Smack That...Mosquito!

As some of you may have heard (from my worried family), I was quite sick for a couple of weeks at the end of May. It all started with a simple headache and ended with four trips to the doctor for blood tests. Spoiler alert: the following story contains a LOT of sleeping, a little eating, and a few (technically, four) doctors visits.

Day 1: On Monday night, 12 May, I had a bad headache after working out after work. I drank a bunch of water and ate dinner, since those are usually the only reasons I ever have a headache. I also noticed that I had gotten VERY tired simply carrying my laundry downstairs to the laundry place. That’s not normal, but I thought maybe my work out had worn me out, which made me feel pathetic.

Day 2: I went to work the next day (because Tuesdays are my fullest days for teaching, so I didn’t want other teachers to be stuck with my crazy schedule), but I didn’t feel up to driving my motorbike. I only lasted teaching from 7.30 until 9.00. At that point, I was so exhausted, and just really not with it, that I told someone to take over for me so that I could go home. I got home from work and slept for the rest of the day until Wednesday morning. Did I mention I also had a fever and body aches at this point? I didn’t even consider leaving my apartment to eat or go to the doctor.

Day 3: Once again, I woke up to email my boss and give her a very simple explanation of what students should be working on in my classes for the day. Then, I went back to sleep until Wednesday evening. At that point, my roommate was home from work and concerned. I asked Kristina to accompany me to the doctor. I didn’t trust that I was physically strong enough to walk from my apartment, ride the elevator down and continue walking another hundred yards to the clinic nearest my apartment. As per usual, here in Jakarta, the doctor prescribed me an antibiotic and medicine to help with the fever and body aches…even though she didn’t actually diagnose me. She recommended I get a blood test, but they don’t do that at the clinic. I’m sure Kristina “forced” me to eat something for dinner, and then I went back to sleep.

Day 4: Holiday! No School! Kristina accompanied me to the S.O.S. International Clinic that she had heard about. At least there I was certain they would speak English. I didn’t have to wait very long until I was telling the doctor about all of my symptoms. He sent me to the lab for a long list of blood tests, and then I waited about an hour for the results. And, by waited, I mean I basically fell asleep in the chair outside the doctor’s office. My lab results showed that they had tested for thirteen different possibilities, and I had…Dengue Fever! This is a virus spread by mosquitoes, and there was nothing I could do or take to get better. The only way was to rest and wait it out until my blood platelet count was back to normal. At that point it was about half as much as it normally should be. No wonder I felt weak and needed to constantly sleep.

Days 5-8: These are mostly still a blur of a lot of sleeping and three more visits to the doctor. I had a mild form of Dengue, which is lucky for me, because the harsher virus sometimes requires a hospital stay. The blood tests showed that even though my platelet count wasn’t sky rocketing, it wasn’t getting worse. The doctor had written me a medical certificate (the paperwork required so I would still get paid even though I was missing a week of work). The blood test at the doctor on day 8 showed that my platelet count was still really low, but it had gotten a little better since previous tests.

Day 9: The doctor had written my medical certificate for one week, so I attempted to go back to work on Tuesday. This time I lasted my four-hour teaching block right away in the morning, from 7.30-11.30. I went home after that, but I only missed teaching my fourth grade class for thirty minutes. That had definitely been overdoing it for the day, and I slept as soon as I got home until Wednesday morning.

Days 10-11: More sleeping, but at this point I could stay awake for a few hours throughout the day, and I was forcing myself to eat at least two meals each day. Kristina kept me well stocked with sandwiches and take-out. Day 11 included my last doctor visit where I found out my platelet count was back to normal. Yippee! I had lost about five pounds, and I was still not back to 100%, but I felt immensely better than I had in about ten days. The doctor told me that my immune system wasn’t as strong as before, so I should be more careful about germs and getting sick.

Day 12: I was back to work, and feeling good. My students and colleagues were happy to have me back, and I was glad to be out of my apartment. The students hadn’t gotten too far behind, since they had mostly been doing revision papers to prepare for upcoming exams.

The Dengue couldn’t hold me back for too long. By 25 May, Kristina and I were running a 5k race. Not just any race, but the Jakarta Wine and Cheese Run! I was really slow and tired (which was to be expected, considering I had done little to no physical activity for almost two weeks) but I finished the race!

Yes, that says #cheesehead

And, now it’s mid-June. I’m feeling back to 100% and powering through these last few days of work. The students finished exams last Friday, we went over their tests on Monday, and we’ve been preparing report cards Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday is a prize-giving ceremony and class party, and Friday is the parent-teacher conference for parents to collect the report cards.

And, then it’s off the Kaliman to swim and snorkel with stingless jellyfishes. Then to Lombok to climb Mt Rinjani. Then, gallivanting around Indonesia until I come home in September for Britt and Jason’s wedding. The plan, as of now, is to go to Flores and Sulawesi before I leave and then Papua when I get back. That’s not the end, or even close, but it’s too much to write, at the moment, and who knows how much plans will change once we start traveling.

When I'm in Indonesia, I'll still have my same phone number. I'll also get wi-fi in most big cities I am in, so there will be some (maybe infrequent and inconsistent) checking of emails and facebook. I won't be totally off the grid, but just enough. I'll try to post a new blog every so often, so that you don't have to worry too much.