It was late afternoon before I was given my next dose of antibiotics. I was feeling a bit better and was discharged on day 4 without antibiotics (just Betadine, Difflam spray and pain meds). Two days later I started feeling unwell. I asked Sweetie to call the doctor since he said to call him if I had any issues after discharge. I started taking antibiotics again 3 days after I was discharge. I took it religiously but I fell very ill after my 6 am dose. I had a fever and severe chills. The boys wanted to bring me to the emergency room, but since I had meds already I told them I should be fine.
I felt a bit better by Saturday afternoon. I could barely eat though since my throat was very painful. It felt like a metallic object was lodged in it. I couldn't even drink water. Gargling warm water with salt and Betadine (separately) helped and I thought I'd be okay. I was very wrong because 15 minutes after I took my 6am dose on Sunday, I fell very ill again. I felt my heart was battling something. Miggy said my lips were turning blue. The boys insisted I should be brought to the hospital.
The ER doctor on duty did a great job at hastening the process. I was immediately given pain medication, was swabbed, a phlebotomist extracted 11 vials of blood from both arms and I was x-rayed right on my ER bed. I was very anxious and couldn't lie down properly. I felt I had water in my lungs. Shortly after my x-ray I was given some Flumicil. It's a powder that's mixed in water and tastes like Sprite. They thought I may have pneumonia and they called in an infectious disease doctor to take over my case from EENT.
It takes about 6 to 7 hours in ER before you're transferred to a room (if you're to be admitted). I was given antibiotics before I was brought up. The next few days were fuzzy and filled with more tests and vampire extractions (everyday!). It was later in the week when one of the doctors said that the bacteria was identified, Streptococcus. You get it from droplets from an infected person. And it was indeed a relapse.
I rarely go out (probably twice a month max). We all still wear masks whenever we go out. That week we went out and had lunch. The resto was very humid since their a/cs were not working properly. After brunch we went to the grocery and bumped into friends. Our friend said he also got sick a few days later. Miggy also felt unwell. We probably picked up the germs from the hallway to the toilet or the supermarket.
My second admission stretched to 12 days because the doctors had to take a wholistic approach because I have other medical conditions. They had to protect my heart, my lungs and make sure the bacteria did not hide elsewhere in my body. The infectious disease doctor told me it's a good thing I was brought to the ER immediately. They were able to prevent the issue from progressing to pneumonia. Whew. I went through a lot of tests. It felt like a year worth of tests was squeezed in one week.
I'm grateful for my doctors, the nurses (minus the one who blew up a vein), the med tech folks, phlebotomists (minus the one who caused me two huge hematomas) and the kitchen manongs who tried their best to make my food palatable. I tried to write down all their names, but there were days when things were super fuzzy. I'm also grateful for all the prayers and food from family and friends. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
*Made this detailed post mainly for my benefit. I'm sure one of my doctors would ask for a detailed recount one of these days.
**Also grateful for a friend who helped connect me to her insurance agent. I went without medical insurance for 20 months! You never really know when disaster strikes, so it's best to be covered.
#BeKind #StaySafe
