PCV in Kenya: Weeks 64-66
Monday
School did not start back up today so I had the best lazy day around my house. I watched “White Lotus” all day while working on sudoku puzzles and knot bracelets. It was lovely. I made and ate pancakes for breakfast, enjoyed egg sandwiches for lunch, and had ramen for dinner. I also scheduled a neurology appointment with the help of the Peace Corps Medical Officers (PCMOs) for later this week because the top of my left foot is still numb and now the back of my right leg has some severe sciatic nerve pain.
Tuesday
We went back to school today after having our midterm break. Teaching went well and it was great to see my students again. After my lessons, I created a computer midterm exam. On my way home, I picked up a few things from the market. My main purchase was four, 20L water cans. I have been using Sammy’s water cans, but this will allow me to store more water at my house while we continue to be in this season of drought. While at the market, I realized I forgot my WiFi box at school so I traveled back to get it. This turned out to be a good thing because my principal saw me carrying the water cans on the back of my bicycle. He offered to trade me his clean ones for my currently dirty ones and he would bring them full of water to school tomorrow. This not only saved me time in cleaning the cans but it saved me having to send out for a water delivery. From school, I headed home and made banana pancakes. I relaxed and responded to Marco Polo messages before calling it a night.
Wednesday
I had work for the first half of the day. Around lunchtime, Phanuel and Sam rode with me and the principal so we could take the 4, now full, water cans to my house. At the house, I noticed Nala was limping so I decided I would take her into Kisumu with me when I went for my neurology appointment. We drove back to school and I worked on a few things before biking back home. At the house, I quickly packed an overnight bag and put Nala in her travel carry case. When we got to the main road, I boarded a matatu and we got a window seat which was nice. My first stop in Kisumu was the veterinarian office. The vet and I held her while he cleaned her paws so we could see what was irritating her. She was not thrilled with us at all. Thankfully, it didn’t seem to be anything too bad, she just needed one of her paw beans cleaned because we think she stepped on something sharp. She has to wear her cone until her paws are clean which she is not happy about. I left her at the vet overnight and headed to the nearest supermarket for some cold drinks and snacks before continuing on to Mama Gladys’ house. At the house, we ate dinner together before going to sleep.
Thursday
At 9AM, I took a matatu from Mama Gladys’ house to Kondele where a Peace Corps car picked me up. I then got driven to Kisumu Specialist Hospital to see the neurologist. The doctor was an hour late so I didn’t leave until 11:30. He sent me to Aga Khan Hospital in a different part of town to get lab work and an MRI done. Another driver picked me up and took me there. I did labs first then had to wait 3 hours for the MRI. It took me so long to take out all of my earrings. Some of the jewelry pieces broke and some wouldn’t come out, even with the help of a pair of pliers. Eventually we all gave up on them coming out so we taped them to my ear and hoped for the best. I was in the MRI machine for over an hour because they did two scans on me. When I got done, it was too late for me to go home, so I was put up at a local hotel and Nala had to stay another night at the vet. I enjoyed a night of not having to take care of myself and ate pizza for dinner and enjoyed a hot shower.
Friday
I had my follow up neurology appointment this morning. He was again an hour late. The MRI showed two of the discs in my lower back are bulged and coming in contact with a nerve root. Ouch! Thankfully it does explain both of the symptoms that I have been having. The neurologist’s recommendation was to prescribe pain killers and physical therapy. I went back to the PCMO office to discuss the neurologist findings and make a plan for how to proceed with physical therapy because there are no physical therapists where I live. He didn’t have a solution for the physical therapy yet, so he sent me to the pharmacist to pick up my pain medication. I then went to West End mall and enjoyed an ice cream sundae for lunch before doing my grocery shopping. My school’s bus was in Kisumu getting its yearly servicing, so they picked me up because they were heading back the same time I was. We first stopped at the veterinarian office to pick up Nala and then continued on our way until I was finally home with all of my things and Nala.
Saturday
I was able to sleep in but I woke up very nauseous because of the pain medications that I was prescribed and subsequently took last night. I called the PCMOs because I couldn’t move and they told me which anti-nausea meds to take. Thankfully these kicked in quickly and I was soon able to make myself breakfast. I then swept up the house and Jack came over. We hung out all afternoon and when he left I made egg sandwiches for dinner and called it an early night because I still wasn’t feeling very well.
Sunday
I spent the day resting physically and mentally. I worked on crafts all day. It started sprinkling rain today which is a good sign that we are almost out of the severe dry spell that we have been in. I watched “Law and Order: S.V.U.” throughout the day and made shakshuka for my main meal.
Monday
I stayed home from school today because I needed to be ready to leave quickly if the PCMOs called me with physically therapy updates. Thankfully, an update did come and they scheduled me a physical therapy consult for tomorrow morning. The goal of tomorrow’s session is to see what the facility looks like, what treatment will look like, and how it will work logistically with how far I live away and the continued daily tasks I will have to be doing at home.
Tuesday
A Peace Corps driver picked me up this morning and drove me to the Peace Corps office in Kisumu. I met with the PCMOs and then we went to my physical therapy consult. It didn’t go great. We came back to the office, ate lunch, and had another consult to discuss options as it was starting to seem like physical therapy and rehabilitation might not be as beneficial in Kenya compared to back home. After this meeting, I was driven home. I snuggled with Nala when I got home before calling it a night.
Wednesday – Sunday
On Wednesday morning, I was informed that I would be medically separated from Peace Corps because my back has a high risk of being aggravated during continued service, and such a condition would significantly jeopardize my health and ability to successfully complete service. As much as this was not the plan and not what I wanted to happen, I understand the reasoning and do think this will ultimately be better for the healing of my back. In addition, I will receive all of the same benefits as if I completed my contract in November. So, while shocking, not the end of the world.
This information was quite a lot to process, but I didn’t have much time to do that because I was also informed that my flight home would be scheduled for next Tuesday. So, I got to work organizing my house, packing, and making arrangements for Nala to be able to come home with me. Jack came in the afternoon with groceries and helped me pack a bit.
Over the next four days, I was able to see Mary, Lauren, Sophie, Laura, Savannah, Rikki, and Marissa. Lauren was amazing and took Nala into Kisumu for me so that she could stay at the veterinarian office to ensure all her paperwork was up to date before we left on Tuesday. Everyone that came to my house helped me pack, brought and made me food, and just really helped me stay calm during this stressful time.
By Sunday morning, I was fully packed. This was a great thing because on Sunday afternoon, my principal and some of the community members organized a quick going away celebration. Everyone said some very kind words, we ate cake, and they gifted me a bag and a beautiful plaque with my name and the name of our school.
Monday
A Peace Corps car came and got me at my house. I managed to pack my life back into two checked bags and one carryon suitcase. If you know me, you know how big of an accomplishment this was 😊 My first stop in Kisumu was the bank to transfer my grant money over to Lauren so that she can oversee the completion of my project. After transferring this and withdrawing my funds, my Kenyan bank account was closed. By this time, the business hours of the day were over, so I headed to the veterinarian office to pay for all of Nala’s things and make sure she was ready for her flight in the morning. I then headed to the hotel where I ate an early dinner and prepped Nala’s carry cases (hard and soft) for our adventure.
Tuesday
I was awake by 5AM so I could be packed back up and in my taxi by 6:15AM. We drove to the vet to pick up Nala. The vet was nice enough to meet me before they opened and ensured she had everything she needed for her first part of her trip.
To explain our travels, we had three separate flights to get from Kisumu to Atlanta: 7:20PM Kisumu to Nairobi, 11:59PM Nairobi to Amsterdam, and 10:45AM Amsterdam to Atlanta. I didn’t get to choose my flight path home, so I had to make do with what I was given. This posed quite the challenge to arrange Nala’s transport because I had to organize with each of the three flights because they were operated by different airlines.
For our first flight on Kenya Airways, they did not accept pets in cabin. So, I had to send her in cargo. Due to the time it could take for her to travel through cargo, I didn’t want to risk her being on my same flight later tonight, so I sent her on an earlier flight. The Kenya Airways cargo staff was AMAZING in keeping me up to date on her travels throughout the morning. They sent me pictures and videos when she arrived and they even gave her water and the food that I packed for her.
So, after I dropped Nala off at the airport, I went back into Kisumu to finished up the rest of my paperwork with Peace Corps. I went through medical exams, had laboratory tests done, and completed / had the necessary meetings to discuss my Description of Service document. I finished up all of this around 4PM. I had time to freshen up and change into my comfy travel clothes for my long travel. I got to the Kisumu airport around 6PM and got an ice cream while I waited for my flight. We boarded on time and this flight to Nairobi was so quick.
Upon landing, departing went as scheduled and I was soon exiting the domestic terminal and walking to meet the cargo people to get Nala. They were on time and they had Nala all ready for me. I transferred her from her hard cargo carry case into her soft in cabin case that she would be in for the rest of our journey. We entered the international terminal and were quickly whisked away to a special desk because Nala made us a special case. They examined Nala’s documents and I paid for the previously reserved spots for her on both of my remaining flights. Everyone was so kind and helpful. I was quickly moved along to TSA which went smoothly.
Once we were by our gate, I found a family restroom. While in here, I let Nala out and set up her portable litter box which she used! Nala was literally perfect on our journey home. She didn’t cry at all (the anti-anxiety meds helped I’m sure) and she didn’t have any accidents. I was so impressed and very relieved. This flight to Amsterdam boarded on time and we had a successful landing in Amsterdam the next day.
Wednesday
Upon landing in Amsterdam, I went through their flight transfer screening. Here, they made me take Nala out in a private screening room while they scanned her cage. I was again appreciative that they were so considerate of her. The room did have an opening in the bottom, so I held her for most of the time and watched her carefully for the other parts so she didn’t escape into the airport. She did so good though! Again, probably the meds. Around this area of the airport, I found an amazing bathroom that had a full shower inside of it. Here, I was able to do another portable litter box setup and gave Nala some food and water. After letting her stretch out and use her travel amenities, I packed her back up and went to find my next gate.
I got McDonald’s ice cream on the way 😊 I found my gate and charged my devices for a bit. Before we were about the board, I gave Nala one more chance to stretch her legs in a family bathroom and gave her one more anti-anxiety pill. This flight was not full, so I was able to put Nala under the seat next to me. She again did great on this flight to Atlanta. Once we arrived in Atlanta, I went through passport control and they sent me to a separate desk where they quickly checked Nala’s papers. We were out the door in no time at all and were soon in the car with my parents. On the way home, we stopped at Chic-fil-A and a pet store. Once we got home, I called it a night pretty soon because I was exhausted from the past 28 hours of travel.
What’s Next For Me?
Since my departure from Peace Corps and Kenya was so quick, I haven’t made any solid plans yet. My first priority is to connect with a neurologist and physical therapist so I can get my back fixed. I think I will be doing some contract work until I find a permanent job. I am really looking forward to reconnecting with all of my friends and family and am so excited for this next chapter in my life 😊
The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps.
