Thursday, July 09, 2009

Dengue - Hospital Day 2

Hospital Day 2

The symptoms Laura had were high fever, lethargy, nausea and tummy ache. She could not keep much food or liquid down.

Day 2 continued with being on the drip and forcing her to eat and drink. Her blood platelet count dropped to 120+ from 160+ from the day before. She was still complaining of stomachache, so couldn’t eat much. What she ate, drank, if she peed or pooped or threw up had to be recorded. Being hydrated enough was important for her body to fight the fever.

Poor girl did not sleep well with the plug up her nose. She woke up frequently complaining of stomachache, then she went back to sleep.

Several people had recommended a remedy made with papaya leaves. Pound two papaya leaves into pulp and squeeze out the juice. Drink the juice which will help increase the blood platelet level. We are ready to try anything. Papaya is edible, so the leaves should be ok too. A friend whose son had recently recovered from dengue was given the papaya leaves juice remedy too. She recommended adding honey so the juice is more palatable as the juice is extremely bitter. Laura drank down the 2 tablespoons given to her.

The nose plug had to be left on for another night. We didn’t have a choice. Her fever hovered between 38 and 39 C even though she was given paracetamol.

Another restless night but we were more rested. The first night we shared with another little boy who had his tonsils removed in a 4-bedded ward. He must have felt very uncomfortable as he was crying a lot that day. There wasn’t much space in between the beds. Fortunately, only 2 of the beds were occupied.

The nurse call alarm was right outside the room door. Most of the time the door to the room was opened, so every time someone alerted the nurses, the alarm sounded. When the door was opened, the alarm was extremely loud and annoying!

Carer can rent a lazy chair for RM5 a night for sleeping. I have not slept on a lazy chair for a looooooong time. Even so, I had previously slept on one for naps only. Different when sleeping on one for the night! The air con in the room could not be controlled as well as we were sharing with someone else. Man, it was one uncomfortable night.

Yesterday, the hospital didn’t have any single-bedded rooms to spare. There was one today, so we moved. Thank goodness for insurance! What a difference! We had the whole room to ourselves. Felt a bit decadent really. We have a tv with a beat-up remote control held together with sticky tapes. Fortunately, the room is very quiet. We can see Jalan Ampang from our window.
Laura was upbeat and cheerful earlier in the day but by evening, she was feeling lethargic and feverish again. At least she wasn’t complaining of tummy ache and could eat and drink more. We had a better night sleep than the first night.

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1 Comments:

Blogger aBBLiciOuS said...

Oh dear....This must be tough for you. I hope she's doing just fine and getting well soon. I understand how that feels when a mother's child is sick/ill... Be strong, my prayers will owes be with you guys. Wishing her a speedy recovery. Do take care and God Bless.. xoxo, Abby n Family

11:24 am  

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