Dengue finally got me.
I should have seen it coming, though. My little sister succumbed to it a few days earlier. And Mama had suspected that was the case for my brother as well (who weathered the entire episode by simply staying in his room).
Before I was confined to the hospital, my other brother had initially paved the way for me. He went home from school with a fever and, although our first presumption was he got the flu, he had his blood tested the following day. Things went fast after that. Test confirmed it was dengue and he was shipped off to Brokenshire for observation.
I managed to work for two days before finally giving up. On Monday night, I was feeling sluggish already. Tuesday morning, I had a fever coming to town. That night, I couldn't sleep well, alternating between bouts of sweat and fever. Wednesday morning, I had myself tested and later that morning, it was off to the hospital to be observed.
My other sister followed suit several days after and we were pretty much a pathetic sight in the hospital: a private room with three beds, all occupied by three patients struck down by the same mosquito(s).
It's funny how one puny insect can wreak havoc into our lives. I missed close to two weeks of work, not to mention the many hours spent staring at the ceiling, wondering if it's my fate that I bleed to death.
My brother couldn't afford to be so placid. His condition was complicated by a ruptured spleen (I think) and my parents were worried sick trying to make his platelet count go up, even to the point of defying the nurse's orders at some point.
All in all, the experience really impressed on me the value of my health. This was my first prolonged confinement in the hospital and it wasn't a comfortable experience. However, I was one of the privileged ones, a fact that I had to remind myself over and over again during my stay and whenever I felt cross and frustrated: I was in a hospital; I had a doctor; and apart from this nuisance of a disease, I was going to be fine.
Indeed, God has a funny way of reminding us of our blessings.
I should have seen it coming, though. My little sister succumbed to it a few days earlier. And Mama had suspected that was the case for my brother as well (who weathered the entire episode by simply staying in his room).
Before I was confined to the hospital, my other brother had initially paved the way for me. He went home from school with a fever and, although our first presumption was he got the flu, he had his blood tested the following day. Things went fast after that. Test confirmed it was dengue and he was shipped off to Brokenshire for observation.
I managed to work for two days before finally giving up. On Monday night, I was feeling sluggish already. Tuesday morning, I had a fever coming to town. That night, I couldn't sleep well, alternating between bouts of sweat and fever. Wednesday morning, I had myself tested and later that morning, it was off to the hospital to be observed.
My other sister followed suit several days after and we were pretty much a pathetic sight in the hospital: a private room with three beds, all occupied by three patients struck down by the same mosquito(s).
It's funny how one puny insect can wreak havoc into our lives. I missed close to two weeks of work, not to mention the many hours spent staring at the ceiling, wondering if it's my fate that I bleed to death.
My brother couldn't afford to be so placid. His condition was complicated by a ruptured spleen (I think) and my parents were worried sick trying to make his platelet count go up, even to the point of defying the nurse's orders at some point.
All in all, the experience really impressed on me the value of my health. This was my first prolonged confinement in the hospital and it wasn't a comfortable experience. However, I was one of the privileged ones, a fact that I had to remind myself over and over again during my stay and whenever I felt cross and frustrated: I was in a hospital; I had a doctor; and apart from this nuisance of a disease, I was going to be fine.
Indeed, God has a funny way of reminding us of our blessings.
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