Friday, September 30, 2016

Paratyphoid Fever - Resolution (Part 4)

If you haven't read Parts 1, 2 and 3, go read those first! You're missing out ;)

If you knew how time has easily slipped through your hands, you'd grasp it with all your might. And while I was there, lying down in bed, doing nothing, and wishing instead I could do something, I saw it. My days came and went, but I was still there, I wasn't getting better and why wasn't I? We knew what was wrong with me, we knew the cause of my suffering, I ate the medicine and yet there I was, in the same place I was in before all that. The thing they don't tell you about recovering is how patient you have to be. Sometimes you'd learn it, then forget, but this time I had no choice. Everything was in the way. I had planned for so much more and this was a reminder that, you can't plan everything and you have to accept that there will be things you can't control.

I had two weeks left in Miri before I started my semester and I already knew, even though I planned a few simple things to do, that it would be uneventful. And it was. It was kinda depressing watching each day go by and it depressed me even more when I think about it as the days grew short. The double vision robbed me of driving (the two lanes would merge together) and using the computer, that is if fatigue and vertigo haven't done so already, so three days before I had to go back to KL, I just tried playing Heroes of the Storm, any game would have sufficed but I wanted to try Li Ming for ages already. So I played, the double vision meant I could only see the center of the screen clearly, any peripheral vision was useless, but it was the most fun I've had in days, wait, no WEEKS. The first game, I was sluggish, I kept getting hit, I kept dying, and none of my attacks hit. The second, still sluggish, I didn't really die much and my attacks finally connected. Things started to pick on with the third and there were a few times honestly I felt as though I didn't have a headache.

My twin was there playing as well, but that was all I could muster before my return to KL. My bags were packed, everything was ready, it's kinda sad to leave your home knowing you've just spent around 9 months there since the start of my practical training, and now you have to leave again. The fever also made it seem longer so I felt like I was leaving home for the first time all over again. I still had to recover for another week or so as the doctor said meaning I had to run errands a different way. Plan around the fever y'know? So I had to go to Shah Alam to get my transfer letter to the new campus, I thought I would use that opportunity to get supplies as well. I needed clothes so I would need to make time for that. The registration for the new student's college was on Saturday. Should be easy right? Well some things are easier said than done.

I arrived on a Thursday, meaning I had to do the Shah Alam thing on Friday and then check in on Saturday, if everything plans out right. Thanks to my recent encounter with drug induced insomnia, I was always sleepy to getting to sleep early was easy, CHECK. I woke up early and proceeded to go to KL Sentral. At the same time sending my cousin off since he was going back to Kuching. He didn't really know KL yet so I brought him around and we ate breakfast before we left. Everything going great so far right? WRONG, as we sat down to eat, I could already feel my head getting heavier. And my double vision was getting worse. My double vision served the purpose of informing me of my condition, if you divide your peripheral vision into 3 parts, the front, the sides and the corners, you can kinda get a feel of how this works. When I wake up, well rested and fresh, there's no double vision unless I glance left or right, like move my eyeballs. As I start to get tired, the double vision creeps into my peripheral vision, so at that point, the double vision had already creeped into the sides of my vision. AND I HAVEN'T EVEN REACHED SHAH ALAM YET. Maybe I shouldn't have walked to the LRT station. I went to the platform for the KTM train, and proceeded to sit down, hoping to get some rest while waiting for the train. If any of you know KL, you'll know there aren't any seats at the KTM platform so I at on the stairs, I even made sure I sat down on the side so that people could pass by easily. But when a crowd came down the stairs I had a person come up to me and told me not to sit on the stairs. I didn't look sick so I stood up.

Again, if any of you know KL, you'd know how long it took for the train to come, so let's just say by the time I boarded the train, I was burned out. To the point I fell asleep on the train, at 10 am in the morning. I messaged my sister, who was in Shah Alam, because of that, I didn't want to at first because she was sending her husband off at the airport and the whole family was there and such. But she had already planned to pick me up at the station, she just needed to know the time (bless you). They picked me up, I got my letter, materials, and then they brought me to their house in which I slept like nobody's business. So thankful to get the opportunity to recharge~ Having done that, we then proceeded to go the airport. But then my friend called. Apparently you can register for the student college on that day. I knew we could register early on Wednesday but obviously I wouldn't be in KL then so that ship had sailed, I was fine with it. But now my friend calls and tells me I could have registered on that day as well and the places were running out. The problem was it was already 3.30pm and the offices close at 5pm, the journey from Shah Alam to Puncak Alam would take about an hour and I had to get on a cab and such. After much thought and discussion with my sister, I opted to not go. If I get a place, I get a place, but if I don't it's fine, because there are other colleges around.

So we went to the airport, and we sent my brother in law off, my sister told me earlier on to not ask her if she's fine, if she'll be able to handle him not being there, just let her collect her feelings and carry on. What comes, comes, so to speak. We stood there waving goodbye, then proceeded to head back to the car. My attempt at making her feel better was simply buying chocolate and offering some to her (cause like chocolate is scientifically proved to make you feel better and such so I was thinking, stuff her with chocolate, I know, such a good brother, so lucky to have me) We had a wonderful dinner, got home at around 2 am and slept at 3 am after the usual routine of checking instagram and facebook. Suffice to say, I didn't wake up early to fight for those final spots in the 5 minutes away student college. And true enough, there were no rooms left, the only ones available were the rooms in the student college on the hill. BUMMER. I dropped my stuff off and for some reason I don't know what (it's the fever, you always blame the fever) I decided to go back to KL. Despite my fever, despite the fact I had no transport, despite I was already there I didn't need to go back. But alas, the heart always yearns for home (if you can't blame the fever, homesickness is a good second)

I spent the last few hours in the condo, playin games and whatnot, doing my final checks of what I need and don't have. When the time came I went to puncak alam, along the way discovering that if you want to ride the bus to shah alam at kl sentral you have to wait at the bus stop in front of the tennis court and not the bus stop in front of nu sentral (after having 3-4 buses pass me and then finally deciding to ask that is). And that the bus to puncak alam comes every 2 hours as you'd better plan around that because of which I arrived at puncak alam at around 10pm, leaving the condo at 5.30pm ish. The first week of class started off fine, I woke up early (yeah, I know, I was surprised as well) and headed to class, it was my first time meeting my friends since we left for practical training so we chatted and I felt fine, no double vision or fatigue (like is this real? Was I cured, finally?). Then the lecturers came in and as we gathered around for our briefing, it hit me, the double vision and headache. I felt like sleeping right there. And so that happened for the rest of the week. Luckily I had friends that were willing to send me to my college, waiting for the bus in the hot sun didn't exactly work well given my condition. What really shocked me was that during that weekend, I woke up  from bed and there was no double vision anymore, I immediately knew I had fully recovered which was weird cause you don't normally know you're done but yeah. Quite anti climactic if you ask me (the doctor was right by the way, that was two weeks and I was cured)

So that's it, going through a fever that was supposed to last 2 weeks ended up being one for more than a month. Mostly because the doctors didn't know what it was since it was really hard to get it in the first place and in a place where dengue steals the spotlight, people don't really take into account other things. My advice here is that just go for an in depth blood test if it's more than a week and it's not dengue.

That's all and have fun not being sick?

P.S. Yes I know this post is a little late (little here meaning I was sick before the start last semester and I'm already in my new semester). And I must say that after the 3rd entry I felt it was kind of hard to follow up with this one since what transpired after was somewhat boring. But I'm happy it's over, I can finally go back to posting about Heroes of the Storm and other things, especially with Machines of War out and everything. I like Warhead Junction a lot, though the sheer size of the map is a bit off putting, Braxis Holdout is a bit of a mixed bag to me because it's really easy to snowball in it. But that's for another post, bye!

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