Junie's Online Thoughts
Wednesday, October 09, 2002
Boy that was traumatic, time consuming and expensive. Got the rest of my vaccines today. Four hours, $365 and much panic later, here I sit with four baid-aids and a disappearing tuberculosis bump. Yahoo.
The doctor has sufficiently scared the shit out of me. I now fear I will die from rabies, some disease given to me by snails that live in freshwater, malaria (also causing me a blood transfusion that will then give me HIV), and oh yeah, i will have bloody feces. Welcome to my happy, happy day! Did I mention that the $365 didnt include any of the medications? If I take some newer medication for malaria with less side affects, (I forget the name now but it starts with an M), I have to take it every single day and pay $140 per month. If I take the more frequently prescribed larium (taken once a week for two weeks before the trip, weekly during my stay and for four weeks after I return), I face the rumors of the drug's side affects of nightmares, seizures, depression, sleeplessness and a slew of other unpleasantness. Larium only costs $100 for 2 1/2 months worth. If I take some nice combo of the both of them (I only have a three month prescription for the "M" medication so could take that, then a week before I run out, take both M and larium, then take larium until I run out (I only got a three month prescription for that too) and hope/know that local doctors in Ghana will have plenty of larium on stock for me to buy more. If I do that for 6 months (even though the doctor freaked me out about that too....), it will cost me $570....and I would still need 4 or 5 months more of medication after that. Nobody told me that my medication lowering my risk for malaria would cost as much as the plane ticket to Ghana. Why didnt anyone tell me that????????????
The shots hurt, I was totally overwhelmed, it took fricking forever and the whole thing just sucks. I dont have the money for this. (ANd I certainly didnt have the $500 that the rabies series would cost if I had listened to the doctor who told me that I could very well be bitten by a wild dog and DIE.....does he work on commission for chrissake??? He must get some sort of kickback from the rabies pharmaceutical companies.)
ANYWAY, I'll probably get a small fever in the next few days (my arms already feel achy....). Jeremy hasnt even gotten his shots yet, although he needs much fewer than me since he got a bunch last summer. (His are probably cheaper too through Emory.)
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr................................be warned, ye readers. If you go to a foreign country for more than 6 months, preparations alone can be a real pain in the ass! (or a pain the arm and pocketbook!)
Tuesday, October 08, 2002
Im sick with a cold. Work sucks. It finally cooled down. I have a market research study tonight and want to go to a concert afterwards. Blah blah blah.
Monday, October 07, 2002
some aspects of our apartment make it worth living there. Location--its twenty five steps away from the walking paths, a block from the laundromat, video store and gas station, two blocks from a grocery store and movie theatre and about 4 blocks from the pickup to the highway. the kitchen is huge, we have a porch and small backyard with a garden, and an upstairs. However, some things are gross. For instance, our living room ceiling exploded (again) and sent plaster and paint flying all over the floor and coffee table. It had been developing a tumor-like bump (again) with a nasty gash in the middle. I guess the rain last night made it collapse. Another example is the bathroom. The wall and window are rotting out and mold incessantly. As does the floor, as do the walls, and so does the refrigerator in the kitchen. We live in a house of rot. I used to be sad when I thought that we were moving out, but maybe its a good thing. Lord knows what Ive been breathing in all this time.
Spent all day yesterday at the laundromat and sleeping in my attempt to shake the last of my cold. Saturday was our Memory Walk. (Thank god its over.) Friday I called in with a personal day, we bought our plane tickets, I reserved rental car, scheduled a ride-along with the cops and worked at Noodle. Busy weekend.
