14
Nov

Take Your Pills!

 Posted by: Ed   in Travel

Well in just a few days I’ll be out of Israel and into South Africa and the Mozambique. Mozambique is a malaria endemic country so I’ll be taking some precautions. First pray for me- I’d like to be well, just pray God’s best for me, yeah? Iris Ministries requires that short term missionaries take malaria prophylaxis, especially during these summer months (Southern Hemisphere! Yay!). I’ve just started taking Doxycycline and I’ll take a pill a day until several weeks after my trip. This will reduce the likelihood of getting severly sick from Malaria. Doxy is a broad spectrum antibiotic (that means it can kill all kinds of baddies) but it does have it’s own problems. Did you know you have helpful, heathy bacteria in your gut? Well doxycycline is gonna whack most of those too. Without happy, healthy, friendly bacteria living in your gut’s neighborhood, baddies (ones unaffected by Doxycycline) can take over. One such bacteria is Clostridium Difficile, we’ll call it “C-Diff.” C-Diff causes some nasty diarrhea among other things. Questions? Pray against C-Diff, ok?

Love you all, Ed

This entry was posted on Friday, November 14th, 2008 at 2:11 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

6 comments so far

The Miyachi Family
 
 1 

We’ll be praying for you, Ed!

November 14th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
Simon Palma
 
 2 

heh, by the way… Heidi from dubai: “all he needs is a Video Camera?!? well i’m sure they have one here at the airport” so i’m not sure what she’ll have for you. Hehe!!!

-Si

P.S. we’re all praying “no diarrhea”

November 15th, 2008 at 3:00 am
bev
 
 3 

Hey ed, I will pray for you too, in hopes that all of the bacteria in you which we call normal flora will not be greatly affected. Also I will pray for the control of mosquitos in AFrica and that they will be no where near as bad as Yosemitie this last year. Tell everyone I say hello and I will pray for there safe return home.
bev

November 15th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Kristin
 
 4 

That was the best description of broad spectrum antibiotics I’ve ever heard! Ill use your version next time i have to explain it to my patients! Prayer is on!

Have a blast!
-Kristin (Marissas fruit loop friend!)

November 17th, 2008 at 11:58 am
Ed
 
 5 

Hooray! Thanks Kristin.

November 18th, 2008 at 1:28 am
Micki Lemke
 
 6 

Ed,
I’m a nurse and C.Difficile can be dangerous. Did you bring any probiotics? Helpful bacteria when you wipe out the natural flora in your gut with antibiotics. Can you get a hold of yogurt with L. acidophilus? If you have any diarrhea lasting more than a few days and your running to the restroom frequently, get medical attention. Stay hydrated with non-caffeine drinks. BRAT diet: banana, rice, applesauce, toast. Wash your hands frequently with soap and water. Waterless and alcohol soaps do not kill the spores. The spores stay on surfaces for long periods of time. You need to wipe down all surfaces with disinfectants or you could reinfect. I’m sure your glad, I checked out your blog. Sorry! Looking out for you and your G.I. track! I’ll pray too. God Bless! Micki

November 19th, 2008 at 2:02 am
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