I can’t remember exactly when my wife last contracted dengue but it must have been a few years back. This week she had it again. It started with an on and off fever followed by fatigue and headache. She could have gotten it during our three days stay in Tanah Merah or it could be earlier. After going to her panel clinic twice, she was referred to the emergency department at KPJ Kajang.
Since she had a fever, she had to be separated along with other high temperature patients and Covid 19 suspects in a tent outside the hospital. The doctor came out to check her in the tent. It worries me how she is lumped together with potential Covid patients in the tent. She could contract the virus there and then. Anyway the doctor said she has dengue-like symptoms but her platelet count is not as low as actual dengue patients if you know what I mean. They offered her to be admitted there but the catch is she had to take a Covid test first which is not covered by her insurance. Slighted at the thought of paying 300 ringgit for possibly nothing, we decided to do the alternative which is daily visit to the emergency department to get her blood tested.
Hence began our 5 days commute to the hospital. Lucky for us KPJ Kajang is less than half an hour from our home. The daily visit consists of a 10 minutes checkup and around 50 minutes of waiting in line for the doctor and the test result. I have to recommend the hospital’s café food which is quite delicious and affordable. Not to mention the sausage rolls and custard danish at the Gloria Jean Coffee kiosk are delightful. Linda’s platelet count continued to drop gradually every day and on the fifth day she was cleared of the disease. That’s pretty much how we spend the end of 2020 and the beginning of the new year. Thankfully she is feeling much better now.
