au.was.here.

after having 5 kids since 1988, this is yet my first encounter with one of the things a mother fears most: dengue. what with all the horror stories i hear lately--new and vicious strains of the virus, cases where there are no symptoms at all, kids and even adults who die from it--it is enough not to make me sleep well at night and check on my feverish 2 year old every 10 minutes. here is my account just in case you want to compare notes due to a suspected case in your home or someone you know.

Raj started having fever Sunday, Oct 21. since it was dengue season, i was more concerned with it than usual so i immediately took him to his pedia by the next day, Monday, Oct 22. the doc told me that if it was one of the usual kiddie bugs, it should be gone by Wednesday. if the fever persists after that, she told us to be back by Thursday, Oct 25.

by the evening of Wednesday, Raj was still slightly feverish so i mentally made note that we will have to go back to the doc's the next day. however, come morning, he didn't have fever anymore and was looking all well and was his normal kulit self. i even thought to myself, "thank goodness we didn't have to go back to see the pedia". i was still hyper-aware of the dengue thing though, so as we were having lunch, i inspected Raj's skin, looking for a rash. i would have missed it too if the pedia didn't describe to me what it looked like: a fine rash that one might mistake for some minor skin redness. my eyes widened as i noticed that there indeed it was on the inside part of Raj's upper arms, right below the armpits and also on the inside part of his upper thighs. they were faint. but i just had to play it safe. i was taking him to the doc's immediately.

so right after lunch, i immediately called the pedia's clinic at St. Luke's but being Thursday, they had no clinic there. besides, Dr. Vicky Ang was out of town and even her sub was not there. i called my cousin whose husband is a doctor at nearby Capitol Medical and she referred me to a pedia friend, Dr. Magnaye.

since the doctor starts his clinic hours at 4pm, i still couldn't wait because it was 2pm then yet. so i took Raj to Capitol's ER instead to get some blood tests. 2 hours later, the doc was in and the tests were out. the doctor noted 3 items on the test: platelets, hematocrit and WBC. his platelet count was low but within normal range, hematocrit was low and WBC (white blood cell count indicating infection: this is usually high when fevers are not caused by dengue) was low. but what concerned ME the most was simple enough for me to understand: a positive result to the dengue antigen test.

the doc said, given the current results that he was not yet recommending hospital admission given that Raj looked well and did not complain of any pains but we had to return early the next day for another blood test. so we did. i didn't get much sleep that night afraid as i was that i might miss some other symptom while the boy was asleep like perhaps a nosebleed. however, after the tests the next day, the doc said that it might be best to have Raj in the hospital so he could get supportive treatments such IV hydration. he was also given blood tests 2x a day. i was very inquisitive so i was informed that there is not much one can do by way of medicines with dengue cases. it is a virus and there are no meds for it. i also learned that dehydration is one of the dangers of the disease even when there is no diarrhea or vomiting. since blood vessels are affected, the blood plasma may leak out of them hence causing the dehydration.

moral of the story: you can never be too careful. i half-thought i was overreacting when i brought Raj to the hospital for blood tests. i keep thinking, those rashes are too faint...he looks fine...etc. Now, as i look back, Cabbie was right when she told me "it's ok to be praning". now i can see how easy it is to miss the signs. we are often concerned only when the child has high fevers and relax when the fever is gone. in dengue cases, it's the other way around: the danger is higher AFTER the fever is gone. it is when the platelets drop and the dehydration can occur the worse.

we checked in the hospital that night and stayed for the next 3 days. with only TV as entertainment and practically no internet, it was this mom's turn to be stricken...with cabin fever!

after what happened at glorietta today, i can't believe the gall of some of these politicos! seeing the images on tv of the aftermath of what may be a bomb explosion in one of the busiest malls in the country makes me shudder. we almost always park at Parksquare 2, cross the short bridgeway to enter the mall and get my 2 year old son's haircut at the salon for tots right there underneath where the tragedy happened. i could have been there and i go there usually with my entire family. my heart breaks for those caught in the melee. this area is very close to where the toy shops and the maternity shops are. there are often parents with kids on strollers walking around in this area...my gosh...it's horrific when i imagine it.

and what do these f**k**g politician assholes do? i hear Trillanes actually blames GMA for it! how phenomenally sickening is that? instead of running to the aid of people hurt and shattered physically and emotionally because of the incident, he takes advantage of it by doing politicking...i swear it makes me hate him a lot! i am sick and tired of the likes of the old has-been Nene Pimentel who used to be in the camps who opposed the Marcoses yet where is he now? i seems to me they just make careers out of being "oppositionists" regardless of what they actually believe in. he is a blubbering old fool and i have lost all respect for him and his kind.

does being "opposition" mean their sole mission is to sow hatred for the other party whether the other party does well or not? can't they just focus on REAL weaknesses that they can help improve in the present government rather than FABRICATED ones just to gain points in unthinking people's eyes who get so easily swayed. i am no GMA-lover but for goodness sakes', prove something already instead of continually assaulting the poor miniscule president of all sorts of accusations yet none brought to the finish! truly, i have more sympathy for her than these blasted "oppositionists". it seems to me all they aim for is to hurl whatever accusation just to get some media coverage!

i even hate some of the youth who, just for the sake of adventure, takes to the street, shouting about how democracy is being violated when they were not even alive during the time when democracy was truly killed and martial rule was in place for 20 years--people really disappeared, and conversations were hushed if you spoke of anything remotely anti-government. they don't know what they are talking about! how stupid are they for saying democracy is dead when they are out on the streets marching and shouting libelous comments on the "powers that be". most of all, i hate the people who sensationalize and exaggerate each and every tragic event such as today at glorietta calling it signs of impending martial law! gusto ko lang sabihin sa inyo, hindi na gagawin ng present govenment yan kasi kumita na si Marcos dyan! siempre iibahin na nila ang gimmick nila!

ano ba kayo?! can't we just expend energy on identifying real problems and solving them instead of fabricating new ones and wasting taxpayers money on senseless senate inquiries. can't they put what is in the best interest of the people they purport to serve (even some of the time) instead of just making a game out of politics...matira na lang ang matibay or papogian na lang tayo by doing siraan while in the process dividing the nation. ilang beses na ba akong nasuka sa sigaw ni JV Ejercito about the elitista and the masa?

i can only pray for the souls of these politicians... i do not exactly believe in the concept of hell but it does make me wish there was one for these sort of people.

my four-year-old Reine comes home from school excitedly displaying to me the stamping on the back of her hand. "Mama, look!" she got this from the teacher for doing a project well. i give her as hug and a peck on the cheek and she flutters away to get dressed. then she comes back and hovers around me. ok let's take a picture. gosh, i have camera hogs for kids! just look at how she poses, angles her head, and give just the right width for a smile. kids these days!