...continued.

The flight was scary...very bumpy and lots of lightening around the plane. It was an old plane and whenever they laid on the throttle the lights would flicker.

As many of you know, my health worsened when I was in Uganda. During the second day of the conference I felt very weak and light headed for several hours. That night I went to a clinic and tested positive for both malaria and typhoid. The next day I lasted five minutes at the conference before I called Kate (Kate and Ivan hosted me) and asked her to come back and take me to the hospital...I felt like I was going to pass out and I felt dehydrated. At the hospital I tested negative for everything. They said I most likely didn't have malaria but had typhoid and the test was negative because I had started my typhoid meds the night before. They hooked me up to an IV and rehydrated me for several hours. Now, I need to finish my typhoid meds and continue testing each day for malaria. One can get both at the same time and not know it because they can mask eachother. I am a bit concerned only because I don't exactly know what I have. The tests for both of these are known to be inaccurate so there is no real way of telling other than the symptoms, and these come and go. Right know, besides having a fever, I feel fine. This morning I couldn't eat, felt like I was going to vomit and my whole body was hot and soar.

Besides being sick, Kampala was amazing. Kate, Ivan, their son Gideon and, their "house boy," John were great. They took good care of me. I missed the last day of the conference which was unfortunate because I had arranged to interview some folks. I have tons of useful information to share, though. Several people were interested in talking with me because I had actually visited farmers. Some people wouldn't talk to me...they would come over to me, hold up my name tag, scrutinize it and then walk away...crazy biotech folks.

I am back in Nairobi now, at Wendy's house. Tomorrow, I will go to the Nairobi hospital and get tested for malaria and typhoid again. I will also see if the doctor can recommend that I go home to be treated. My insurance will cover the price of changing my ticket if the doc recommends I leave the country. Otherwise, I am here for 6 more days. Nairobi hospital is suppose to be a good one. The hospital in Kampala was clean and the folks were nice but there were some things that were a bit sketchy. When the doc came in she called me Peter, reading the name off the file the nurse gave her. They had to shave my hand to tape the IV down...for this they used a blade from an exacto knife, and they were not good with the needles...my arms are bruised and my hand still hurts from the IV needle of which I will spare you the details. However, they were very sanitary. What is amazing is that for two clinic visits, five blood tests, a visit to the hospital and all the meds, it has cost me less than $100. I have been told that a malaria test in the US can cost $300. They are less than $5 here.