By ThinkJP.Consulting® Copyright© 2015 - All Rights Reserved
Meeting our friends from Rwanda was very exciting.
It was especially nice bonding with the wife of the Prime Minister.
She was such a joy to be with. I will always remember taking her shopping
to look for things for their son to begin a new school year here in the United
States. This was my very first
meeting with the Prime Minister’s son, and I took an instant liking to him.
Even though we
struggled with our communication barriers, I quickly learned that Jean Paul
wasn’t much different than the young men here in the
That’s, why,
when Jack began to make arrangements to visit Rwanda, I quickly agreed that it
would be fun to go along. He of
course was going to assess the Country’s Y2K issues, but I was going to see a
very good friend. However, it wasn’t long before my enthusiasm began to wane.
First, family and friends began to share their concerns with us about our
visiting this war-torn and struggling Country.
Then, when I learned that we would have to get a series of immunizations,
I seriously began to have second thoughts about “tagging along”.
Jack finally convinced me to go for our series of injections, and today,
in spite of my fear and actual pain, I must admit that our trip to Rwanda was
well worth the little discomfort I endured from the injections.
Jack told me
that several years ago, when he was preparing for an extended, overseas mission
trip, one of the vaccinations required was one to prevent Typhoid.
After the injection he became very ill and ran a 104-degree temp.
He was hospitalized for several days.
Now, as we were planning to travel overseas to
Everyone,
including the State Medical Director, assured us that only a small percentage of
people ever experience side effects from this immunization, especially a second
time, because your body actually builds a higher resistance.
They assured him that because he experienced such a severe reaction the
first time around, he should have a very high resistance to Typhoid now. They
strongly advised him to take the preventive booster.
Well, guess what – the very next day he began a terrible 5-day illness
with Typhoid-like symptoms and a 103+ degree temperature.
During this time
I was beginning to think that perhaps we weren’t supposed to go to Rwanda, and I
began to share in the concerns of our family and friends.
However, in spite getting ill from the Typhoid, Jack was undaunted.
We decided to continue the series of immunizations.
When we were given instructions for the anti-malaria medication, we again
quizzed them thoroughly about any possible side effects, being twice as shy this
time around. We were assured that
any side effects were slim to none.
We explained that our reservations came because of what had just happened with
the Typhoid prevention and we wanted to make sure there would be no adverse
reactions to this one. Surprised at
Jacks reaction to the Typhoid, the doctor took out her PDR and read to us that
only one in a million ever
experience such severe side effects from the anti-typhoid treatment.
Without missing a beat, Jack looked at the doctor and said, “I’ve always
told my wife she married one in a million, and now there’s proof.”
We followed
their advice to begin the Anti-Malaria medication.
Well, guess what - after just one dose of the Larium, Jack began to
experience insomnia and slept a total of 1 hour in a 5-day period.
At this point we decided we would be better off to just take our chances
with the mosquitoes and forgo the insomnia.
For the next 13 weeks, my poor husband seriously battled major fatigue
before the Larium was completely out of his system.
After a series
of unbelievable circumstances, we finally did make it to