Out of Commission

I’ve been out of commission for almost a week, downed by the flu. I wasn’t feeling well Monday night. My back was painful and my throat was sore. I did some Bactidol gargling and tried to get some sleep but I can’t. The following day, I woke up feeling terrible. I pulled out the thermometer and found out I have fever.

I rarely get sick. (Well, you know what I mean – the usual type of sickness.) When I do get sick, it usually lasts me a day and the temperature just plays around the 38˚C to 38.5˚C levels. This time it was different. For the first time since I was a kid, I reached and went beyond 39˚C.

I wasn’t that scared but I have to make sure that what I got was the regular kind and not the one-in-a-hundred-thousand cocktail special. So we trooped to dear old St. Luke’s Emergency Room, where I had myself checked.

And so check me out, they did. They asked me personal questions, stuck a king-size popsicle stick to my mouth and put a device into my ear. (I think it’s supposed to give subliminal messages to the patient). After that, they told me I was hot. I was about to thank them for the compliment but I realized they meant it literally.

At first, they were unsuccessful in bringing my temperature down. That was already with two doses of Paracetamol on top of an IV drip. They seemed puzzled and, at one time, was even convinced on having me confined to be sure. But in true Dr. House fashion, a last ditch effort pulled my temperature down – all courtesy of two Advil tablets.

“It’s viral,” was what the good doctor said when he explained to us the results of the blood test. My platelets were still normal so it’s not yet the Dengue that we feared. To be sure, he said that we need to watch out for blood coming out my nose or mouth or pain from the stomach. He advised me to take Tylenol and Advil and drink lots and lots of fluid. After that, he had our discharge papers processed. Whew!

So now here I am. The fever has subsided but the cough and colds are still here. I’m not yet fully 100% even if I want to be. I guess it’s going to be another weekend in the room. But that’s OK. It could be worse.