The Secret Antidote for Dengue

I took a glass and pour water in it. I want to hide from my wife what I am going to do, she’ll surely confront me if she’ll see me mixing medicine in the water which I am going to give to my son who is recuperating due to dengue. His platelets still hanging low at 41 and we’re already 3 days confined in the hospital, our bills are soaring high because of the medicines they are administering for my son as well as the laboratory test they are doing to monitor his blood. We took a private room also which cost us much higher than that of the ward we have been in our first day in the hospital. I know for sure that the doctor’s fee is higher as expected. I have to do something to hasten the blood platelets to jump higher to reach the minimum level so we can go home and minimize our rising hospital bill.

That morning I have to go to work, it’s been days of absent, so I have to attend some responsibilities to make up with my absences. I’m doing my usual things when a co worker approached me about my son’s condition. He shared some secrets which they’ve learned when his brother happens to have dengue too. He told me about some kind of common and cheap vitamins which he said, makes his brother to get out of hospital for just very few days. His brother like my son has blood platelets that dropped below down the minimum level and actually bleeds. My friend advice is to give it also to my son to evade further hospitalization cost and speed up the recuperation as well as for the platelets to rise.

My wife has this eagle eyes and high in discerning secrets. So she obviously look at me with suspicion the moment I gave my son the prepared mixture, so I told her about the thing and what my friend had told me. Eager and caught on the corner of rising bills and the desperation to see our child get well soon enough she let me give it to my son when I have explain the mixture is nothing but a common vitamins. I also told my son about the mixture and he understands about the vitamins and he took and drinks it. Later after dinner when there’s nothing to hide anymore about the vitamin, then I simply gave two capsules for my son to drink. It’s hard sometimes to act like a doctor when you’re not.

We notice some unusual things like my son did sweat when he’s sleeping which did not happen before. And since he didn’t complain of anything, we then slept the night hoping for tomorrow promise of platelets rise. The next day, and that is Friday, when we found out that it rose from 41 to as high as 91 and there we see things are getting well and alright. So we continue giving our son the vitamins and he took 5 capsules the whole day. The next morning we are awaken as usual at 6 a.m by the medtech to take blood sample from my son for platelets counting, we all prayed silently and hope that it will finally reach the minimum level this time. My son appetite in eating has return since Wednesday and I’m very hopeful that the food intake will also help raise the platelet level along with the vitamins. At 10 a.m I simply walk at the corridor passing the nurse station when out of curiosity I ask the nurse of the blood test. She looks at my son’s medical records new files and there we saw the platelet number in bold number of 158, she smiled at me and said “sir congratulation”. I walk the way to our room and happily tell my wife the good news. Then we all thank God about the good news and surely we are hours only for home.

The attending physician of my son is a good doctor, upon knowing the good news that afternoon, she happily sign our release order for us to go home, our bills were computed in the billing section and in a matter of minute the most painful thing in our pocket happened. After paying a gruesome 30 thousand Pesos we made our way to the exit and went home.

Dengue is a viral infection cause by mosquito, it attacks the blood so it loses the blood ability to coagulate which triggers bleeding either externally and the worse is internal bleeding which affects internal organs like the liver and the kidney, in the intestines it made the potassium to rise which is very fatal, it affects the blood pressure which will lead to shock and the worse death. Dengue should be given enough medical attention for this infection has killed thousands of lives especially among the young ones whose immune system was not yet fully develop. Sad to say there is no known antidote to combat dengue virus and up to this point of time medical authorities are still on the experiment process of making the best antidote for this dreadful dengue, and as for us and other dengue patients what our doctor does, is only countering the immediate and fatal effect of dengue.

As for me and my son the worse is over and though dengue has cost us a great amount of money due to hospital bills, we have other reason to be happy and that is health and life. We can earn money, but life if lost, who can earn it back?

I would like to thank several people who became a blessing to us from God who greatly help us through this ordeal. The Madapdap Church members headed by Pastor Arman Daquis, Dichie, who is my sister in law, and Mr. and Mrs. Lee and Anjanette Escalante and others, thank you!

further reading related to this article:

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Do Not Play Time With Dengue 2

I was at home when Raniel arrived home early from school that Wednesday noon; he’s early because their usual time for their last subject is 4p.m. so I ask him why he went home so early and skip afternoon classes and my son told me about that he is not feeling well. The moment he arrived home I have notice that he is not really feeling good and I guess maybe his asthma flares up again. But when I reached for him and feel his skin temperature I know for sure that he has a fever. I let him to rest and lie down by the couch and took my digital thermometer and it register to 40.5 centigrade, so I hurriedly made him to drink a paracetamol tablet.

I thought it’s just a common or usual fever that comes and go every now and then but my sons fever persist for two days and I know within myself that this symptoms is very much alarming so me and my wife decided to take him to a doctor. A couple of test were made to diagnose the cause of his high fever and they were found negative, his blood register to 200platelets which is above minimum level so we discard the possibility of dengue by then. The doctor advice us to continue giving him paracetamol and a week of antibiotics for a possible bacterial infections, and it does away his fever. I thought his health will be restored now that his fever was gone, what is alarming is that he is now having stomach pain and continuously suffers frequent vomiting on intakes, whether medicines, food or water.

We have him be examined again the next day and the result really made a shock on us. His blood platelets dropped to only 21 and dengue rashes begin to show up. We rushed home to get things we have prepared before, in anticipation of hospital confinement when we observed that things are getting worse for our son.

We made our way to the hospital and this make us more feel the shocked. The first private hospital we inquired wont admit us for the reason that the hospital is full of patients and no room is available. The second hospital nearby is government hospital and they also did not want to admit us for lack of medical supplies, they refer us to the provincial hospital whom they say could attend to our medical needs. At this moment of desperation for immediate medical attention for my son, I really felt that we are losing so much precious time to save and mitigate the serious condition of my son. Then the awaited worse happen, my son bleeds and it’s gushing out from his nose like a leak on the faucet and we feel so scared. We rushed to the third hospital and thank God they admit my son. As we enter the emergency room the blood from the face towel was all soak in blood coming out from my son’s nose. The nurses and the doctor came to the rescue and apply the necessary medical aid needed in such emergency situation. It takes for the bleeding to last for more than half an hour and surely everybody knows well that he lose so much blood, (my detailed story on this is in my article, “DO NOT PLAY TIME WITH DENGUE”) upon giving my son the IV fluid to restore loses, he was taken to his room and there the doctor told us how critical is my son condition. The doctor explain to us the health condition of Raniel and its apparent complication if he will not be treated well, she mention that my son needed some blood transfusion that is not available in that hospital. So to make the story short we were told that she will transfer us to the city hospital and refer us to her doctor cousin who is an internal medicine practitioner.

So we’re off again but by this time we know for sure that we have somehow passed the most critical moment in my son’s critical condition. As we took our way to the city hospital we were assisted by two nurses and aided us along the way to make sure things will be well for my son. So it goes well for my son did not bleed anymore on our way and we are well received to the emergency room as expected through the advanced notification and reservation done by the attending doctor whom I may say took care of my son in the critical time of his life. We were allotted a bed in the male ward temporarily because there was no available private room due to overwhelming incoming patients. So I made an advance reservation for private room to be made available when occupants were discharged. So the next day my request was granted and they transfer us to a private room and Oh! What a big comfort.

The night we were in the male ward is quite uncomfortable; the little room was packed with 4 patients along with their watchers, 2 at the most. We are at the end corner and to go there we have to pass by them and as expected you can see everything which I didn’t like on ward rooms. Three of the patients including my son are all dengue case and it is really surprising that October which is not normally high in dengue cases is now taking a high records of dengue cases all over the country, the provincial hospital to which we were referred before were also packed with dengue patients as a nurse from that hospital happens to tell us when she went there, she have told us that patients were placed along the hallways and corridors because the regular rooms are already filled. Thank God we didn’t end up in that crowded hospital.

My son spends 6 days hospital confinement, and truly God is amazing. Each night we pray for his speedy recovery and I know He did answer our prayers. The problem with dengue is for the blood platelets to rise in and above minimum level of 150. On our first day Raniel platelets are only 21, the 2^nd day it rose to 28, which promised no good result. The doctor administers some expensive medicine which cost us 2,300 pesos every vials given twice a day including the IV fluid to restore body fluid. This makes my son to stop vomiting and treat liver complications which have swelled as diagnosed through xray. But the issue of the platelets gives us more concern because they will not discharge us of low blood platelets. Thursday I went to work and there my co worker who happens to have a brother that became a dengue victim also shared his secret about my concern, so I tried it. I bought some of these medicines they say is good to address dengue and made my son to drink a couple and then I waited the next day for the result.

I am really excited when his platelets jump from 41 to 99 which the doctor said was a good sign. So we’re now sure that this medicine is doing fine for my son so we continue giving him. The next day we all jump for joy upon knowing we all hit the mark and it’s more than the minimum. We get 158 which the doctor assured of letting us go home - and sure she did. We paid a great sum of money and all I can do is to sigh. Well these are all what it takes especially in the hospital. What is making us happy now is the fact that our son is alive and well and that is the thing which no amount of money could buy…and that is life…

continuations:

don't play time with dengue

symptoms of dengue

secret antidote for dengue