Seriously, all the crap I had to go through with this bloody dengue fever. Stupid mosquitoes! What I can't work out is how the little bugger managed to bite me - dengue-carrying mozzies apparently come during the day (malaria-carrying ones come at dawn and dusk). They do like my blood though. A lot. I am always covered in bites.
Let's start from the very beginning, a very good place to start.... well my last post was actually the beginning. The results of the second blood test showed no malaria, which was good, but what was actually wrong with me?
Still feeling shite, went and slept at home, and then with my temperature fluctuating left right and centre and achy muscles continuing, they decided that I needed proper medical care and so put me on a plane to Jakarta. Flying business class for the first time would have been way better if I could enjoy it! D'oh! Oh well. Garuda's business class wasn't that different from the economy anyway :(
So, straight to the emergency department at the hospital in Jakarta and straight onto a drip. The doctor took one look at my results and other symptoms I'd developed since then and said, quite matter-of-factly, 'you've got dengue fever.'
Thank goodness my colleague Sue was with me, she was great. Not that the hospital staff didn't look after me, in fact they were great too, but it was nice to have someone there who was an Aussie, and great company. Not to mention willing to get me nice food and drinks and chocolate! Sushi beats hospital food hands down any day.
Well, being on a drip for 4 days was kinda boring. And a pain in the ass to try and carry the drip around everywhere. My one foray down to the cafe (in order to break the boredom of lying around in the same room/bed all day and night) was an adventure in itself ... everyone had a good stare at the bule (foreigner), plus getting myself + drip in between all the tables in the cafe was fun ... I made people get up and rearrange themselves.. hehe! I should have got myself one of those white gowns and had my ass hanging out the back, that would have been more authentic! :)
Anyway, a hundred blood pressure, temperature and blood tests later, I was finally discharged on Saturday night, once my platelet numbers had reached the safe level of 100,000 (in fact I made it to 101,000). It had got down to around 50,000 (the normal level is 150-400,000) which meant I managed to avoid the need to fly to Singapore for a blood transfusion. Hoorah! So they put me up in the flashy Park Lane Hotel where I could relax by the pool :) A couple of days later another blood test saw my platelet levels at 213,000 so I was ready to get out of there - on a plane straight home to recover.
So now I'm just enjoying being home, it's almost like a holiday... apart from the fact I feel tired. All day.
So who knows when I'll go back to Simeulue. Maybe in a couple of weeks. Think I could scam time enough to see the AFL Grand Final? I'll work on it.
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