Just one week ago, my world suddenly came crumbling down on me. All was well when I turned in on Fri night, but I came down with a sudden high fever early Sat morning. The next day, my high fever persisted, and my taste buds went haywire. Everything from apples to watermelons had a bitter aftertaste, and only toast slathered with copious amounts of sour-sweet orange marmalade tasted somewhat edible. The fear of DENGUE loomed overhead all Sunday as I miserably wondered whether to get a dengue test done at the GP's.
Fast forward one week. And so it was DENGUE fever. Having to draw blood for daily blood counts was no fun at all, but I feel incredibly blessed that my dengue didn't turn out to be that serious. My shins are still covered with dengue rashes - but no severe headaches, no eye pain, nor the notorious bone or joint pains. I went home to recuperate for most of the week - while there was a fair amount of nagging from the parents, it also turns out I got to spend some quality time with them while resting. It was nice, as it's been a while since I really got the chance to do that.
Mum was also pretty bent on preparing anything that people tell her will get me on my feet again - frogs legs steamed with bittergourd, kiwis, papaya leaf juice... Actually papaya leaf juice was my contribution - part hearsay from people and part hearsay from internet sources. Enzymes in freshly extracted papaya leaf juice apparently helps to increase platelet levels - so I shared this little tit bit with my parents and the in-laws. Nice FIL found papaya leaves for me from the neighbourhood and I enthusiastically blended them and squeezed out a concentrated few tablespoons of the bitter concoction myself the first night.
Later I became less enthusiastic about drinking it, as one article I came across cautioned that such substances can affect the accurate reading of my platelet levels (apparently platelet levels will naturally rise on the 6th/ 7th day from onset of fever as part of natural recover process) but alas the 'seed' was planted and there was no escape from drinking more papaya leaf juice as my parents kept nagging me to continue the doses... [I later endured a 2nd 'dose' but soon managed to discontinue without fresh new supplies of leaves :P]
Am still feeling the general fatigue from dengue, but am SO SO happy that I am almost well again. After a week of 'house arrest', it felt great being able to just go out and enjoy some fresh air (healthily)! Nonetheless it's still peak dengue season now - do be careful everyone and if you really end up getting dengue, drink A LOT of water to keep hydrated the entire time!