I recently fell ill with a high case of malaria and typhoid fever. It was a very uncomfortable moment in my life as I don’t fall sick often. In fact it came as a rude shock to me considering the fact that the last time I was sick was in 2013. I had been having some symptoms but chose to pass it off as stress. My head would pound and I would lay down to catch a ten-minute nap and be on my feet again.
I wasn’t going to fall sick, I was young, I was full of energy, or so I thought. This work wouldn’t do itself; I had to be busy, keep moving, a lazy man will not eat. I was on full steam and had no intention of slowing down until my body decided to help me before I killed it.
It started with a full blown headache that made me leave work early. I hadn’t been sleeping early and so I thought that it was my body protesting, so I went home to sleep. I woke up the following day and felt very strong, went out to church for prayers, came home and decided to rest and not do anything (I like to keep busy). Before I knew it I had slept all day and woke up congratulating myself on having slept all day (I really must learn that sleeping is not necessarily resting).
The next day I went to church and on my way back I began to feel cold. Thinking it was because of a change in the weather, I ignored it and by the time I got home, I ran to bed and was under a blanket. I slept till the next morning and again, I felt fine.
I went about my daily activities and was chuckling to myself on having overcome the stress of the weekend. My tongue did get bitter again but I thought it was just being petty and so I licked more sweets, came home and made noodles. Of course, my head was aching but it was routine. The following day I went to work half dazed and by the middle of the day it was clear that all was not well; I was extremely cold, then extremely hot, and then the headache had intensified.
My boss took one look at me and told me to go home but I was a boss, I would not be defeated by a mere bodily protest. I dragged myself for mid-week in church and floated through-out the service. I got home and took an anti-malaria drug and slept.
Again, I woke up the next day very fine but since I had the day off, I slept and went on a stroll in the evening. My tongue was very bitter by now. In the night, my temperature suddenly spiked and my head was pounding unmercifully. I had a very uncomfortable night as thoughts in my head were running everywhere and I just couldn’t shut down.
I finally decided to go for a test and it was discovered that I had a high level of typhoid fever and so I bought drugs. The funny thing was that immediately I took the drugs the headache, bitter mouth and fever went away and so I wondered why I had been too stubborn to go for a test and get drugs. I rested that Saturday and I was strong enough to go to church.
I detest drugs and typically never finish my dosage but this one time I am inclined to finish it as I had spent money on buying them and because I never want to feel as I felt this past week.
Above all the medical prescriptions required to take care of an ailment and things to watch out for to avoid coming down with one, learn to listen to your body. When it gives signs that something is wrong your job is to find out what the matter is and fix it. We have all been given one body to enable us fulfil our destinies on earth and glorify God, do not neglect it by overworking it or causing undue damage to it, that is part of being a good steward.