, you seem to have a tape worm in your large intestine as a result of bad meat. They can grow to about 8 meters long, but I believe yours is a juvenile.”

I literally was about to throw up at this point. He assured me that by Monday it would be gone. Not only did I have a tape worm but I also had a throat infection which is why I was feverish and had a sore throat. So… was fighting two infections at once.

I was quite impressed with the Doctor here. He was very kind, sincere, and straight to the point. He said that when you live in Kenya if you feel pain anywhere in your body it is important to come immediately to see the Doctor, because unlike living in North America, you never know what it is that you have contracted.

I immediately cancelled all weekend plans and spent the rest of the weekend in bed, reading, watching movies and resting.

I am really glad that things were sorted out over the weekend as work as become very busy and am not sure I would have felt right being away from work for most of the week, so in many ways a bit of a godsend that I was able to recover over a weekend.

So that is the scoop and now you can all tell people that you have known someone who had a tapeworm, which Dana has affectionately named “Spike”.