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Saturday, June 30, 2012

The Sting of Pneumonia

WPA poster, 1936/1937 (c/o Wikipedia)
Last February I had a very bad flu with temperature reaching 39 to 40 degrees Celsius. I thought that it was just a common cold and cough so I just took simple over the counter medicines we see on TV commercials. However, to my dismay, they did not give relief.

When my fever died down, I thought I was getting well although the cough persisted and the phlegm seemed to accumulate more and deeper inside my chest. I just thought that it would go away soon.

February 18 was an important day because we would be having a musical play in church, which I wrote. Some of the songs were my composition too and our band would be doing the songs live so I could never skip that event!

The event was a success. However, right after the event, perhaps my adrenalin had somehow died down, I began to feel sick. The cough worsen and I began to have difficulty in breathing. Our pastor and some of the church elders who were still there that night decided to rush me to the nearest hospital. While in the emergency room, I learned from the doctor that I was showing signs of pneumonia infection.

I was confined for 2 days in the hospital and they gave me intravenous antibiotic to fight the infection. Medications continued at home with oral antibiotics, nebulizer and oral expectorant. The cough was so hard that I could not sleep. It seemed to worsen whenever I lie flat on my back.

A few weeks after, I recovered from the illness and in a matter of days, I went back to my usual routine. Again to my shock, after a two to three weeks, I was down with fever again. When I went to my doctor for check up, he said that I had pneumonitis again. It was twice in just two months time! My doctor gave me oral antibiotic, which is stronger than the previous one, antihistamine, liquid expectorant and nebulizer.

The saddest part, my Mom also had pneumonia at the same time and she was hospitalized. I might have transmitted it to her so we had to take medication together. She was confined for two days and received intravenous antibiotic. Thank God she recovered fast.

I realized that pneumonia is vicious and must not be undermined.
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