THROUGH THE SHADOWS OF SICKNESS.
It happened a few months back, and I live to tell the tale. I was very sick, shivering, trembling, and cold one night before the festive season. It was a busy time with pujas, visits, and rains, and though I was tired, I did not pay attention.
When I did not get up until 11 am one day, my husband and family members decided I should visit the doctor. I could not move, I could not eat or drink, and had to be literally carried to the car where the doctor came to check me, popped a pill in my mouth, and ordered instant hospitalization.
There they collected my blood sample, did a full battery of tests like sonography. ECG, X-ray, etc., and could not find anything wrong. But my white blood corpuscle (WBC) count was five times that of a normal human, indicating a serious infection.
Varicose veins, dengue, everything was names and discarded. Meanwhile, antibiotics were injected intravenously to stop the WBC count from rising further. Blood tests, sugar tests, a posse of oral medicines covering a broad spectrum of infections were given, causing me stomach problems and lack of appetite. Through the WBC count did not go up, neither did it subside.
Three specialists were consulted who went into a huddle to find out the cause of my illness. The blood culture on the third day showed a serious infection in my blood due to strong pathogens like staphylococcus or streptococcus. A stronger medicine, brown and oily, shielded from the light, was introduced intravenously.
The veins in both my hands were punctured alternately as there were five IV bottles, a day, and I was very inconvenienced It resulted in hallucinations where I saw hair growing on my body and even on the curtain rod and bed. My skin turned brown with white patches of my normal skin showing, and it was horrible. It had also become rough and wrinkled. I dreamt of being bathed in golden light and someone beckoning me to go to the other side, which I refused.
Added to this, my doctor told me that they had done their very best and now my life was in the hands of the Almighty. Fortunately, I was independent and had no pain nor needed any help to go to the washroom. I continued with online meetings and my writings, so one of my friends knew I was hospitalized.
The ultrasound performed on my legs resulted in a motley of colors, which was diagnosed as cellulitis, and a seven-day course of antibiotics through IV was prescribed, to my horror. My left leg below the knee was disfigured and swollen, for which an external damp dressing with some special medicine in a gauze was wrapped twice a day, with the doctors checking it every few hours.
It was blood poisoning, and I had received medical attention just in time. Eleven days of hospitalization and fifty bottles of IV later, I was discharged. My prescription was long as they feared the possibility of a relapse. Four huge antibiotic capsules (costing a bomb) were to be taken daily for fifteen days. I lost a lot of weight and had a loss of appetite, for which a special diet was prescribed.
My legs became swollen, and expensive customized compressor socks made my daughter-n-law squat on the floor to put them on me. I had to wear shoes all the time and keep my feet high above the level of my heart, making my daughter send special showed and pillows from the US.
Medicines for blood pressure, relief from swelling, for diabetes (tension probably raised my sugar level), and sleeping pills were prescribed as my stomach churned the veins on both my hands ached and my heart had palpitations.
After the mandatory two weeks of bed rest, I started my normal routine even though I was not fully recovered, sometimes going barefoot as my footwear would not fit. The soles of my feet ached, my appetite went for a toss, until the medicines were slowly reduced.
even now, I cannot say that I am fully normal, but my family thanks God for my fight with blood poisoning and my having been snatched from the jaws of death.
It was probably my positive attitude and my being busy with my work that resulted in getting me snatched from the jaws of death.
