Another boring day at the hospital with the intravenous catheter in my vein. It’s so annoying when the medicines made you go to the toilet every hour. The doctor said that I have to stay for another day. He said I was positive for both dengue and typhoid. Physically I felt fine, no more red spots and my appetite was just fine. But maybe it’s the number of the white blood cells which was still below normal.
I had the fever for four days, then it’s just disappearing after the worst one ever. I had to change my clothes because I was sweating so much. The next day, there was no more fever, but I still had a severe headache and the red spots were appearing on my skin.
I still didn’t think that it was a dengue. I thought it was only the typhoid fever I always have every year. As for the red spots, well it’s probably just something I could get after being dehydrated during the fever. It’s not a fever for a flu for sure, because I didn’t get any. I didn’t have a runny nose or coughing either.
By the way, this is what I got from the internet www.medicinenet.com:
Typhoid Fever At A Glance
- Typhoid fever is caused by Salmonellae typhi bacteria.
- Typhoid fever is contracted by the ingestion of contaminated food or water.
- Diagnosis of typhoid fever is made when the Salmonella bacteria is detected with a stool culture.
- Typhoid fever is treated with antibiotics.
- Typhoid fever symptoms are poor appetite, headaches, generalized aches and pains, fever, and lethargy. People with typhoid fever usually have a sustained fever as high as 103 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit (39 to 40 degrees Celsius).
- Approximately 3%-5% of patients become carriers of the bacteria after the acute illness.
Dengue Fever
Dengue fever is a disease caused by a family of viruses that are transmitted by mosquitoes. It is an acute illness of sudden onset that usually follows a benign course with headache, fever, exhaustion, severe joint and muscle pain, swollen glands (lymphadenopathy) and rash. The presence (the “dengue triad”) of fever, rash, and headache (and other pains) is particularly characteristic of dengue.
Dengue (pronounced DENG-gay) strikes people with low levels of immunity. Because it is caused by one of four serotypes of virus, it is possible to get dengue fever multiple times. However, an attack of dengue produces immunity for a lifetime to that particular serotype to which the patient was exposed.
After being bitten by a mosquito carrying the virus, the incubation period ranges from three to 15 (usually five to eight) days before the signs and symptoms of dengue appear. Dengue starts with chills, headache, pain upon moving the eyes, and low backache. Painful aching in the legs and joints occurs during the first hours of illness. The temperature rises quickly as high as 104° F (40° C), with relative low heart rate (bradycardia) and low blood pressure (hypotension). The eyes become reddened. A flushing or pale pink rash comes over the face and then disappears. The glands (lymph nodes) in the neck and groin are often swollen.
Fever and other signs of dengue last for two to four days, followed by rapid drop in temperature (defervescence) with profuse sweating. This precedes a period with normal temperature and a sense of well-being that lasts about a day. A second rapid rise in temperature follows. A characteristic rash appears along with the fever and spreads from the extremities to cover the entire body except the face. The palms and soles may be bright red and swollen.
Another thing, most of us call Typhoid as Typhus. But those two names are definitely two different things as well. Here’s the explanation about Typhus:
Typhus: One of a group of acute infections caused by rickettsiae, transmitted by arthropods (lice, fleas, mites), and characterized by severe headache, chills, high fever, stupor, and a rash. The four main entities making up the group are epidemic typhus, its recrudescent form (Brill-Zinsser disease), murine typhus, and scrub typhus. Called also typhus fever. See also: Brill-Zinsser disease; Epidemic typhus; Murine typhus; Scrub typhus.
So being annoyed by the itch on my skin, actually it hurt a lot when someone or something touch my skin, I went to see a doctor. After a blood test, he said that I might have both the dengue and the typhoid. He wanted me to stay over at the hospital for a few days.
After asking for some advices from a friend, I decided to go to this catholic hospital. For me, choosing which hospital to go to was like choosing a hotel, which one gives better service for such a reasonable price. It’s a good thing that my insurance paid for everything.
The service was ok, but no TV and the bed was hard as a stone. I was sharing the room with three other women; one who vomits a lot, an old woman who complains so much and the other one was a new comer and still in a critical condition. They played the gospel and 80-ies songs for 12 hours a day, they did holy communion services and gave sermons too. I saw Jesus there. Although I feel so sorry for him, for being hung on a cross all the time. If he’s the God Almighty, why do they have to burden him with all the incapability and restriction of a mortal human?
I had my laptop, wireless internet and een cursus Nederlands voor anderstaligen book here with me. I could survive just fine. My mobile phone was busy with texting in and out with friends overseas. Few of my closest friends, Putri and Fergus came to visit me. They are always the first ones who come to the rescue. But I didn’t tell the other. I didn’t tell my family that I was being hospitalized either.
I had my reasons. Despite of the big fight I had with Mom, I didn’t want my family to find out anything about my condition. And aunty, Mom’s youngest sister was in a coma, and she passed away on Sunday morning. I didn’t want to give them more problems to think about. But the main reason was that I didn’t want to meet Mom at all.
Anyway, on the other hand, I was so blessed to have so many good friends. I sometimes smile to see how they actually care for me. Each of them have their own style trying to comfort me whenever I’m in need. Some are funny, some are romantic and some are actually very firm. Always love to get into any arguments with them, because we know it’s only going to make the friendships stronger.
Too bad they’re thousands miles away, but I can feel that they’re actually here with me.
I love you all, guys! Thank you!
And O, happy birthday to you!
