Another Round at the Hospital & A Conversation with Little Miss Doctor!

Yesterday, Joel and I had gotten worse. The never-ending-spiking-fever which he had since Monday night had rose to 104.3F! I, on the other hand felt a cold in my chest and as though weights have been placed on my chest. I felt that it was getting difficult to breathe.

By 9 something in the morning, we went to the hospital. There was the usual long waiting list at Joel's pediatrician's clinic. And the doctor on call at the ER had a patient with a severe, full-blown heart attack! The doctor had to accompany the patient to another hospital in the ambulance as he wasn't stable. This hospital is not equipped to admit such cases. Thus, we had to wait for another doctor to attend to us.

Joel had a blood test and the results showed that he had a bacterial infection! He was placed on a 5-day-antibiotics treatment. He finally slept through last night after waking at every single night from the raging fevers.

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Finally it was my turn to see the doctor. Here are the excerpts of the conversation:

Little Miss Doctor: You had high fever?

Me: No. I only have low-grade fever. My son has very high fever. It started on Monday night and he is currently still burning. (We haven't received his blood test results at this point of time.)

LMD: Have you had this before?

Me: I don't know what I have now. But both my son and I had Influenze B last month and we fully recovered 2 weeks ago.

LMD: Did you finish your Tamiflu?

Me: I did not take Tamiflu. But my son finished his Tamiflu.

LMD: (In an appalled tone) Why did you not take the Tamiflu????

Me: I have a condition called Idiopathic Anaphylaxis. I basically have no idea what can kill me or save/heal me.

LMD: (In an irritated tone) What drugs are you allergic to?

Me: NSAIDs, painkillers, panadol, aspirin...

LMD: (With eyes as wide as teacup saucers) WHAT??!! PANADOL??!!

Me: Yes, P.A.N.A.D.O.L! (which is basically paracetamol)

LMD: What about antibiotics?

Me: Bactrim. Sometimes I am able to take medications for the first time. The second time round, I have an allergic reaction.

LMD: (Gives me the look as if I am LYING and says in a matronly and condescending tone) Well, since you did not take Tamiflu, you still might be having Influenza B.

Me: But I recovered and was symptom-free for 2 weeks. The raging fever stopped. In fact, I have not had fever since then, until now. I thought our body is able to fight the influenza virus on its own? I know that it takes longer to recover without Tamiflu. What about people who are allergic to Tamiflu? How do they overcome the viral fever then?

LMD: Ignores my questions AND statements, glares at me and barks out orders to the nurse to give a chest X-Ray, swab for Influenza A & B, blood tests.)

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While I was on the sick bed, behind the curtains at the sick bay waiting for my blood to be drawn, I could feel her irritation as she continued to bark out orders to the nurses. I asked the nurse as she drew my blood (and LMD was within earshot) who this doctor was. I even asked whether she was some locum doctor. (She must have been super-pissed when she heard that! I was super-extremely pissed at her!) Apparently she is a full-time doctor at the hospital!

As a person with this truly pain-in-the-ass condition, I cannot understand why doctors think that I am spewing out crap just to make their job difficult. Do you think I enjoy living my life like this???? Whatever happened to being compassionate to your patients? If you don't have compassion and you think you know everything, you're a sad case of a doctor! Your ignorance, stupidity, arrogance and cold-indifferent attitude will kill your patients sooner or later. You should resign and look for another job where human contact is at a minimal.

Ask yourself, who in their right mind would want to go through sickness, by prolonging it and suffering from the maximum effects of not being able to take medication??? I am certainly not one. I have no choice. I could experiment, but could you guarantee that I will not keel over and die (or worse end up in a comatose state!)

To all doctors out there, please think before you judge us. We are no longer in the medieval times where someone who does something or lives out of the ordinary is a witch, whose end is at the stake, to be burned alive. We have advanced. We have knowledge. We are supposed to be smarter. Allergies, sensitivities, anaphylaxis and idiopathic anaphylaxis are real. People like me are real. We exist. Somewhere along the line, our immune system got screwed up. Instead of wasting your time (and mine) asking and making stupid questions and remarks, go and read up and talk to specialists and doctors who are experts in this line.

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As I was waiting for my results, the usual ER doctor came back! Hallelujah!!!!!! Though he has never met someone like me, he understands and accepts and always tries to accommodate me where treatment and medications are concerned. And he LISTENS! And remembers what I tell him about my condition.

My results showed that I have a severe viral flu. Not influenza (as the swabs both came back negative), but a viral flu. My platelet and white blood cells are so low that the doctor thought that I have dengue! Luckily, the dengue test came back negative! Thank god!

Joel and I have been weakened tremendously by the Influenza B. When I went to the pharmacist to collect my antihistamines and nasal sprays, the pharmacist thought that I had Influenza! I told her that was last month. This month is another viral attack. She told me that many in the hospital were down with the influenza. One of her colleagues had the influenza in October last year. And it takes a few months for the immune system to be back in tip-top condition! And in-between, we will fall sick more than usual! I went, "WHAT??!!! You mean to say that this isn't going to be the last attack????" The thing is, Joel's pediatrician and the nice ER doctor told us the same thing!

Oh my god....