Cooling down... from a bout with dengue!!

Yep, you read it right. Apparently I had dengue fever... though I only found out today. Let me tell you, I don't think I have ever felt SO sick in my entire life and, from what the doc was telling me, it looks like I had a very mild case of dengue! Man, I would have hated having a serious case of dengue if THIS was the mild case! I was actually doing fine till Sat morning, but by Sat evening I was feeling really really sick!

Anyway, I am now at the tail end of dengue - as evidenced by the fact that both arms are ITCHING LIKE CRAZY, because apparently the itchiness usually happens as the dengue is on its way OUT. Now apparently the thing the doctor has to monitor is my platelet count. Normal should be in the range of 140-450. Blood test done on Friday night had it at 227. Blood test done last night has it at 99! Which is a tad on the low side.... so the doc got me to go see him this morning, to take another two tubes of blood, to see where the count is today. If it is already on the way up (fingers crossed), then, that's it - no further doctor's visits required, no treatment required. If the count goes down, I have to go test again tomorrow. Until it either swings back UP, OR hits 50. And if it hits 50 then I have to go to the hospital to get an IV stuck in me so they can rehydrate me faster than drinking can. And, of course, they can administer all the relevant mineral salts via the IV too. I hope it does NOT come to that.

How am I feeling? Well, was up at 3am thinking I could make it to the kitchen to get myself some yoghurt, and only made it as far as the bathroom to puke instead. Husband got up to make sure I was OK, then after I was back in bed he went and got me the yoghurt, and since then I have been feeling a lot, lot, lot better. Still extremely shaky and weak - but that is more because I haven't eaten enough in the last one week to keep this "not-so-tiny" body of mine going!

Husband is doing amazingly well. We had HP and Tony over this last weekend. They arrived around 10.30am on Saturday, after another impromptu tour of KL when Tony's GPS system led them slightly wrong. Husband cooked them a full scale English breakfast, then we dropped them off at MegaMall so they could go shopping, while Husband and I stopped at the supermarket to get some lamb, as he had promised HP an Irish stew on their next visit.

Got home, and he made Irish stew for dinner, and Eccles cake for dessert. Then we both lay down for a while to rest. HP and Tony got home at 5pm, and the rest of the day was just talking, laughing, eating (except me, I couldn't face anything!). The only fly in the ointment was that it was that evening that the puking started.. sigh.

Sunday morning the three of them went to Bestari for breakfast (roti canai, masala dosai... sigh... and I missed it all!). After breakfast our visitors headed off back down the road to SG, and this time they did it WITHOUT any impromptu tours of KL to start the journey :-D. We loved having them here, and after they have gone it feels like the two of us are just tiny peas rattling around in a rather large pod. We are already looking forward to their next visit.

Sunday night we were supposed to visit my parents, but I just did not have the strength to go out, so they came to us instead - brought me some vegetable rice porridge for dinner, which was delicious and (more important) STAYED IN ME.

So now, all we have to do is hope the platelet count is on its way up... and that's it! Fingers crossed, especially as this Saturday is Husband's next trip to Melaka for chemo and I had better be well enough to drive him there. He is starting to drive again, but only very short distances, and not on any main roads, because his right foot is giving him some problem. It is not as responsive or flexible as usual, and drags a bit when he walks. Makes it hard for him to judge how hard he is or is not pressing the accellerator or brake pedals. It is getting better, but it will take time.

So folks, that's it for now... and, till next time, stay safe, stay HEALTHY!

[Latest update: Monday 27th July @4.50pm: Good news. The doc called about an hour ago. Blood test results show that my white blood count is back to normal (apparently it was very low :-p) and my platelet count is on the way up! Phew. No more doctors visits, and no more getting stuck with a needle to extract two tubes of blood with each visit :-D ]