Season of Sickness

Rainy season – season of cough, colds and fever. It seemed normal to have these illnesses before but not now. A fever for one or two days will already scare us parents and with no questions asked, we would immediately have our kids checked. Why? Because of Dengue.

Kelsea started to get sick Thursday last week. She was hospitalized last Monday, August 22 and we were discharged last Saturday, August 27. That was almost one week of continuously asking for prayers and hoping that it was nothing serious.

Here’s the whole story:

Early morning, Kelsea was already coughing. Mark noticed that she felt a little hot. Might have slight fever. We weren’t able to bring our digital thermometer in the office. When we arrived at home in the evening, Kelsea’s fever is confirmed. Spongebath time and round-the-clock medicines became my responsibility.

She still has cough and fever. We decided to bring her to Asian Hospital for check-up. We didn’t hesitate bringing her because of the dengue scare. To take advantage of her Maxicare healthcard, we looked for an accredited doctor instead of her usual pedia. I already had a recommended pedia in mind but unfortunately, she’s out of the country. The available pedia Dr. Zalamea asked what meds I gave, made a dosage prescription and checked Kelsea’s breathing. She has asthma ‘daw’ because she can hear wheezing. We requested for CBC and Dengue Test (NS1 Antigen). Kelsea cried to the max! Test results: CBC – normal except for high monocytes, Dengue – negative. Kelsea wasn’t able to sleep straight due to her bad cough. I gave her continuous spongebath.

Kelsea had no fever that day but still had bad cough. I told hubby that we should have Kelsea checked by a Pulmonologist. We went to a well-known pedia pulmo Dr. Suratos in Asian. We arrived around 9 am and we were already #23 on the list. When it was our turn, the pedia pulmo checked the previous lab results and listened to Kelsea’s breathing. He told us it was just a normal viral infection and nothing to worry about. He just prescribed a zinc supplement. He told us not to worry. I was relieved.

Kelsea’s fever came back. I had only a little sleep because I gave her spongebath every hour and made sure she took her medicines at the right time. It was so difficult. At times, I get frustrated because she resisted drinking medicines and liquids. We argued a lot because of that. I’m getting worried because she still had high

fever. I told my husband that we’ll bring her again to another doctor the next day for second opinion. For her cough, we started giving her oregano. But her cough did not lessen.

We went to Dr. Sevilla-Sia in Asian Hospital. She’s also one of the recommended Maxicare accredited doctors. She was not yet in her clinic when we arrived but the assistant interviewed us about Kelsea’s condition. She then made a request for Urinalysis, CBC and Dengue Panel (a more complete test). Request  was in ‘stat’, meaning rush for 1 hour so that when the results are ready, Dr. Sia will already be able to tell what we should do. No time wasted. Kelsea cried again. It was a traumatic experience for her. While waiting for the CBC and dengue test results, Kelsea and I went to the ladies room. It was the longest 1-hour I spent in a public restroom. Despite of the water I was giving Kelsea inside the restroom cubicle, she just wasn’t in the mood to pee. I was loosing my patience but I kept calm and encouraged her to pee so that we can already submit it for urinalysis and see if her fever was caused by UTI. Still no pee. It was Mark’s turn to try to let her pee but he also failed. We got the other lab results. Dengue test was negative (whew!) but CBC shows low WBC and low platelet count. What does that mean?

When we went back to Dr. Sia’s clinic, we showed her the results. She didn’t want to take risks because it was already the 5th day of Kelsea’s fever even if it was off for a day. According to her, dengue might still be possible. She had already experienced patients with initial cases of tonsilitis, UTI and stomachache that led to dengue. So, confinement was her recommendation to keep Kelsea hydrated just in case. She also gave Kelsea antibiotic for the cough which might be Pertussis (whooping cough). Then further tests will be made the following day. I hesitated at first but thought that I was having a hard time getting Kelsea to drink lots of fluids and medicines. We decided to admit her in the hospital.

Fortunately, we were able to get her a health card last year. It was really a wise decision ‘coz we never know when someone from the family will get sick. We only got Kelsea Maxicare’s Silver Plan (Semi-Private room with 60,000 MBL per illness per year). The admissions personnel told us that Kelsea’s condition must be isolated so a semi-private room will not be an option. But since it was the hospital’s decision not to put her in a semi-private room, the next option is in a Standard Private room with no additional charge. Unfortunately, there’s no available room with this type. There were many other patients confined. The next one is already the Superior Private Room which has a Php700+ difference from the Standard Private one. We just have to pay for this come discharge time.

So whole day Monday, Kelsea was in dextrose. She didn’t want to lie down on the hospital bed. She just wanted to be carried. Mark and I took turns. Good thing, Asian Hospital’s rooms were very comfortable to stay. It’s a little expensive but you get what you paid for in terms of services, facilities and care of the nurses. Being sick, Kelsea became less active and still coughing badly. Tita Gen Lopez of Ligaya ng Panginoon visited us since her son undergo a surgery for appendicitis. Dr. Sia did her rounds and checked her again. This time, she ordered to have an x-ray tomorrow.

The in-laws arrived early morning. Brought food checked how Kelsea was doing. They just stayed for while since they still need to go to the office. Kelsea had an early x-ray. This was done standing up – front and sideways. I was glad she didn’t cry. The last time when she had x-ray was when she was still I think 1-year-old when she fell from her crib. It was done lying down and she cried a lot (and vomited). She still had high fever that day. I’m still scared it might be dengue even though the past 2 results were both negative. I just want to hear the doctor rule this out.

Lunch time came, we had visitors. It was my parent’s Ligaya ng Panginoon community heads, Tita Brenda and Tito Ricky Dagelet. I knew them for years because my family were active in the community but my sister and I became inactive during college. My mom sent text messages to the community asking for prayers for Kelsea. These two visitors of us prayed over Kelsea. I felt the Holy Spirit within us. My mom always told me to believe in prayers and have faith in God. After the pray over, Dr. Sia came. She told us the news. Based from the x-ray, Kelsea had Pneumonia. and instead of a wheezing sound, what the doctor and nurses heard was a cracking sound (same sound when you touch your hair with friction).I was relieved that it’s not Dengue. Pneumonia is lesser evil than Dengue, that’s what we thought. I felt that Tita Brenda and Tito Ricky were angels sent by God to give us a better news. I thanked them for visiting. But I’m still a little embarrassed since Mark and I were always encouraged by my parents and them to join the community. In God’s time, hopefully we would be ready.

Since we already knew Kelsea had Pneumonia, treatment started in the afternoon. She was given antibiotics and required to nebulize every 6 hours using Ventolin and Budecort. The doctor said treatment will take effect in 72 hours.

Sleepness nights for me and Mark. Well, he slept better. I wanted him to rest well since he also goes to work in the afternoon and come back in the evening. I can’t sleep properly since nurses go in and out of the room. I also needed to log-in to oDesk for my VA work. I’m glad my current employer was very understanding.

Kelsea still had fever but the temperature lowered already. Her bad dry cough started to loosen. She was still inactive and no appetite. Ate Rica and Kuya Louie visited and told us stories on how many times their own kids Tintin and Jelo were confined during their early childhood years. There was even a time both kids were hospitalized. They just advised us to hang-on and eventually kids will boost their immune system and fight sickness. Mark went to the office after lunch so Kelsea and I were left in the room. We had more mommy and daughter bonding during these days of her confinement. She loved watching Disney Junior. Evening came, my dad, my brother-in-law and our Ninang Baby visited Kelsea. Our dear close friends wanted to visit Kelsea but we decided not to let them visit us since they have their own kids and they might bring virus from the hospital. My mom wanted badly to visit but she can’t ‘coz she’s the one taking care of my nephew who’s also sick with cough and colds. I understood her. By the way, Dr. Sia got sick with the flu so we were endorsed to another doctor, a pulmonologist named Dr. De Torres.

No fever! Yes, Kelsea’s fever was gone thank God! Her cough is improving. There was already phlegm. I asked the nurse how will Kelsea get rid of all the phlegm. She told me it will go out together with the poop which will be very sticky. Kelsea started to converse 🙂 We were already exchanging words. I knew she felt better. I was hoping there’ll be a miracle and she’ll recover fast so that she’ll be discharged the next day. We have a family outing going to Boracay scheduled on Saturday for the long weekend. I planned this since February. All tickets and hotel accommodations were already paid. I felt a little sad ‘coz I knew we might not be able to go and the whole family and some relatives will be there. I just waited for God’s plan for us. The doctor said Kelsea will be dischared of she’ll have no fever for 48 hours straight.

Erin, Kelsea’s bestfriend, dropped by to gave her a Get Well soon card. But we told them to stay in the lobby and Mark will just get the card. Kelsea loved it!

No fever! Kelsea was back to her old self – “malikot” and “makulit”. She even wanted to slide on the hospital bed since it can be reclined LOL! We were already walking around the room but still in her dextrose. We told her not to cry anymore every time the nurses came in (she’s afraid of them) so that they would tell the doctor that she’s already fine. We were hoping to be discharged in the afternoon but the doctor arrived late for her rounds. She confirmed that Kelsea had no fever for 48 hours and she’s already cleared with Pneumonia 🙂 But, she still wants to take a CBC for Kelsea the next day then she’ll decide if we’ll be discharged.

Kelsea had CBC early in the morning. Dr. De Torres arrived early and told us the results were normal. She already gave the discharge order 🙂 Yipee! We already packed our things in time for the 11am cut-off for discharge. Ninang Baby dropped by again and gave Kelsea Chicken Joy 🙂

Now what caused Kelsea’s Pneumonia? Others told me that it might be due to sweat left on her back. But we didn’t let that happen. We always have lampin and extra shirt every time she’s playing actively ‘coz we knew she sweats a lot especially on the head. The doctor told us that one of the first cause of Pneumonia is close contact with someone who has it or illness close to that. Mark and I already had in mind who Kelsea might have gotten that bad cough but our main concern now is to strengthen her immune system.

We’re so glad to go home. This was another challenge for our family. We thank all our family and friends, my N@W family and the Ligaya ng Panginoon community for all the prayers.

1. A healthcard is a MUST! Especially for kids who are prone to sickness. Maxicare shouldered all the expenses (except for the room rate difference and the take-home medicines).

2. Don’t be ashamed to ask for prayers. Prayers are very powerful.

3. Trust your instincts as parents. It was a good decision for us to admit Kelsea for her to be monitored accordingly.

4. Don’t forget to give vitamins to our kids and let them eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Kelsea is a little picky eater and only eats selected fruits and vegetables so I guess she also lacked vitamins.