So some of you may know that a couple months ago, I had suffered from dengue fever. It was a crazy couple of weeks that kept me bed-ridden and incredibly weak. But now looking back, I figure there were a few lessons I learnt from that experience so I thought I’d share with anyone that even reads my blog:
1. Dengue will come to you when you least expect it. As cliche as it sounds, I never expected to ever be one of those people to get dengue. I live in KL and I never trek further than Bangsar and the City so it was a surprise to everyone including myself that it happened.
LIFE LESSON: You can’t plan for disruptions in your life, you can’t prevent them either.
2. Dengue will worsen on its own terms, not yours. Clearly I wish I could just go to the hospital right away and “fix” it. But I needed to get my platelets and white blood cells down to a certain level before I could even consider admitting myself.
LIFE LESSON: Sometimes you just have to be patient and let what ever happen, happen.
3. Dengue affects different people in different ways. For those who have gone through this horrible thing know that platelet counts are the most important markers to improving. Mine were 180 – 159 – 125 – 104 – 139 – 252. I was lucky my immune system was strong and I didn’t have to be hospitalized because at its lowest, I was already improving and my rashes only lasted for 24 hours before it went away.
LIFE LESSON: Having a good system in place can prevent things from worsening.
4. Dengue will keep you bed-ridden. My doctor told me that I had I should live with my cousins instead of being alone because I wouldn’t be able to do much for myself. So my cousin offered his home to me for a week. I was lucky to have friends who offered their papaya leaves, my aunt helped cook some of my favourite dishes so it would encourage my appetite to come back.
LIFE LESSON: Don’t be too proud. You can’t always do everything alone, having a good support system is a good thing.
5. Dengue took a little more than 3 kg off my body in one week. I had lost so much muscle, fat, and everything inbetween. I had lost weight and most of my clothes were quite loose. It took a virus like dengue to put me in my ideal weight! I was already happy that I didn’t die from this and even happier that I looked skinnier.
LIFE LESSON: Find the silver lining in your experiences. They’re going to happen anyway, you might as well make the best of it.
For those who have dengue, please drink loads of water and coconut water. Try to take papaya leaf juice if you can. It was a serious lifesaver for me. I joke about how Dengue was the best diet I went on but in all seriousness I was very lucky that my exposure to the virus was much milder than most. It took a lot of out of me and I could not exercise for over a month. Even taking a shower was very difficult. I would never wish for anyone to go through it and so here’s a post to encourage those who are going through some tough shit. Dengue was such an inconvenience but there was nothing I could do to change it. I’m sure a lot of us have lots of crappy situations but in the perspective of gratitude, every situation given by God (or the Universe) is a gift or a lesson.
Also, please clear stagnant water. Don’t let the Aedes mosquito breed. Clear out your garbage, dont litter. Do your due diligence.
PLEASE TAKE THE PROPER PRECAUTIONS FROM INCREASING THE SPREAD OF DENGUE!
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