This past week has been a really tiring one. I feel so exhausted even if I am just the watcher of John. We’re still in the hospital as I write this. I thought I will share this experience with you now. Hopefully, you will never go through dengue fever in your lifetime.   But if you do, I hope that this post will help you.

The Philippines, being a tropical country, has millions of mosquitoes. During rainy days, they breed. And in our case, John got bitten by a dengue carrier. 😦

We don’t know exactly where he got bitten but we thought that the fever was caused by his bronchitis.

I only wondered when he started chilling. And his fever went up to 39.5’c. He said that his whole body ached as well. Classic case of dengue fever, I thought. My nephew had it before, so that somehow taught us a lot about dengue.

I brought him to the emergency room of DMSF Hospital. Since that’s where my family goes, the nurses and doctors knew us. They immediately took care of John. And got some tests done, ie: cbc, urine and chest xray (for his cough).

Among the 3 tests, they were more worried with his cbc result. The thrombocyte was only 121. The normal reading is 150 to 450.

We were advised to admit John immediately. But they had no available private or suite room. So they helped us get one at the newest hospital in Davao, MDMRCI. Or Metro Davao  Medical and  Research Center.

The admission was fast. The E.R. personnel  immediately put a dextrose on John. During this time, he looked so pale  already. And very weak. Scared and terrible, if you want me to describe how I felt. I hate dengue fever. There is no cure for it. The only thing the hospital can do is put you on dextrose and monitor your platelet count. Sucks right? The fear of not knowing what’s going to happen next was suffocating.

The next cbc came with 71 count. Drastic drop from 121. So I gave  him a combination of gatorade and tawa tawa. The local herb that’s known to increase the blood platelet fast. His infectious doctor told us that it is not proven yet. But thousands of Davaoenos swear that it really helps. We used the tawa tawa also with my nephew and he survived. Thank God. I gave him lots of water too. As much as he can take. Obviously, the dengue virus can only be erradicated with fluids in your system. The often you urinate, the better.

Another symptom is diarrhea. Sorry for being so graphic but there it is. There was nausea and vomitting as well. During this time, he had no appetite at all.

The doctors continued to monitor.if there was any sign of bleeding. They checked on his liver and kidney because John complained of abdominal pain. He was given paracetamol for the fever. Hydrazek for the diarrhea. Omeprazole for the stomach pains. And 160cc of dextrose per hour for fluids.

A client-friend told me that he would need glucose for more energy. So I had our driver buy Krispy Kreme donut. And waffles at Pancake House. I am glad to note that John ate those. He also ate an apple. A small slice of watermelon. And fita crackers. In 5  days he has drank more than a gallon of water. A dozen of 500mg blue gatorade for electrolytes. 3 picthers of boiled tawa tawa with honey.

As of this time, John is resting. He is not 100% well yet. Infact his blood platelet dropped to 79 from 81 yesterday. But the doctors tell us that he is ok since they do not see any signs of bleeding.

I am praying that he will get better soon. In Jesus name.

Lea C. Walker

http://www.davaoproperties.com