Entries in fever (35)
Paying the Price
After having too much fun over the weekend, it was time to suffer the grief. Idlan has been down with a bug. He was still having a temperature and Anita had to bring him to see our family doctor, Uncle Lim.
As usual, according to his Mum, Idlan would tell his symptoms to the Doctor himself, this time describing his sore throat and muscle ache. Uncle Lim gave his usual cough mixtures, paracetamol and increased Idlan's inhalers a notch. He was not wheezing but the worry was, he might start to cough later in the evenings.
Sri Utama has been on term break for the past week, and school would only open tomorrow. Look like he would be absent tomorrow.
The Morning After
Idlan's fever settled by the morning and he was back to his usual self by the time we had breakfast. Suffice to say, it was chaotic at breakfast, mainly due to the venue being ill-prepared for the number of hotel visitors coming down for the buffet. We arrived at around 9.00 which was relatively early judging from the commotion happening right afterward especially from the Middle East visitors. I will leave the rest to your imaginations.
The weather was gorgeous in the morning. The boys got their bubble guns out and started to spray the place with bubbles. The morning walk was really nice. We quickly got back up to the rooms, got our stuffs into the van and back down to the main lobby to hang around for a few more minutes, absorbing the fresh air and calm ambiance. Colmar was certainly magically on a sunny Sunday morning like it was earlier today. We then took a pleasant drive back down to KL, stopping by to visit an ill relative on the way back home. Idlan started to develop temperature again, so back to the medicines.
The boys were more settled in the afternoon, so myself and Anita took time to do some shopping and went to the bank to settle my credit cards bill and the lot. I then went to Low Yat, and my God, the place was hectic. I stopped over at the Apple store to pick up a charger for my Mac Air, but apart from that, the whole afternoon was a blur. Unwanted to have a closer look at the Nexus S but most of the vendors kept confusing it with Galaxy S. I gave up after half an hour trying before joining Anita with her shopping.
The boys were now being put to sleep while I was preparing my slides for next weekend's talk in Yangon. Suffice to say, it would be struggle to complete then by the morning, but at least I have got the idea about what to talk about. The photos from Colmar would have to wait for the time being.
Trip to the Padiatricians
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.
Despite 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.
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 .......
Tale of the Index Finger
Monday. Such fun. I woke up this morning with Irfan having high fever. Coughing and unable to sleep all night. Luckily Idlan slept through, otherwise it would have been double trouble.
We had to have a change of plans then as I had to do the school run. It turned out to be a treat even though I arrived around 8.30 for work. Idlan was really beaming when I took him to class, and insisted on me actually going into his classroom.
Monday has traditionally been a busy day for my unit. We start with the grand round, followed by a busy-than-usual day care, when we may see up to 40 patients starting just after 11. It turned out to be around 30 today. Straight after lunch is the transplant clinic. I had the referrals to wrestle through after that and I manage to finish all of it by 6 today. Thanks to DUKE, I was home 30 minutes later.
For the last couple of weeks, my right index finger has been playing up. I think it is an old badminton injury. It causes a stinging pain on the finger joint every time I try to smash or hit the shuttle hard. According to my orthopaedic friend, I have to rest it for 4 weeks. No badminton tonight then.
Anita took Irfan to our GP earlier. He is on antibiotics at the moment. By the evening, he has got his appetite back and up to his old tricks! I am with him at the moment while he is watching the 'Disney Channel' as Anita is putting Idlan to sleep.