A part of living here in Ukarumpa PNG, is that we need to protect ourselves against malaria which is a major problem here. There are several different malaria pills that you can try, the cheapest is Doxycycline. This is a fairly large pill that must be swallowed so we decided that all of our family except Kiery could probably manage it fine. However, you need to start taking it a few days before travelling and when Ruth tried hers while we were still in the States, she got violently ill and ended up losing the medication. So, we called the doctor and decided to split Kiery's Mefloquin with Ruth which is working fine.
However, a little tip about Doxycycline is that you shouldn't lay down for at least an hour after you take one. Otherwise, it could stay in your esophagus and dissolve causing an ulcer. Well, we know that now, but we didn't know that until after Meliah took her pill and laid down for a nap!
She started complaining of a lot of pain in her upper chest, so we took her to the doctor at the local clinic and he explained what had happened.
The good news is that he started her on some meds that help soothe the ulcer and begin a slow healing process for her. She's feeling much better but it still irritates her after a meal. It hasn't slowed her down much and she's met several girls from her class already and has walked all over the town with them swinging from tree ropes over puddles and having a great time.
But keep her in your prayers that her ulcer would heal quickly and there wouldn't be any down-stream effects.
Well, I've started from the beginning, and I've gotten to here - Woot! Thank you so much for taking me on your journey with you through your writings... What an adventure!
ReplyDeleteHow's Kiery's ulcer doing? Blessings wished, and prayers going up - Love you guys! Nikki and David