After having a low-grade fever for a couple of days, I decided to visit a Ghanaian hospital on Tuesday night to find out what was wrong. I was initially worried that I was having symptoms of malaria; I was fatigued, having night sweats, and felt achy. I’ve been good at taking my pill every day, but wanted to get tested for peace-of-mind (and also because I have accumulated over 100 mosquito bites in the past two weeks). I had no clue what to expect from a Ghanaian medical center.

My wonderful friend Rachel agreed to accompany me there, so I pulled out cash from an ATM and we Ubered there. We took a ticket number to see a receptionist and sat down while we waited for my number to be called. They also required a brief sheet of paperwork to be filled out that still managed to ask me about my religion – classic Ghana! I remember the entire operation reminding me of the DMV. After about 15 minutes my number was called. The receptionist took my forms and directed us to another area in the large room. Then, we stood in the “cashier” line for a while, paid a $215-cedi co-pay, and were sent to a room where they take your vitals. Next, the nurse sent us outside to a different building and told us to wait outside of room 2. During the 45 minutes of sitting in the new waiting room, the power in the building went out at least 4 times. My name was finally called and I entered the room and explained my symptoms to the doctor. He suggested that they do blood work and sent me back to the cashier line to pay for the labs. Rachel and I had to actively block several others from cutting us as we stood there waiting in line.

After we paid, we were directed outside to the “laboratory” office where we waited for the nurse to finish up with the patients that were there before me. She finally took me back behind the curtain and assembled the supplies necessary for taking blood. The area didn’t seem dirty, but it definitely wasn’t competing with the clean and sanitized medical establishments I am used to. As the nurse took my blood she dropped the cap to the the tube on the floor, bent down to pick it up (tugging on the needle in my arm a bit), and snapped it back on. She informed me that the results would be ready in an hour and a half, so Rachel and I decided to Uber home instead of waiting.

There was more traffic than we anticipated so I had to I had to turn around and go back right when we got home. The laboratory desk receptionist handed me the paper with the results and told me to go back to the waiting room outside of the doctor’s offices. I couldn’t tell what any of the results meant except for a line reading “NO MALARIA PARASITE FOUND”. I was relieved. After 30 or so minutes of waiting for the doctor, he opened the door and called me inside. He looked at the results and told me that they indicated an infection that was probably due to a parasite. WebMD did NOT prepare me for this. He prescribed me antibiotics to take twice a day, something for stomach cramping, zinc supplements, oral rehydration salts, and four huge parasite-killing pills that are taken all at once. I was glad to have an actual diagnosis and stopped at the pharmacy to get the supplies. My hospital adventure probably lasted about 6 hours.

The following few days were pretty crappy. I still had a fever, felt fatigued, and spent all of the next night throwing up the medication. I am also super bummed that I missed my last few days at work. Looking back on my medical adventure here in Ghana, I was surprised at how organized the clinic was. Rather than waiting for the nurse and doctor to come to your room (like it is in the US), I was taken from place to place for each step of the process. Thanks to the lengthy but effective process of getting a diagnosis here, I am finally feeling better just a couple of days before I travel home.