Malaria, Ruptured Cyst, and Surgery

Needless to say, last night was one of the more eventful nights of our marriage thus far! Background: Wed night David asked me to come pick him up from work because he "wasn't feeling well". He had hot flashes, body aches, and his fever went from 98.0 to 100 in a matter of minutes, and then back down again after a period of much shaking and shivers. It was an interesting experience. So he turns to me and says, "This is exactly what malaria feels like"!!! (For those of you who don't know, David went to Togo, Africa in 2002 and contracted malaria, had about three bouts of it until 2005, and then thought it was gone). So then it was a matter of waiting (the incubation periods are about 48 hours).

So here is how Friday night went........

8:00-- David starts to feel bad again and we think, "Ok, we can make the urgent care clinics and wait for the fever to spike, and they might take us even though they close at 9." So we got in the car and were off.

8:30-- We get to the first urgent care center...... the conversation with the front desk lady goes as follows.....
Lady: "How can we help you?"
David: "Well, I think I have malaria, and I'm not sure if........."
Lady: "Well, do you want to see a doctor?"
David: "Yes"
Lady: "Well we ask that you be here well before 8:30 if you want to see a doctor."
David: "Well, yes, that's the thing....... I know that malaria cannot be diagnosed unless my fever is spiking, and it's not going to spike for a bit now, so I wanted to explain......"
Lady: "Well, I don't know any thing about malaria..... so, do you want to see a doctor?"
David: "Well, yyyeaah"
What David wanted to say: "No, actually, we just wanted to walk in here and explain some stuff... we're gonna go grab some Arby's-- you want any?"
Lady: "Ok, well I need to see some insurance information"
(We hand her the card)
Lady: "Oh, we don't take this insurance anyways so we can't help you"
David: "This is where my health clinic on campus referred me to for after hours care"
Lady: "Oh, yes they refer people here but we don't take their insurance."
What we wanted to say: "Does that not seem a bit silly to you?"
Then we left.......

We went to a second urgent care place, and by this time it was 8:48, and the nurses gave us stares as we walked in (I could feel their eyes saying, "don't come in here and make me stay here past 9!"). But at least after David explained his plight, they were all sympathetic and tried to help, but they had to refer us to the ER. They called the ER to tell them we were on our way.

On the way to the ER..........we decided to stop and get some magazines because we knew we were in for the long haul going to the emergency room. (Meanwhile for the hour prior I had been having bad cramps and backaches). By this point I feel pretty sure--- so I told David, "I think I am having a cyst rupture!" At this point it's pretty funny.....David in the passenger seat wrapped in several layers and a blanket (you get pretty chilly with malaria)....me driving the car contemplating "hydrocodone, or no hydrocodone". We had a good laugh.

We spent about three hours in the ER and the doctor prescribed a general malaria antibiotic, and referred us to an infectious disease doctor in our area to see about it getting fixed for good.

Also, I (hopefully) will be having surgery for endometreosis. We are waiting on insurance to say that it will be covered...... I know you got a medical overload with this blog, sorry! Thanks to all of our fam that prayed for us and keeps praying for us-- we need it!