It's called dengue

I was admitted to the hospital on a Saturday night.  Nurses were very accomodating, I just needed to walk in.  It helped that the suite room was awfully nice, and that the aircon was not too cold, because I was still having chills.

Horrible time with needles and pricks.   I tried to be brave when first try my vein burst.  Thankful that nurse Cyril was an expert shooter and was very gentle with this crybaby.  It was exceptionally difficult because I was dehydrated.

I was greatly relieved by the IV hydration and IV antibiotics.  I had fewer chills and no more fever, but my body ached all over and I still didn't have any desire to eat.  Considering our working diagnosis was a urinary tract infection, ai had to submit a urine specimen.  It showed ketones.  Somehow I was ordered CBG monitoring tid, much to my panic... I had to talk with ny doctors re what causes ketones in the urine.

Usually po pag nag starving po or keto diet, but common din po sa dm patients pag inadequate carb intake or metabolism.

An "aha" moment and the dreaded CBG pricks stopped.

Day 3 of my influenza-like illness, it was a Sunday.  I wondered why people started texting me "what happened?" Turns out my attending physician Dr Pen Villamor posted on facebook about me, her intentions were to appreciate thr things that I had done for VSMMC and for Cebu, but that getting sick is a reminder that we have to take care of ourselves as well.

The IDS rotator came in to inform me that the Dengue NS1 came out positive, so what i have is dengue.  He was also very kind to re-insert my IV line with one try, amazing sharp shooting skills!  We documented it with a selfie with my very attentive nurse Alice.

The chill now comes from IV hydration. Seem to have cough.  Slight Pain on deep inspiration at the right side of my body.  No more fever but with muscles aches and joint pains, and a terrible fever. I had a tough time falling asleep, but nurse Cyril was very helpful.  He even gave me a hot water bag to put on my tummy and turned off the aircon and electric fan, and allowed me to drink warm water.

So here I am, I woke up like this - ready to face a new day.  As nurse Cyril gets off his shift I need to prepare for a series of diagnostic tests and treatments.  My other labs werr abnormal too, but I will let my doctors handle that and just allow myself to be a patient for today.

Thank you Lord for another day at this life and thank you to all the people who cared to say a short prayer for my speedy recovery.

Influenza-like Illness

Day 2 of my influenza-like illness.  Everything hurts: fever, alternating chills and sweats, muscle aches and joint pains, sore throat and tummy aches. Haven't eaten since yesterday, can't keep anything down.

Waiting for the results of my RTPCR results.

Serve with honor and excellence

Today we celebrated the virtual commencement exercises of UP Manila via http://upmcommencement2020.com/livelink/ and although this was not a physical ceremony, we felt excited and fulfilled nonetheless.  My classmates and I were in constant communication and we all opted to dress up for the occasion while watching the ceremony:

Dr Pascual's speech seemed to reverberate in my heart.

1.  Be ethical in your professional dealings.

2. Serve with honor and excellence, not because of your reputation, but because we have a country to serve.

The titas of Cebu graduate from Diploma Course in Health Professions Education.

The valedictory address was spoken with so much emotions.  She cited Dr Jose Rizal's Adios Patria Adorada, so I looked it up!

https://www.univie.ac.at/Voelkerkunde/apsis/aufi/rizal/rzpoem7.htm