Sunday, January 29, 2012

Airplane Disease

They call this the airplane disease...

You see, everyone in our Dubai Gang.. or rather, almost everyone who has gone back home to visit their hometown fell sick when they came back too Dubai... seems like the only exception is me as I fell sick BEFORE i went back.. wahahahaha...

So leh, we deduced this is a disease that people catch when they are on the airplanes with tonnes of other dunno whether healthy or unhealthy people and lots of germs rotating around in recycled air on the 7-10 hour flight.. (Mental note to self to let Ace take 40 VP before boarding plane next time..)

Anyway, during the flight, Ace sort of caught a cold. He was sneezing non stop lor.. his sneezing was so bad that the air stewardess actually went tot he first class cabin to get him some chick pea soup to drink so that he can keep warm and sneeze less (I love Emirates)

But leh, after a good night sleep, he was sort of good as new by the time he woke up the next day for school...

So he went to school and was normal and healthy for... two days...

On the second day, I noticed that after he came from school, it seems that his ears are red... (it is usually a sign of fever for Ace) and he seemed slightly feverish. But when I asked him if he was OK, Ace said that he was feeling ok. "See, Mummy, I can run and I can jump!" As he excitedly hopped around the house.

So I let it be.

By bedtime, he was still sort of slightly feverish and his ears were still red. I asked him if he was feeling ok and he said he was ok... and so I let him be again.

For some unknown reason, I was unable to sleep at night. And by the time I went into the bedroom at 1am in the night, I found that Ace was not more than slightly feverish. I quickly got some iced water and a towel and started to towel him for the next hour and the half and his fever sort of got controlled.

By the next morning, he woke up good as new. I asked if he was ok but he said he was ok.. just a little bit tired. I told him he had a fever last night and he is feeling tired because he did not sleep well as his body was fighting a war (fevers are usually a sign of the body fighting some sort of war between the good and the bad). So since he was ok and looked ok, I let him go to school lor...

But came 12 noon, the school nurse gave me a ring and said that Ace is very tired and resting in her room. He is also running a slight fever and she asked if it was ok if she fed Ace some fever medication. I gave her the go ahead and she asked if we would like to pick Ace up.

After discussing with Max, we decided not to let the poor boy take a 1 hr bus ride home and so Max went to pick Ace up from school. The school nurse told Max that Ace is a very strong boy as she very seldom sees him in the nurses room.... and he is probably just having some sort of viral fever as he is ok but just tired with a fever... But she suggested that we take him to the doctor just to be sure....

On most counts, I have always been a firm believer of natural ways of healing. And as Ace has been having viral fever on off like once a year or two... I am no stranger to it and its signs. I am quite sure it is just a viral fever and I know tat for viral fevers, they come and go and take something like 4-5 days to go away...

But I know it is uncomfy for Ace to be having the fever as his eyes were bloodshot and his ears were red... so I try to ice him.. I remembered that I had this ice pack and started using it on him...

But his fever just refused to go down... and finally by evening time, Max suggested that we just see the doctor just to lower the temperature so that he gets some relieve and of cos, we were were worried like all chinese parents will be worried about how high fever can "burn till your brain become stupid".. wahahaha:)

So leh, we checked the address of the nearest chidlren's clinic and brought him there...

That is Panda eyes mummy after taking care of Ace for the whole night and day....

And tat is the very sick Ace. The moment we arrived, the nurse put a suppository into his anus to lower the fever...

That is the very xian Max.. who is always upset whenever anyone in the family is sick...

I then noticed a very strange phenomenon in the clinic. You see, the children here are mostly to see a doctor. If you saw a doctor, it usually means you are SICK right? But they were all snacking on corn crackers and stuff like tat! Amazing! And then they all left the doctor's office with a lollipop on hand too! (which I assumed was given to them by the doctor...)

Anyway, I found this toy in the clinic super scary looking lor... i think it will make sick children feel even more sick!

Anyway leh, I wondered why the children who went in took such a long time to come out and I finally realized why when I went in myself! The doctor is a kin-esthetic doctor who is a GREEN... someone who looks at details and he explains every single detail SLOWLY as if you are an idiot and dun understand anything at all....

I told Max the doctor should tell me something I dun already know (he was explaining that it could be a viral fever as Ace did not have any signs of infection in his nose or throat... and explaining what is a viral fever, what causes it and how it takes a few days to go away...) Max says how the doctor know I am such a clever mum leh? Wahahahah...

Anyway, we then found out tat doctors here do not dispense medication. They merely gave you a list of things to take for the different symptoms and then you go buy them in the pharmacy yourself.. that is quite cool given tat I have heard of many rumours of how doctors in Singapore try to dispense unnecessary medication to patients so tat they can hit sales targets and be rewarded with holidays and what nots... But that being said, they are RUMOURS and I have not gotten them verified...

Anyway, when we went home, Ace's fever went down! Yeah! I was hopeful that Ace could go to school tomorrow but leh, after some discussion, we thought we would let him rest at home for one more day since it was sports day and it doesnt seem like Ace is capable of doing any sports day at all....

Anyway, the next day when he woke, his fever started again... BOTHER!

So I was busy trying to sponge him again because I actually did not want him to take or use any medication if possible. But leh, come 3pm, his fever was still on off and high.. so boh pian lor, I asked Max to just buy the medication for the fever (since cough and cold will get better by themselves one wat..)

I noticed one very very strange trait of my son though... when people are sick.. they are usually very tired and sleep and sleep and sleep.. and they usually do not have any appetite right? My son was tired all right.. he slept through the WHOLE DAY in his semi feverish mode... But hor, everytime he wakes up, his first sentence is , "Mummy, can I eat? I am very hungry..." And he really finish whatever I cook for him... (even if i cook a bigger serving!)









Anyway, by dinner time, his fever was still high and so I asked Ace if he wanted to try to use a suppository to bring the fever down. Initially he rejected the idea but I tried to persuade him about how he can have a good rest if the fever goes away and I told him i was worried if the fever does not go down...

I asked him to be a brave boy and tried to entice him with an offer of some nice food when he recovers.... but he says he cannot be a brave boy... wahahahha...

And then leh, after more persuasion, he finally agreed to use the suppository. Before I used it though, I went to the internet to read up on how to do it lah.. I have never poke anything into anyone's anus before lor...

After reading once through, I ah gar ah gar lah.. hiong hiong go for it... I tried to put the suppository into Ace's bum but hor, he was so tensed.. and because I was frightened and dare not push it in all the way... PLUS he was crying and whining like I was torturing him or wat... the suppository kept sliding out...

I got angry and threw the suppository away... "Ok lah ok lah, dun cry liao lah.. you want the fever, continue to have fever lah, we dun do this lah..." I told Ace and I walked away... upset with myself for not doing a better job and upset with him for crying and whining and not helping...

But after I cooled down, I went back to Ace and told him that I would like to try again as I really wanted his fever to go down. I told him that if he cried, it is not helpful for me.. I would prefer tat he tells me and help me by giving my directions or suggestions as he can feel where the suppository is....

So I went back to the internet and researched somemore.. read a few articles, watched a youtube video and now I am ready to try again. Also, this time, the first suppository has sort of lubricated the entrance.. as I now know tat my mistake was tat i did not push it in deep enough, I just went for it and it finally went in! Yippee!

And almost instantly.. within 5 minutes, his fever went down! YEAH!

That night, Ace sweated all over and his sweat is dam super smelly.. and that is when i know tat Ace has made a turning point on the road to recovery....

Anyway, the next day he woke up good as new! Yeah! he was mostly excited and happy and playing around the house the whole day as he has been sleeping lots the days before. But leh. by evening, his fever suddenly returned!

I tot it just a good idea to get it over and done with and asked if he would like another suppository. HAI.... he refused again and then Max had to persuade him.. and then... because his bum was so tense and because I din push it deep enough.. after a few minutes, the suppository popped right out and somehow this process seem to cause him pain and so he cried again!


But two pairs of hands is indeed better than one lor... so i gave Max the easy job of distracting Ace with a funny youtube clip on his ipod touch.. while I tried to insert another new suppository in... praying that it would be the last one tat I need to insert! Anyway, this one was fast and smooth! So unfair right.. why the father gets the easy job or just playing with the kid while the mother has to do the dirty job??

And thankfully, that was the last of it as Ace got well enough to actually go out with us the very next day:)

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