When it Rains, it Pours

Okay so Sunday morning my kitten died. Well, to be honest I don't know that for sure but it was super sick and I finally just brought it outside and left it in the brush to die and I am 99.9999% positive it is dead now. But, 10 hours before I did this, the cat bit (bit, bite, I don't know which one) me. I was simply trying to move the poor creature to a cleaner spot of the floor and it reached around and bit me. It barely broke the skin but sure enough, it did. So, I went into Garoua on Sunday and let the Peace Corps doctor know about this bit from a soon after dead animal. He told me I need two post exposure rabies shot (we have three pre exposure shots as volunteers). The bad news is, he thought I might have to go down to Yaounde (a 3 day train ride there and back) for said vaccines. But, the lovely Peace Corps doctor (or PCMO as we lovingly refer to them) found a place in Garoua that was rumored to have the vaccine I needed but they weren't answering the phones so I had to take a motto over there and see. At this point, I of course start to have a massive panic attack and am convinced it's too late and I am dying of rabies (anxiety is a sign of rabies in humans and this furthered my case for me). I want to cal my mom (who is at work) but I decide that calling your mother at work to tell her you got bit and may be dying of an incurable disease with 100% fatality rate when there is nothing she can do wouldn't be nice or the best idea. In my head I knew I was being crazy but it didn't make much difference at the moment. See, rabies, once the symptoms begin in humans is 100% fatal. I think 3-4 people have ever survived it. All but one of them had had some previous rabies vaccines and one was a 16 year old girl in Wisconsin who no one knows why she made it and the protocol (which is now refered to as the Wisconsin protocol) has been attempted numerous more times but never successful again. However, I had been bitten 28 hours ago. Rabies has an incubation period of 10days to 10 years (normally 3-7 weeks if you leave out the extreme cases) so I knew in my head I was just being paranoid, but still, 100% fatality rates don't make me happy. I arrive at the place in Garoua where the vaccine is rumored to be located and sure enough, after some questioning by me, the PCMO, and the PCMO's (who is American)secretary (who is Cameroonian) we establish that this is the right vaccine and that it will cost about 17 bucks (very expensive for here). So, of course I cannot get the vaccine for another hour so I leave to go get a juice. Come back and figure out the process to get the vaccine and finally get to come into the room and wait my turn. In front of me are 3 Cameroonian men two of whom are getting vaccinated, one of them it is his first vaccine (at least that he remembers). His friends are taking photos of him getting his vaccine (which he is nervous to get). It was hilarious. I of course have had 20 vaccines in the past year and was listening to Ricky Martin (don't judge) in one ear and barely noticed the shot (she was a great nurse who did a great job with this mean vaccine). So, as I walk out to leave the center the 3 men I have made psuedo friends with are in the nicest truck I had seen in Cameroon (seriously, new with leather seats) and offered me a ride back to the Peace Corps office. I quickly accepted and we had a great ride talking about Peace Corps and what I was doing here. It was great to talk to some really nice Cameroonian men who didn't ask you to be their wife.

I spent the night in Garoua and went back to Bibemi Tuesday morning really early. I went right to work at the health center and explained my absence to them and the fact that Thursday I had to go back for another shot. Then shared in my pain about the rabies shots and how expensive and painful they are. At this point the shot has given me a fever and made me physically exhausted. Get home and take a nap. Eat mac and cheese for dinner. Go to bed early. The next day I go en brousse with the health center and then come home, pack, and go back to Garoua. Thursday is Adoumri's market and while it is cheaper to get to Garoua you cannot know when you will arrive because they leave when cars are full. I didn't want to chance it. So, here I am, Thursday morning in Garoua. 3 hours from being through with this whole rabies extravaganza. I am going to have lunch with 3 friends after I get my shot and try to wind down from this ridiculous week. Oh, to top it off, this week sucked for my sister too. Poor thing coughed so much with her recent cold/flu that she fracture a rib and had to go to the hospital too. I tell you guys, when it rains, it fucking pours. Hey, at least I didn't actually get rabies (and die). There is my silver lining for you all :)