Okay, I didn't, but that entire day felt like mush. I returned home at 6pm and hit the mattresses, putting off desperately needed studying for my next exam. I didn't care.
Then. I woke up at the lovely hour of 2am with the wonderful realization that my fever had subsided. And, which is more, I was functioning properly, meaning in the 2 precious hours I was awake that morning, I was able to get my stuff together. I went back to sleep and at 6:30am I walked out the door and headed for school.
My plan was simple: take the exam and run back home. Well, I only finished half of my plan. Midway to school I got light-headed. And this light-headedness turned into nausea. And this nausea led to my almost passing out on the train. What I really needed to do was vomit -- but you can't really do that on the train. So the whole 2 minutes between stations I was praying to God to at least let me get off the train before I embarrassed myself in public. Fortunately, I have a good God who granted me that one request. I jumped off the train and with what little, blurred vision I had, I stumbled my way into the restroom.
And after that little episode I knew I couldn't take my exam. So I skipped to Part B of my plan and ran back home.
I took a quick nap and after an hours rest I called my guardian who came back to the house and drove me to St. Luke's hospital. At the hospital they took the usually tests.
My temperature was normal (fever gone). My blood pressure was 70/100. My blood sugar was 80mg (normal is 70-100). I had no viral bacteria or whatever in my blood. My sodium and potassium levels are insignificant (which just means to say I'm properly hydrated). My platelet count - which helps indicates whether or not you've got Dengue - was 152,000. Which is still normal, but low. The safe range is 150,000-400,000. And just to be sure, they wanted me to return and get another CBC to make sure my platelet count rises.
So why did I blog about this? Well, for one it makes for a nice story -- but I've have like, 3 things I want to say about this whole experience.
1) Hospital fees suck if you don't have insurance. Here are the fees that were written on my Statement of Account.
Pathology Institute
- complete blood count: 455.00
- sodium & potassium: 780.00
Emergency Room
- CBG/Blood Monitoring: 550.00
- Disposable Cap/Pc: 8.00
- Genius Disp. Probe Covers: 22.00
- E.R. Fee: 910.00
- Arcoxia 120mg Tab: 129.00
For a grand total of P2,284.00.
Honestly, I don't think St. Lukes really helped. Fortunately, they were nice enough to give me a discount -- though I have no idea what it's attributed to (0006108 less: 20% discount). So I paid P2,283.00.
I took another CBC test this morning and it cost a whopping P150.00 pesos. Maybe it was the air-conditioning I paid for. Anyway, I feel ripped off.
2) Solutions
It's funny how people try to solve the problem of Dengue (if a mild case of dengue was what I had): vaccines, herbs, hydration techniques, rest. What ever happened to attacking the problem at its core? Namely, MOSQUITOES! I think that's the real threat to mankind: bloodsuckers.
That night I went home and turned on my Baygon liquid mosquito killer (which smells like flowers) and waited for the mosquitoes to drop and die like they do in the commercials. Well, the mosquitoes don't die. I had to do it myself. Out of the dark corners of my room mosquitoes started popping out, one-by-one. I think my big hands are a blessing from God, because I was able to slap SEVEN mosquitoes out of the air. Well, my point is Baygon products don't work -- so don't buy anything made by them.
If the government wanted to solve the Dengue, they should invest in lazer-gun technology that will, quite literally, zap the mosquitoes out of the sky. That kind of technology would solve a lot more problems than a pill ever could.
3) Once you have a baby you officially become a mothering mother... to everyone.
