Blog #2

Recovery (Part 2)

April 27, 2022 By Ruth Misori

More silent questions continued until my sisters finally woke up and came to our parents’ room to greet dad. “Oh, I’m so happy to see you!” He said as he embraced them. Sure, enough they asked similar questions concerning his absence. “Well, I forgot my pills in Limbe and a few days after New Year’s I became very sick. I was supposed to go shopping to buy you souvenirs that day, but I was getting worse, so my brother suspected it was serious, and rushed me to the hospital. I was diagnosed with severe malaria and almost died.”

Our eyes widened. Malaria? That same mysterious illness that killed that family? Oh my God! It felt like I was being sucker-punched. Tears welled up in my eyes as we all cried and embraced our dad. “God, thank you for allowing me to see my children”, he choked up. We cried even harder for what felt like hours. We had to leave for school in an hour, but how does anyone function after hearing that? How can I go to school, smile and wave at my friends and go on about my day like nothing happened?

Minutes later we finally managed to console ourselves, so my sisters went to their room to get ready while I remained in the room with dad. “Wow, I didn’t know it was that serious. Is that why you didn’t call?” He nodded. “I was too weak to talk, and I was drenched in sweat. It didn’t matter what I did, I couldn’t stop, and I had a pounding headache. I had no appetite. I couldn’t even lift my arm to pick up my water. I’ve never felt this bad before in my life”, he admitted. “Have you ever had malaria before?” “No, never! I grew up in Africa for twenty-five years and I’ve never caught malaria.” “Well, I’m so glad that you made it and I hope you get better. I love you.” “I love you too, Ruth.” I decided to let him sleep so he can recover quickly and went to my room to get ready for school.

I was trying my best not to have a mental breakdown, but the tears were ready to fall at any moment. Thankfully, this was during my last class period before school was done for the day. “Ruth, you look like you’re going to cry, it’s ok to cry”, a friend told me. “No, I’m fine, I’m just tired”, I lied. I didn’t know how to break the news of my dad’s near-death experience with anyone outside of the family yet. I just found out today so why would I feel comfortable telling them, even though they’re my friends?

Perhaps I didn’t want to say the words, ‘My father almost died’ aloud because then it would feel real. Unfortunately, this was a reality that my siblings and I stepped into. We spent our Christmas with joy and laughter, but then the thought hit me, “What if we spent the New Year’s fatherless?” Ever since dad told us of his experience, all I can think of are images of doctors and nurses desperately trying to save his life. His siblings and mother watching a frail Collins fight for his life as his health deteriorates rapidly. His organs shutting down, one by one while he lies helplessly on his deathbed.

Once I got home that day, I dashed to my parents’ room to check on dad. Fear stops me as I suddenly halt in front of the door. I turned to mom and my sisters with a frightened expression. “It’s ok, Ruth, go on. Check on your father”, mom said softly. My sisters peered behind me as I slowly turn the doorknob to await the image before me. I didn’t know what I would see. Would I discover a corpse? I pray to God I don’t otherwise I’ll have nightmares! I open the door and watch as he snores, much to my relief. I sighed and returned to my room. While my dad’s health miraculously improved as he was approved to travel, he still has a long journey of recovery ahead of him. He was still sweating profusely, and his appetite was nonexistent, but his headache went away as well as the jaundice in his eyes.

That coming weekend, I didn’t go to church as I wanted to help my dad recover. He was getting better, slowly but surely. I credit God for all of this because this situation could’ve turned out differently. To this day I still ponder the futures that God had in stored for that family. Maybe they will all inherit the treasures of Heaven one day. I made my way to my parents’ room as I overheard him on the phone with a friend. “Yes, my daughter, Ruth stayed home to take care of me”, he beamed. I softly knock on the door and open it as I slightly peep my head through. “Hey dad, do you need anything else?” “No, thank you, my dear daughter.” Dad sometimes referred to me as his dear daughter as a term of endearment.

I walked to my room and turned on my computer. I typed malaria rates in the Google search bar and to my horror, I saw the malaria transmission and death statistics. 212 million? You’re telling me that either 212 million people have contracted malaria or died from it? My heart immediately sank. I looked at the background of it. Malaria is French for ‘bad air’ and is a mosquito-borne disease that are found in female mosquitos, causing parasites to destroy your red blood cells. There are several strains of malaria, and you can catch any of them more than once. The one my father caught was the Plasmodium falciparum, which is the deadliest.

I then looked at the symptoms. Symptoms usually occur within two days to two weeks after one is infected, and some were similar to dad’s: sweating, chills, low appetite, persistent headache, fever, etc. Seizures are the last stage of malaria before one’s eventual death. Fortunately, my dad didn’t experience any seizures. Whew, what a relief! I glanced at the available treatments, which were an antiparasitic. Lastly, I looked at the prevention techniques: using a mosquito net at night, wearing mosquito-repellent spray or cream, and covering your arms and legs as much as possible to reduce mosquito exposure, in addition to taking your travel prescription all throughout the duration of your trip.

While I’m glad that there are great treatments and prevention methods, I’m still dismayed by the millions of lives that were destroyed, and all because of a small, venomous bite to susceptible, human flesh. It’s strange to think that sometimes an insect has more power than a strong, healthy individual. I cannot believe that I was in the dark about this. I should’ve done some research the moment it was brought up before father departed for his trip. Maybe this could’ve been prevented. Though, I understand now that it was no one’s fault as bad things happen to people all the time. After all, we live in a world of sin, so we can’t evade tragic things like this.