Trip to the Padiatricians
Saturday, August 22, 2009 at 9:27AM 
Yes! Idlan developed a temperature and everybody at home turned into instant diagnostician! He has H1N1!
I said no, but unfortunately I was the only one who thought so at the house. Not the seven others, and that's not including the servants! He developed the temperature in the middle of the night and my mother-in-law insisted on me driving him to the Casualty. I just pretended I did not hear her, and finally when I decided to speak, I said if we rush him to Casualty we may give him H1N1. She was not impressed obviously.
Before seeing the doctorDespite the temperature, he was jumping up and down wrestling with his brother and playing on his Wii. After some paracetamol, he got better. The next morning he was fine but come the afternoon, the temperature returned. Alright then. Asked my colleague to cover me for the afternoon and took him to Pantai to see their Dr Azam. They are really fond of this former colleague of mine, and does not mind being prodded and poked, as long as it was by Dr Azam.
There was high temperature, but no sign of serious infection. We put him on antibiotics, and before long he was back to his old trick. Back home, my wife was on the internet all night, reading all sorts of ridiculous stories about H1N1. How it is signaling the end of the world etc etc.
My mother-in-law said should he develop another bout of temperature, we should go for second opinion, preferably to a GP that she swears by in Kampong Baru. Allegedly, he once saved her life by a timely intervention of giving her Paracetamol just at the right time .... Huzzah! I am a decent doctor, but I have not yet acquired the skill to cure multiple ailment with paracetamol. Maybe an extra few years in Hogwarts should sort that one out.
Soon after that, the waiting area got thrashed .... hehehe .... Run!Even Idlan's teacher called asking why he missed his kindergarten class. We explained to her that he has fever. We were asked to bring a doctor's letter, which I thought was plainly insulting. Well! The world has gone gaga with this pandemic and we are yet to face the second wave.
Finally, after everything settled down, I managed to settle one final crave before tomorrow's Ramadhan. Yes! I need some KFC, and I want it now! Sorted that one out in double quick time. Have to return to Pantai later today though, as I needed to pick up the doctor's letter. Or maybe I should just forge it! The teacher said a letter from a doctor, not which particular doctor .......
Reader Comments (8)
1901 Hot Dogs...yummm. I have to drive all the way to Great Eastern Mall just to get this dog.
it's as if they've not heard of the flu virus (although MANY ppl describe bad colds erroneously as 'flu'). whilst the flu can cause severe complications, they are uncommon - and we've been exposed to numerous strains, facing the SAME risks, and no one cares. the only thing is that H1N1 is in the papers. people should stay calm and maintain decent hygiene. and be responsible - if you are infected, stay at home la.
as a parting note, it's NOT ebola!!!
ok, rant over.
Believe you me, everyone here thought that it is Ebola from panic it causes. The funny thing is, there are effort on mainstream media to make the public understand, but these were thought off as a cover-up. People prefers to believe what their bomoh say etc. My septic neutropenic patient was more worried if they might catch H1N1 that dying from frank Gram negative bacteraemia .... Madness!
we're gonna get the new wave in a few months time, as you say - it'll be winter then. the australians received the brunt of it in the winter recently and they've a few tips to us in the northern hemisphere. have you read the comic, i mean, BMJ recently? BMJ 339:424-426. http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/extract/339/aug18_1/b3317
really hope your 'mak mentua' not reading your blog - she'll definitely will not be impressed. btw, the 'flu' seems like past history in aussie - and we not even bother to talk about it anymore. it's totally different story back home - we are sooo paranoid, and i even wonder if all the casualties attributed to H1N1 really caused by the virus...
anyway, best of luck everyone and i am really serously thinking joining the company developing flu virus... :)
talk about paranoia, well, more like the lack of it. saw pearl jam last monday at an arena that easily had 20k people. not a mask in sight!
No worries Asfezal. Aussie's were not prone to panic in the first place. There are just way too laid back, close to horizontal. The big news - in fact the main news here is there has been no reported death from H1N1 in the last 48 hours.
Even though I do admit that some of the death were complications to H1N1, mainly ARDS and severe pneumonia, a great chunck of the rest may fall into death 'attributable'. The dead person might have H1N1 viral capsule in his/her nostril, but whether that is the cause of death, I can't really tell.
So, are you coming back for Raya?
i agree with you - 'no worries' all the time. I'll be back for raya but not sure either on the day of raya or just before raya. anyway, i'll stop over in malaysia next week - should be able to 'buka puasa' with my folk for few days.