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Published: December 17th 2006
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Let me tell you about fear.
This intangible thing comes up in the form of a sweat that doesn’t evaporate on your skin, the feeling of needing to run, but also needing to stay frozen, of swirling thoughts and a racing heart, panic….
Miles has been sick for three days. Fever sick. I finally gave up on the Tylenol and figured if he wasn’t interested in eating…it was time to see someone. We intended to go to the clinic this morning and after an hours wait to leave, discover the clinic will not open until this evening, after 5pm. More Tylenol….
1pm, Miles seems to be okay, I start to feel better. He is playing and talking as normal, not acting sick at all. I relax a bit thinking we are out of the woods finally.
4pm, fever seems to be climbing again. Miles wants to lay down….I get anxious to see the doctor.
5pm, fever is high again….we cannot leave until 6:30 because we must wait for the van to return from one of the villages.
7pm, no van, more Tylenol.
I soak down Miles clothes and his head to cool him off….he
is lucid, but so damn hot.
7:30, finally we leave, taking another sick child with us to see a doctor. Miles just wants to sleep.
8:30, after driving around the city of Takua Pa for almost half an hour, no clinic seems to be open this evening….
Off to the hospital.
Thankfully, there is a very short wait and Rotjhana carries Miles in as I fill out the paperwork. One benefit of being a foreigner is that you are noticed here. They take him right in… (no... we DID NOT displace any locals, there was only one man in line ahead of us with a burn on his leg (tailpipe…..w.?!).
We did however have to wait 20 mins for the doctor to finish his dinner….then wash his dishes in the hospital sink next to the sterilization equipment (?!)
When he walks over, I realize this guy is the Doogie Howser of the Thai medical profession. He cannot be older than 21….I would bet my plane ticket on it.
He asked a few questions in heavily accented broken English that I couldn’t figure out. I blabbed at him in my broken Thai (I wrote and memorized the script before getting there.) At least he could understand what Miles’ symptoms were if I could not answer his questions.
The three nurses fawned over Miles way too much and I found it a bit discomforting that they weren’t more “nurse-like”…but then my western assumptions were getting to me again. They did maintain a sanitary space and all the familiar cleansing procedures appeared to be used.
The put a blood pressure cuff on Miles and he freaked…he does not like hospitals.
We took his blood pressure and then they asked (English) if he had a sore throat or runny nose. “No”, I said. They went off to talk to the doctor…all three of them.
The doctor came back explaining that some tests needed to be done. He examined Miles many many yoong bites (mosquito) and I knew where it was leading.
They tested his (via blood sample-you can imagine the screams there) and urine for Malaria and Dengue…..here is where the panic part sets in.
This time I freaked. I know Dengue….I studied the damn thing in biology, went to college with a guy who almost died of it.
The test came back negative for malarial antigens, but via text message I was informed by a friend out here that dengue is not malarial….Oh. It is in fact a virus.
Oh.
They sent Miles home with Paracetemol (basic fever and pain relief and the answer to everything out here) and instructions to keep the fever down and keep an eye on him. Great…will do.
10pm, more Tylenol. Tucked him into bed and started trying to remember what type of basic antibiotic is a good all-rounder just in case. I have Cipro, but even in a half dose…..I don’t know. Plus Miles is allergic to Penicillin.
Any of you out there want to call a doctor back home for me and ask for the name of a good basic (not penicillin) antibiotic? I can get anything over the counter here…but need to know what to use.
Monday we are in Phuket and I plan on checking in with a big city (farung) doctor while there. Just in case.
For the time being, he is sleeping soundly, fever under Tylenol control and I am somewhat relieved to know it isn’t Malaria.
(update: Fever has broken this morning as I post this...)
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