Tuesday, February 19

a vacation called medical leave

nobody wants to get sick. it's sickening to get sick. it's tiring, and definitely uncomfortable.
and for a mega lover of comfort like me, being uncomfortable is enough to make sick sicker.

and yet.. I just 'enjoyed' a long sick leave that felt almost like a holiday. [this was in november, actually]

it started with diarrhea. not a pretty condition - a condition that one would rather hide than tell.
i got it for three days before i saw a doctor. she gave me anti-biotic and diarrhea stopper. it did not work.
after another three day, i saw another doctor, a specialist. he gave me stronger medicine and diarrhea stopper. i was getting worse.
on the third day of this stronger medicine, i started vomiting. i saw that doctor again. i lost 1 kg in 3 days. i was barely eating, and i started to feel cramps in my leg. he told me to be hospitalized.

and thus the medical holiday began. i checked in a VIP room due to the Class 1 was full.
i was hooked on IV drips. bombed with IV-ed heavy medicine. saturated with potent anti-nausea that was used on cancer patient.
going yet another 3 days and i still had them: those nasty diarrhea, vomiting, plus rumbling stomach.

okay, that baffled the doctor. he proposed endoscopy and... (forgot what it's called), as to be able to see the whole of my digestive system. but then, he poked my stomach again. and then we found it: appendicitis.

how funny was that? that lengthy Gastroenteritis turned out to be chronic (and acute) appendicitis.
so, more examination followed, including the 'barium-contrast x-ray' that I avoided. yep, appendicitis it was.
so then i have may laparascopic appendicitis.

how could that be called a holiday?
this is how: coz by staying for 8 days in hospital, i had my escape from the office work. there was a lot of me-time. i am a master of doing nothing, and when i was hospitalized, there were a lot of moments of doing nothing.

okay, honest be told, staying in hospital is no holiday. in holiday, you won't be woken up in the middle of the night to have your dose of medicine, despite it's being put into the IV drips. you don't got poked every day by doctors (yeah, since it was found that i got appendicitis, i was handled by 2 doctors). you don't wake up feeling a mix of emotions as the one next door was literally howling in pain. and you don't get to see people rushing as someone condition worsened and they reeled him into the ICU. nope.

but yeah, there were some perks, too, like the heated operation theater bed, the heated blanket for post-operation, the bed that can electronically be lowered and adjusted, and the choice you were offered for your meals.

and as in all vacation, sometimes you'd rather not know how much you pay in the end. insurance covers some, but not all. cross my fingers i'm not breaking my banks for this.


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