Of fever & dengue

I was slightly feverish last night, my whole body ache, i had severe abdominal pain & i feel nauseated..  Thinking that it might be dengue, i rushed to A&E department. Tagging along was my staff whom i guess had flu (her symptoms persisted for few days).. At first, I decided to go to Klinik Kesihatan Bandar Kota Bharu because my previous experience at A&E was bitter - the doc hype a lot & i feel a bit uncomfortable if the doc at A&E found out that I work there..  A colleague reminded me that compared to KKB, A&E had less patients early in the morning.. Furthermore, since i went there with my staff, it wont be too awkward to get treatment there.  So, I headed there, register at the registration counter and then was called shortly afterwards.. The doctor was nice, thanks to her, I got unexpected 1 day MC.. 

My sign & symptoms that is relevant with dengue are severe headache, joint pain & muscle/bone pain.. To confirm the diagnosis, full blood count is needed.. No way i could escape from needle, so i reluctantly let the MA did his job. Thanks to him, it wasnt painful at all & i didnt experience "pitam" after my blood taken (i always "pitam" when somebody took my blood, even  a finger prick could cause pitam - that's why i am afraid of blood and needle).. Frankly, i turned my head away while the MA did the procedure, a sharp pain indicated that the needle invade my vein.. Lucky because i wasnt a subject of experiment (in general hospital, lots of students or HO were allowed to do few procedures, including taking blood - their way of learning was by experience, so it wasnt peculiar if the procedures failed & they had to repeat it again and again - and i must say, it was painful to repeat the same procedure at the same site).. So, i should express my gratitude to the doctor and MA..

 Back to my room, i rest and sleep for the whole day..My temperature spiking, my body ached badly, abdominal pain didnt subside & the headache was so severe, it felt as if i'm in death bed, waiting for "malaikat maut" to greet me anytime.. Decided to take Ponstan, drink plenty of fluids including 100plus (not in the mood to take Paracetamol) and i slept for the whole day.. Feel better in the evening..


To those out there, you can distinguish fever and dengue by  :-

The principal symptoms of dengue are:

• High fever and at least two of the following:
  • Severe headache
  • Severe eye pain (behind eyes)
  • Joint pain
  • Muscle and/or bone pain
  • Rash
  • Mild bleeding manifestation (e.g., nose or gum bleed, petechiae, or easy bruising)
  • Low white cell count

Generally, younger children and those with their first dengue infection have a milder illness than older children and adults.
Watch for warning signs as temperature declines 3 to 7 days after symptoms began.
Go IMMEDIATELY to an emergency room or the closest health care provider if any of the following warning signs appear:

• Severe abdominal pain or persistent vomiting
• Red spots or patches on the skin
• Bleeding from nose or gums
• Vomiting blood
• Black, tarry stools (feces, excrement)
• Drowsiness or irritability
• Pale, cold, or clammy skin
• Difficulty breathing

(copy paste from CDC - http://www.cdc.gov/dengue/symptoms/index.html )

& according to the "Panduan Penjagaan Demam Di Rumah" that I got, Mefenamic Acid@ Ponstan isnt recommended & should be avoided, but who cares? I hate Diclofenac (because of the gastrointestinal side effect), not in the mood to take Paracetamol, Celebrex is too much for the pain associated with fever, so there was only Ponstan left ..

All work and no play..

The definition of "work" to me is to get ready early to a place where i work & spent my times there until i was allowed to go home..   Be it a volunteer work or "forced" work, it's the same -  i never got extra cash even if i work 1 year straight in a row..  and right now, all work and no play had taking its toll on me.. working for 17days without any public holiday is tiring! Needless to  say, materialistic is excluded in my case -  i dont reap the benefit of overtime payment,  i just can claim off anytime, be it 1 hour, 2 hour or even the whole day!

 Feel slightly feverish, but the only "medication" that i ever tried is just 100 Plus! Dont get me wrong, i'm "allergic" to needle & blood, not medicine! i'm the kind that will get medicine only when i think i desperately need it, so the term "prophylaxis" doesnt exist in me.. except, maybe the special case before i went to Meranto, i thought i was heading to a thick forest, walking through the "home" of mosquitoes - prophylaxis tablet is a must in this case!

Pfizer Dinner Talk @ Renaissance Hotel

Attend a talk on Reason For Changes..
got the same bag that i got during CONDOR talk at the same place last year..
up until now, i still love freebies..  dont mind if it was only a pen, notebook or memo pad..
call me childish, but i really love my collection of freebies, mainly pen.. although the quality isnt worth it, i love various shape & colour of the pen.. in fact, the syringe-shaped pen, a pen that resemble a virus & many more brighten my room!

not much comment about the talk since i expect it to be an update on Pfizer drug because that's the main purpose of a talk..
first time i skip main meal at a talk (no rice!) & gulping down cholesterol instead!
lucky because i attend a talk organized by GSK at my department, so i was already full before the dinner talk..
thus, variety of cakes, ice cream, pudding, few seafood & small portion of fruits are enough to satisfy my taste bud..

although i cant recall how many times i went there for a drug company talk, i never had enough time to enjoy the desserts - mostly because the talk finished  late & i hurried to pray Maghrib after dinner..

note : i just know that Renaissance is the only 5star hotel in Kelantan.. often went to hotel for a talk without knowing their star rating but i do note that Pfizer is the only generous company to allow the participants in their talk to enjoy buffet menu! again, pic credit to google image!

saingku gila bola & collection of Kelantan FA Merchandises

kafa merchandise at KTC

Accompany my friend, a fanatic TRW fan to KAFA merchandise booth @ SSMIV..  the merchandises seemed exclusive when displayed at the store, but the prices are "exclusive" too.. It's better to get everything at the booth @ stadium since the salesmen will waive payment for certain items if you buy in bulk & they'll give great discount too! Compared to those exclusive store, when sometimes the salesperson were too "kerek", it's more convenient to buy at the booth.. Maybe the booth lack creativity in displaying the items, what's more with limited facilities, but believe me, since they got lots of customers, they dont mind to entertain you & give discount for certain items (unless you bought one item or two!).. What i mean was, they dont care if you touch the merchandises or even taking photos before making decision whether it's worth the money or not..& I think, that's a good strategy to lure a fanatic fan to spend lots at the booth..  & if you are worrying about the quality, fret not.. To set up booth in front of stadium, they have to register their company as official distributor of KAFA merchandises!  So, they wont sell pirate merchandises & the quality can be trusted!
 Amongst the merchandises available are jerseys (Umbro, Warriors/AFC - either home/away), bag (laptop/travel bag/bag for daily usage), tote bag, pouch, various design of hats, towel, artificial long hair & punk hair designed in red & white, flag and many more.

my friend's colllection

her latest collection

Meranto : part 2

a week passed by since i went to Meranto..  however, the memory lingers.. meranto trip isnt actually a volunteer job for me, it's more to an awakening trip that gave me a chance to view life through new perspective.. the scope of job that i did was mundane, didnt differ much from my daily work, but the experience that i gained was priceless!

as i mentioned before, Meranto is situated in the outskirt of Gua Musang. The nearest access to healthcare facilities(clinic) is 30minutes away from the village by car/any other mean of transport.. Thus, they really appreciate & welcome free health screening & free medicines.. That's normal because we tend to appreciate something only when it's scarce and never care when everything was ready right in front of our eyes.. The villagers flooded our booth, brought along their sick children and some even came just for medical check up even though they were pretty sure that they have no medical history!  The right to get early treatment for sick children, especially with flu was neglected because of the distance barrier..  A week with symptoms and sign of flu wasnt an alarming condition for the mothers to press the panic button..

What grab my attention most was an old man with walkie talkie that came for his supply of painkillers.. he explained that walkie talkie was his way of communication with his co-workers, citing the coverage problem as the main barrier to not using handphone as his way to communicate. Translated, phones are restricted to certain part of Meranto (no line/coverage) and for sure, internet is worse than that! No online papers, no football live streaming and no facebook can torture me but to them, it's nothing - they already immune to that, anyway.. The same goes to the night life -  cant imagine how scary it was to drive in the middle of night (in case of emergencies!) through a road that was surrounded by forest! How  lucky I am  to work in the capital city of Kelantan! Aside from that, fellow volunteers did mentioned that the cost of living in Gua Musang was raising and a meal with few side dish can cost a bomb! Definitely, KB is better than Gua Musang!

Meranto wonders - medical camp trip 17&18 feb 2012

Meranto is situated in the outskirt of Gua Musang, Kelantan. Close to the entrance to Gunung Stong, Dabong, its special feature is the virgin forest alongside the way to the village. Beneath the crest of the mountain lies an untouched forest, full of mysteries. Trees shiver in their vivid costumes, with rows of red leaves hiding the fact that the ageing trees are waiting for their downfall. Rows of red leaves enhance the beauty of the forest, making it similar to autumn in 4 season countries. Perhaps, the mere difference is the surrounding remains green, thus combination of red and green leaves renders it almost impossible to call autumn. Not only the red leaves, the outstretched  branches of old trees also create a panoramic view. 'Carved' into hundreds,or perhaps thousand small branches, the sight of old trees with unique branches distinct it from typical forests in Kelantan. Gazing over rows of red leaves with beautifully carved branches overlooking a river with crystal clear water and a majestic mountain as background give the most magnificent view. It's a blessing to enjoy the natural beauty of the forest and Meranto trip is definitely a must for nature lovers!

one of beautiful view that i encounter along the way.. however, this pic wasnt mine.. i purposely left my camera!