In hospital... down with typhoid!

Just been discharged today from the hospital, felt a bit tired still yet have to re-tune my mind to study mode by tonight as exam's coming... next week!

Been having fever and diarrhoea for 1 week prior to admission to the hospital (i admitted on 1st April). But what brings me to the doc ain't the fever nor the diarrhoea but the unbearable throbbing headache which sent an impulse with every step i take!!! (as this is my blog and not a clinical report, i'll skip all the elaborations..! ;p)

I was suspected with typhoid (demam kepialu) & voila, i was in the ward..! really felt weird inside, the ward that i go everyday in a white coat where i find my target (patient) to clerk his (or her) history, the same ward where i'll be staying for the next few days.. and this time, i am the TARGET not the prey..
=(
i can seriously relate to patients' feelings when they are repeatedly approached by medical students who won't know just how many other students had come taken this patient's history and just how many times this patient had to repeat his history... now i truly realized you can't really blame the patients when they refused to be clerked by medical students.. there's always a reason behind..

All sorts of investigations was done: FBC, BUSE, LFT, RFT, dengue serology, EIA dot blot, blood C&S, urine FEME + C&S, stool FEME + C&S, etc (to my layman friends, these are just all sorts of test to assess my health status as well as to confirm i am having typhoid & rule out other possibilities..)
and i don't know how much blood i lost in the process in order to get these tests done... Ouch!

I was started on IV drip for fear of dehydration and was started on IV antibiotics. Boy, it seriously hurts when the drug was injected into my vein.. it felt cold yet stinging pain slowly spreading along the veins... a truly terrible feeling!

Yet, i felt the warmth that i'll perhaps never realized if i was not hospitalized.. the warmth of friendship! Nearly everyday, my bedside would be flooded with my friends who came to see how i was doing.. some would stay for a long time to keep me company.. many would send messages to me late at night for fear i felt alone.. many came with all sorts of gifts (mostly food :>) to lighten up my days.. i really appreciate all the things my friends at the university did for me.. also not to mention, news had even gotten to JB & SG..! I was shocked and happy to receive words from my faraway buddies.. i am still touched when i think about it now..

This hospitalization wasn't just all suffering for me, i learnt many things from this experience.. maybe some lessons i'll never get to learn if i wasn't admitted.. a blessing in disguise, maybe?

*base note: some facts about typhoid:
Typhoid is a communicable disease meaning this disease can spread from human to human by eating contaminated food prepared by a person with this disease.. the responsible microorganism is Salmonella typhi.. it causes prolonged fever and usually watery diarrhoea with abdominal pain.. so, please be selective when it comes to eating outside, make sure the environment is clean and the way the cook handles the food is hygienic.. keep proper self-hygiene is also very important! =)