awaiting USA, day 21. "no big deal!"

If it's not one thing it's another! Chase came down with flu-like symptoms last night. Chills, fever, aching all over. Eliyas also felt like he had a fever before he went to bed last night so I gave him some Tylenol. This morning, Eliyas woke up complaining of a stomach ache and headache and I was barely able to get him out of bed to go to the hospital for his stinking pills. I had the pediatrician look at him there. He said, "He is having conjunctivitis and a sore throat, he has the flu." I didn't know conjunctivitis was a symptom of the flu? I mentioned Chase's symptoms to him and he said, "Oh, we must test him for malaria." This is the panel physician that is responsible for Eliyas' TB diagnosis, needless to say he's not my favorite person so I didn't think too much of the malaria comment right then. He did say that he and the CDC have exchanged 19 emails and our waiver approval "seems possible." He said he told them his opinion, that he thinks he is at low risk for transmission. Thankful for that!

Once we got back to the guest house, Eliyas' head was hurting, Chase was still feeling bad, and I was exhausted from no sleep the night before, so we all laid around all day. By 7pm Chase was feeling worse, fever started back up and he said his neck was stiff. I called a doctor off the US Embassy's website and he advised us to go to the ER immediately as we was concerned about the possibility of meningitis. He was such a nice guy, has kids that live in Dallas and considered himself an honorary Texan! He also happens to be a TB specialist and said he thinks E must have had a false positive in the sputum test. Wish the US government would listen to doctors instead of insisting he take all this medicine! Anyways, that's another story... A hospital he recommended, St. Gabriel Hospital, is literally right around the corner from us so after some convincing Chase we made our way over there. One hour and $40 later, we found out that he did not have meningitis, praise the Lord!!! But he does have typhus. When the doctor told us, I pretty much yelled at him, "TYPHOID FEVER??!!!" He explained that no, it's not typhoid fever, and it's actually very common here in Ethiopia! "It's not a big deal!" Sheesh... nothing is a big deal here! The pediatrician that gave us the news of Eliyas' results told me, "Madam, it's not a big deal, TB is very common here!" What isn't common here??! Really sad to think about all Ethiopian people go through and are exposed to on a regular basis. :( Turns out typhus is caused by flea or lice bites and he did have some kind of bites on his feet. Thinking it might have come from the beautiful Gorge we visited- as the place was covered in bugs. Also read incubation time is 5-14 days and we are right in that window now, went to the Gorge 8 days ago. We will be wearing bug spray every day from now on! Can I tell you how thankful I am that it is nothing more serious?! They gave us some doxycycline and said he should be better in no time! And one hour, in an out of an ER, for only $40 including meds, you can't beat that!! 

In other news, our waiver was delivered this morning! We finally found out last night that we should have mailed the documents as originally planned. We were told for the last 7 days to keep waiting to hear from someone because there was the possibility of needing it sent to us in Addis to take to embassy. Turns out plan A was correct, and we could have mailed it last Monday, but it is at least where it needs to be now!

We are praying for the people that are processing our envelope, that they get it to the correct place in a speedy manner! We were told it could be as short as a couple days before it get to the correct desk. Praying for the person who will be approving our waiver, that they understand all the facts and have a sense of urgency in helping get us home! 

I'll keep this post short, but am not going to hesitate to ask for your prayers for the following:

- Please pray for our health, that Chase starts feeling better soon, Eliyas gets better/stays healthy, and that I stay healthy!

- Pray for our time here in Ethiopia, that we have a great time bonding during Eliyas' last days in his home country. 

- For all 3 of us during this transition, for Eliyas' heart as he is about to leave all he knows and for us as we seek wisdom and guidance to be the best parents for our sweet son we have been entrusted with.

- And lastly, please pray that our waiver is processed quickly! We are praying for and expecting a miracle!

We can't thank you enough for your prayers and support over the last 21 days. The kindness of friends, family, and strangers back home has been overwhelming. We are so thankful!