Three weeks today my blood tests came back positive for Dengue and Typhoid. Typhoid it seems can be a false positive in lieu of Dengue's high fevers. The Dengue Result was Real. It started with pain. Terrible pain in my back. Birthing type pain. Then the fever so high my eyes burnt and I wanted to burrow under blankets and then I wanted to say horrid things to my husband when he bathed my head with cool cloths.
Then my blood platelet count started dropping fast. And then...... and then..... and then.......
Don't fear that which is fearful. Those words of exhortation from I Peter 3 seem so difficult when doctors start talking about blood transfusions in a city where medical care is rudimentary at best.
Here are some classic examples of the stellar care I and others have received;
The doctor who, when I was dehydrated from throwing up while pregnant with Abraham in my first trimester, prescribed medicine that would kill my unborn son instead of simply just an IV.
A friend who while hooked to an IV had to travel via rickshaw to get medical tests done outside the hospital where he was an inpatient.
The reality that nurses don't check on patients, bathe them, feed them, or do other tasks normative to nurses in the States. Instead you MUST have a family member always present to watch over your medical needs.
The doctors who without taking my blood pressure, temperature, or other vitals prescribed within four minutes five different medications though Dengue cannot be medicated. Even though I was bleeding one of the drugs prescribed would have further thinned my blood and could have caused bleeding.
The fact that a survey shows that the average doctor here sees a patient for those two minutes and then prescribes on average six medications. This has been my experience with all doctors excepting my children's pediatrician.
The fact that our neighborhood doctor is a young man with a bachelor three year degree in medical writing who prescribes drugs, gives shots and dispenses medical diagnosis.
The reality and the facts are fearful. In my hazy declining health of about five days where I could not even get to the bathroom alone this was fearful but by God's grace I did not feel overwhelmed by fear, just tiredness and misery. By the time I came out of that horror everything was a cake walk.
The Dengue continues to give me a rash, causes me to process slowly, have a painful headache, wake with pain in my bones (not sure how else to describe it), and I've heard can cause that down in the dumps feeling, continual fevers (which I am sure I've had in the night when I wake with burnt eyes) and just that delightful fatigue that means I talk slower, sink faster and am just ever so tired.
However I'm not in hospital and usually feel each day progress. I hope to get back in the saddle with writing. No winter hiatus from writing. Photos to come so stay posted.
Then my blood platelet count started dropping fast. And then...... and then..... and then.......
Don't fear that which is fearful. Those words of exhortation from I Peter 3 seem so difficult when doctors start talking about blood transfusions in a city where medical care is rudimentary at best.
Here are some classic examples of the stellar care I and others have received;
The doctor who, when I was dehydrated from throwing up while pregnant with Abraham in my first trimester, prescribed medicine that would kill my unborn son instead of simply just an IV.
A friend who while hooked to an IV had to travel via rickshaw to get medical tests done outside the hospital where he was an inpatient.
The reality that nurses don't check on patients, bathe them, feed them, or do other tasks normative to nurses in the States. Instead you MUST have a family member always present to watch over your medical needs.
The doctors who without taking my blood pressure, temperature, or other vitals prescribed within four minutes five different medications though Dengue cannot be medicated. Even though I was bleeding one of the drugs prescribed would have further thinned my blood and could have caused bleeding.
The fact that a survey shows that the average doctor here sees a patient for those two minutes and then prescribes on average six medications. This has been my experience with all doctors excepting my children's pediatrician.
The fact that our neighborhood doctor is a young man with a bachelor three year degree in medical writing who prescribes drugs, gives shots and dispenses medical diagnosis.
The reality and the facts are fearful. In my hazy declining health of about five days where I could not even get to the bathroom alone this was fearful but by God's grace I did not feel overwhelmed by fear, just tiredness and misery. By the time I came out of that horror everything was a cake walk.
The Dengue continues to give me a rash, causes me to process slowly, have a painful headache, wake with pain in my bones (not sure how else to describe it), and I've heard can cause that down in the dumps feeling, continual fevers (which I am sure I've had in the night when I wake with burnt eyes) and just that delightful fatigue that means I talk slower, sink faster and am just ever so tired.
However I'm not in hospital and usually feel each day progress. I hope to get back in the saddle with writing. No winter hiatus from writing. Photos to come so stay posted.
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