Little Fie has Dengue Fever

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Takua Pa

Little Fie has Dengue fever.

She is laying in a hospital bed with her grandaunt by her bedside. Her blankets are soaked in sweat and she tosses and twitches incessantly.

When we arrived to see her and pay the hospital bill (Fie is not a resident of the orphanage fulltime and therefore was not provided with medical insurance. She lives in the village and attends the orphanage on weekends. Her school and expenses are paid for by Ban Tharn Namchai and we provide her grand aunt (her only living relative) with 400 baht a month ($9.50 CDN).

Fie is pretty weak. I held her hand for a moment when the nurse came to check her fever. Her arm just flopped back and forth, her eyes are glazed and red.

I felt stupid bringing her a coloring book and pencils. She is clearly a long ways from sitting up and being bored…

Her grandmother was extremely thankful and embarrassed me by the number of thank you’s she offered. She clung to my arm, clearly drained and so tired herself. She refused to leave Fie’s side unless something needs washing or to use the washroom. Fie would be in danger of thrashing off the bed when her fever is high.

The room is similar in layout to Canada, with two or three beds in a shared room. The difference here is the lack of privacy. There are no curtains and any medical procedures, linen changes, personal changes etc are done in the full view of other patients and the 20 or so permanent family members mulling around. The Doctor observes from behind a glass wall in another room. One child has two IV’s and another, about three, was crying incessantly, moaning.

The hospital is the same one Miles was at in December for his Malaria scare. Fie is in the children’s ward at the back of the hospital across from the main building. The rooms all face the open and the walkways are littered with sleeping family and visitors. The laundry is done by family and hung outside the room, food is obtained at the market and brought in by family unless the Doctors order the patient to be on a special diet. If this happens, the family is given instructions on how to prepare the food and what ingredients to avoid.

Fie’s fever is expected to break in a few days (?!) And then she will return to the village.

Just a note, Fie did not contract dengue here in the village. She was away on a camping trip recently in the south. The doctor assured me it wasn’t currently a problem here, but I am glad just the same that I have a mosquito net over the kids bed.

It’s so hard to see the little one’s sick. It harder to know that with 44 of them, there isn’t one person who can be there to care for each child if they cry at night, fall or stumble. If there were more hands, more help….if adoption were possible for me…..

There are days, like today, when being here is extremely hard. Extremely.

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