How I Wound Up In A Hospital Bed (Again)

When I got hospitalized last May 6-11 at The Medical City, everytime family and friends come visit, I find myself recounting the events that transpored and landed me in a 750 pesos/day medical ward.  There were several visits and at one point visitors came in succession that made me think, "I wish I had a tape recorder".  It was like the scene in The Crying Ladies where Eric Quizon's character kept repeating the details of his father's death to different people, using the exact same words.

I would have to describe this second SLE attack as sudden but turns out to be a looong day.  At 2 AM last May 6 I woke up shivering so I got up and turned the electric fan off.  It wasn't the fan, because I still shook uncontrollably after.  I knew then that I had fever so I went to the kitchen for some paracetamol.  A few minutes later my mother came to ask if I was OK so I told her I had fever.  She brought me my comforter and made me wear socks.  After some time, the fever went down and then went up again. and then the diarrhea set in.  By 6 AM I was still hoping that Biogesic and Diatabs would be enough.  By 9 AM, I was calling my doctor's clinic to check if she was coming in that day.

Her clinic was in San Juan De Dios Hospital in Pasay City.  Lucky for me she was always late so we had time for that long ride from Rizal.  Needless to say, I was already pretty weak.  Still, I didn't want to think my SLE wasa acting up again.  I also didn't want my mother to worry more than she already was, so I had to pretend I was OK during our long commute to the clinic.  When we got there, we were the 15th patient in the queue so that gave me time to get my usual lab tests: complete blood count (CBC), urinalysis, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR).  Typical with hospitals, I had to endure the long lines both at the cashier and the laboratory before I got tested.  I also fell asleep while waiting for the results.  When they did get released, my white blood cell count was beyond normal as well as my ESR.  There were other abnormal indicators for the blood but my attention was on the urinalysis results: Protein was two plus signs, instead of being negative.  Protein has always been the indicator my doctor looked at to see if my kidneys were flared up.  Still, I was never hospitalized for two plus signs ( it takes four I think ).  When my name was finally called I was so sure my doctor would just prescribe some high-priced drug and then tell me to see her again after a few weeks.  She said she'll be confining me because she'll administer the medicine intravenously.  Of course, I tried to bargain for out-patient treatment but there was not talking her out of it.  She was already writing down admitting orders.

The only question left was which hospital.  On her advise, we went to The Medical City in Ortigas because it was one ride away from Rizal and my doctor lived nearby so she could monitor me closely.  On the taxi ride over there, I was fuming silently.  I couldn't believe I was getting hospitalized again for SLE after so many years of being "under control".  When we got to admission, there was no available room in the ward section, the cheapest one.  My mother and I decided to wait it out instead of taking that one-patient room with television and telephone.  At 5 PM, there was still no room so I told my mother to go home already because the dogs needed to be fed.  She could come back the next day with fresh clothes and other stuff in-patients needed.  At 7 PM, I texted my mother to say I'm planning to take the expensive room.  When I approached the admission officer, and told her she told me to wait for an hour or so because she's still checking about the cheaper room I originally preferred.  I got admitted into ward N606 at past 8 PM.  My being weak didn't stop the medical staff to do the worlks: hook me up to an I.V., send me to radiology for X-ray, take my blood pressure and temperature, get my medical history.  I didn't know what time I got to sleep.  It was a looooong day.  The first of a 5-day confinement and the start of another round of "controlling" SLE>