The Parasites Go Marching Five by Five...

So the march begins. We finally got cooperation from Mesai and collected the samples we needed. Unfortunately, we had a gap of three days between, so I can't be sure her samples were adequate.

Yesterday, I decided to go see my doctor. I was nervous - I am not a nervous person. But I knew I had to basically nail this doctor down and demand an x-ray of their chests. Politely demand. But make sure I got them nonetheless.

Mesai has been coughing for the last five weeks, and Gadisae has begun coughing lately. They haven't acted like they are fighting a cold, but I wanted to be sure that was all it was. We have heard of a few children coming home with pneumonia and there was also a child that had TB recently. So this was something I didn't want to mess with.

Add to this, my latest renewed knowledge of parasites and I wanted to check out my two little boys. To be quite gross *smile*, for the last 3 years, Cooper has had 'bathroom issues' and Briton has never totally had it 'right' in the bathroom. Cooper has had sporadic tummy aches for the last three years - tummy aches that go away within minutes, but they are still there. We have tried intolerances like wheat or milk, but they didn't make any difference. It has not been a 'big deal' for him, and has come and gone, so we haven't been too concerned. But since we were getting samples for the girls, I decided we might as well check the boys.

You might think it was unnecessary, but here in Canada, our 17 year old son - at age 2! - got Dysentry!! Can you believe that! So I know that parasites are quite possible.

Upon, entering the doctors office with all four kids - who by the way, were so remarkably good that the doctor commented on their behaviour - she told me she had received the girls results back. I'll get into that in a minute.

I took a deep breath and told her all I was hoping to accomplish on that visit. She decided to check the two little boys for Celiac Disease and do a parasite check. Yeah! No convincing her!

Then I explained my concern with the girls and their coughs. She agreed to the chest x-ray. So that was set.

Then she told me that she had received Gadisae's result and they were positive. The first words out of my mouth? "Oh, GOOD!! I was hoping something would show up!"

I am sure she thought I was odd, but I knew that there would very likely be something there, and I did not want to retest and retest, or worse, have to prove to her why I *had* to retest! Then this was followed by her telling me that she didn't even know *most* of the parasites! Note the plural? Yep, she had a whopping five parasites.

The funny thing is, I asked her if one was a tapeworm. I had read up on tapeworms. No, she said. Interesting, I thought. So many people have come away with tapeworms, that I really expected it.

Why funny? Because when I went home later and did my research, I discovered that the fancy word that I was given: Hymenolepsis nana ova really was a dwarf tapeworm! And she wasn't the only one who made a mistake. The pharmacist also looked through the list and said there was no tapeworm. Well, perhaps this tapeworm is more known in Africa!

The other ones were Dientamoeba fragilis and Blastocystis hominis. There were also two harmless ones, besides the first three. The doctor told me that she had gone on the internet to do some research before I came in. So really, she was no further ahead than I was! That nigth, I went to the website for the Centre for Disease Control, in the States and did my research, and that is where I discovered one was a tapeworm!

The doctor decided to treat both girls with the same drug - a 3 day course of 6 tablets. I did pick up the meds and then went home and did my own research before I gave them to them. It all seems 'harmless' enough, even though the paperwork said: high risk. In three weeks they will be retested and given more medication if the problem is still there.

In the meantime, I now get to collect samples from two more little people. Oh joy! Briton was so pleased to see his bag. I am sure, being a boy, that he will think it lots of fun to use the tray!! LOL!!

The girls then went for their x-rays of their chests. While there, the technician was chatting away to the girls as if they spoke excellent English and had had a regular life in Ethiopia. I was trying to field her questions because Mesai kept looking at her and saying, "I don't know." She asked her if she had been to Lalibela, or to see the lions at the Palace. To this, Mesai replied, "Elephants?" LOL!!

I told the lady that they did not live the life of tourists. That's all I said. She should be able to fill in the blanks! I don't know what some people are thinking! And this lady had been to Ethiopia in 2004, so I am surprised she asked these questions.