Final Chapter - Not a pretty end

To all my faithful readers a big note of thanks! I really appreciate your longsuffering to take the time to wade through all of my late night and even early morning musings. Many times the eyelids closed often in the course of a blog session. Thank you for the many compliments and the one constructive criticism i.e. Could you make the next one a little shorter? There is one secret I must let you in on. This is MY blog and by that I do not intend any selfishness. I wrote it as my souvenir of Africa and just let all of you in for fun. From Mexico to MT, KA, IL, FL, MD, NJ, PA and who knows where all else all the way to Cameroon folks were interested enough in the antics and actions of the team to tune into my little souvenir of April in Africa. Well it is time to wrap it up and put it to bed and try to avoid any bad end jokes in reference to my bout with dysentery since I arrived home. Oh yes and we want to add a few more pictures in this short ending.

After arriving home Tuesday morning about 1:00 AM I fell into bed already asleep. I awoke about 5 or 6 because it was already 10 or 11 in Africa. Fixed a little cereal and before finishing the dry oatmeal (too tired to remember milk on the way from the airport) I was sound asleep in the recliner. Woke up around nine or ten tried to do a couple of things and was soon asleep on the couch. Around 12:30 I got up because I needed to get ready for my radio show at 5:00. I tried for quite awhile to get some audio from the video I had taken of services in Yaoundé without success. It was ninety degrees outside and the house was hot and I was sweating. I could not tell if I had another fever because I am never sick and none of the thermometers I found worked. Did the show and was too exhausted to remember what I was doing through most of it. Rhonda called in from FL to say she was listening and enjoying the show.

After the program I called in sick to my Bible study group who were not expecting me until Wednesday and went home to bed. I felt awful and slept fitfully until I realize the bed clothes were soaked with sweat as was my tee shirt. I put a dry tee on and a dry towel under me and waited for dawn. I almost gave in to the temptation to head for the ER but thought it worth the wait of four hours or so to call my travel Dr. at 8:00. Seven fifty nine I started dialing and explained my dilemma to the receptionist. She put the MD on and he diagnosed dysentery and called in a scrip to my pharmacist. I was actually feeling pretty good by that time. I dressed opted not to have dry oatmeal and started for the PO to mail all the letters I had couriered from Yaoundé. That done I stopped at the diner for breakfast picked up my meds and a few groceries and headed off to get my first haircut in a month. As soon as I got home I was introduced to the messy details of dysentery. I have not reached the end (sorry, I tried) of those difficulties yet and it is Saturday but I am improving and am certain that all this soon will pass (sorry twice).

So that’s the story. Thanks again for sticking with it to the rather messy (I just can’t keep saying sorry so I’ll let you all fill in the last word!)

AMEN?