MY FIRST GHANIAN HOSPITAL

Monday morning, I walked with Joseph to the bank and then down the street to SSNIT Hospital, also called Trust Hospital. Being that you have to pay for all treatment, unless you are a member of the recently launched health care scheme, I had to come with money. (In total, for that visit, I paid around 700,000 cedis which is about $90 Canadian dollars).

On the way to the hospital, at the recommendation of Joseph who I trust, I brought my camera to his friend who works at a computer repair shop to see about fixing it. The same attempt in Tamale led to the camera facing further damage, so I was proceeding with caution. I was weary about this and about paying a 50,000 cedis fee to have it looked at in advance, but Joseph assured me that it would be alright. Another JHR person, Wendy was having here laptop looked at by them, so I went with it.

In terms of my condition, I addition to feeling the pain in my abdomen throughout the weekend, a fatigue was starting to set in too. I sat in the hospital lobby and waited and waited and waited. I was moved from one seat to the next, down a line until I decided to get up and knock on the mystery door and was told by the doctor in the room to sit down.

He spoke to me about my symptoms and took notes as his assistant sat beside me playing solitaire on the computer. (At this point, I apologize for the details in advance). The doctor wanted tests of my blood, urine and fesces and an x-ray. Completing all of the tests was not possible right away, because I just didn't have to go! After about two hours, all of the tests had been completed, and I went and ate some lunch down the street. After taking some tea and some pastries, I came back and waited for the results.

All said and done, the results showed nothing but a needlemark on my arm. All the measurements he had taken and tests revealed that I was perfectly healthy.

Over lunch though, I was having trouble eating and feeling a dizzy again.

I told the doctor that it couldn’t be nothing and pressed him for what else could be done. He then booked me for an ultra-sound on Thursday of that week to look for an ulcer and gave me a prescription for the treatment of malaria.

I thought of the words of Dr. Wise (a travel doctor in Toronto) who said that, 'no matter what is wrong with you, they are going to say it is malaria'.

The doctor’s explanation seemed decent though, as he noted malaria only shows up in tests when it is a full-blown infection. In it’s early stages it has symptoms, but rarely shows in tests. So I left with a copy of my x-ray and began to look for a pharmacy.

While crossing a street, I heard someone call out “Chris”. I turned and saw TJ, who I had met in Accra through Nana (remember the night where I waited outside of the strip club and talked to Kiki the pimp and his bouncer about God’s guidance in my life?). Well, TJ spent a good portion of that evening with me. He was in the area running some errands for Nana who was about to head out to Milan, Italy. I accompanied him as he said he would show me the pharmacy. After buying some phone cards, a new cell phone, and meeting his sister who was visiting from Nigeria, we got in a taxi and headed to Nana’s house. He mentioned that there was a pharmacy near there that we would go to, and it would bring me closer to Sakumono.

So, we headed out to East Legon and returned to the compound full of luxury veichles. While I was there, people kept coming and going. I couldn’t keep track of everyone, but a backyard session of Nana’s recently signed artist Payday rapping a new verse of his stands out amidst everything. As for me, I was hungry. Eventually, after starting up the generator (the power had been cut in the area as part of a rotating shut-down in Accra to save energy), we had some stew chicken and rice. That was the best meal that I have eaten in Ghana! It was prepared by Nana’s fiancée…I didn’t know that he had a fiancée, as they don't live together, but she can cook! I would like to shake her hand and say'thank you'.

Again, I started to feel very tired and was fighting sleep while I figured out what was going to be the next move as I waited for the various entourages to dissipate. I sat on some designer couch on the balcony and drifted in and out of sleep.

In terms of my next move, it was not like I was just going to leave as I did not really know where I was, I wanted to go to the pharmacy, and I was waiting for some money.

See, TJ later recounted that he had been walking down the street and had prayed to see someone he knew that could help him. That was when he saw me. He had a number of purchases to make, but did not have enough money on him. Right then, he saw me. I ended up lending him a lot of the money that I had taken out to pay the hospital. In all truth, I was relaxed, just going with the flow. I was happy to see him, and down to roll where ever. He has my trust, so that was no stress.

Being that East Legon (Nana’s area) is close to Sakumono, I thought that I might head over to the Ackerson’s from there. It was Irene’s birthday and I told her that I would buy her a pizza. However, I could not contact anyone (that’s the Areeba network for you), so I got my money from TJ, wished Nana well on his travels, and headed back to Osu in a taxi.

When I got there, I knocked out sleeping. I was exhausted again. Eventually, Kwaku and Emmanuel came for me, but I was so tired. I got up, got my things and headed with them to Sakumono. I was determined to give Irene her pizza, so we headed back to the area, but being in the car was unbearable. I started feeling nauseous and could barely stand up to order the pizza when we came to the store. When we got to the house, I could not even eat. If you know me, you know that is a problem. I went to the other room and tried to sleep, but I was feeling shaky.

Laying there in the bed, I remember Mama Ackerson and Micheal coming into the room and praying over me. Immediately, I felt God’s peaceful radiance, and began to slip into a nice rest.

The next day, we would head to Nyaho which is considered to be the best hospital in Accra.