Malaria and dengue.

There's been a ton of rain lately. Rain in Haiti = malaria (and dengue.)

Malaria is not fun, BUT, it's actually not that big of a deal. It's like having the flu but shorter because chloroquine works quickly and effectively. (Unless you're Josiah who has an allergy to it... guess how we found out?) But nonetheless, when one of our kids starts getting sick I always find myself thinking, "I hope it's malaria." I know it will be miserable for a couple of days but I also know how to handle it.

We don't know for sure because there is not a test available for dengue in Haiti, but we suspect that Josiah had dengue fever last week. This is what Dokte Jen suspects (based on his symptoms and bloodwork) and the day he got home from the hospital he had a rash on his belly chest and back-- leading further credence to our (well, her) hypothesis. For the most part, Josiah is better. He's lost a TON of weight. I wish I would have thought to weigh him before/after. He also tires more easily and take LONG (like 4-5 hour long) naps in the afternoon. I've read that it can take a month to bounce back all the way from dengue. But he's feeling much better, eating and drinking and causing daily-increasing trouble. So that's pretty indicative of him being on the mend. :)

Yesterday when he cut his own hair with craft scissors and I had to shave his head.

His weakened state made this easier to accomplish. And then his obstinacy about me showering him after the haircut seemed to wear him out because he fell asleep (buck naked) for the next 4 hours.

Oh Josiah.