you give me fever.

The bloodsucker had my number, and it was inevitable. It would only be a matter of days until I would be under the spell of this debilitating disease.

Day One:
The morning it hit, I thought it was just a really bad hangover. I did wake up in my hotel room with three empty bottles of rum. But I felt a bit achy, almost like I had flu. And the headache I had was unusual. It permeated through my eyes. I slept on and off until five pm, went to grab dinner, then went to sleep at seven pm until eight the following morning.


Day Two:
I wake up in a puddle of sweat, but with chills. The aches are worse – my ribs hurt for no reason at all. The headache is intense. When I move my eyes any direction but straight ahead, I experience excruciating pain. When I stand up for over thirty seconds, I feel extremely fatigued. My appetite diminishes slightly.


Day Three:
After twelve hours of sleep, I still have no energy whatsoever. Not even to pour myself a glass of water. Eye headache is worse. Entire body is tender, even my armpits. I finally decided to eat three spoonfuls of peanut butter for breakfast at noon, but the crunch hurts my now sore jaw. Food becomes my enemy.


Day Four:
I have dreadlocks, so I decided to finally wash my hair. Being too exhausted to comb it after the wash, they are now just clean dreadlocks. Sitemate arrives to make me a smoothie and take me to doctor. Blood test confirms it is in fact a classic case of Dengue. Angry because the doctor refused me heavy painkillers, I snub the IV with the vitamins & electrolytes, probably increasing my chance of hemorrhaging. I take the prescribed acetaminophen and run.

Fever is off the charts; making me sweat profusely one second, then freeze the next. This is the pattern for the remainder of the night. It feels like an army of ratones is hammering away at my bones. I try to cry myself to sleep, but that just clogs my nose, making sleep that much harder. Today is the worst, by far (so far, cross my fingers).

little did I know...

Day Five:
I feel like I’m one hundred years old. When I stand or even just perch my head up I feel like I am going to vomit and I see bright white lights. The stabbing pains continue, but aren’t constant – they pop up and surprise me when they feel I need a little kick. Ouch, there goes one in my kneecap. Very bad stomach pain, probably because I tried to eat like a normal person today. I suppose I’ll cut out dinner, but I’ve really been craving Crunchy Cheetos.

My feet have this strange spotted red rash that the doctor says is a sign it is ending. Rash spreads to entire body, including face (think chickenpox). I later realize with my head in such a daze of pain yesterday I forgot I was allergic to acetaminophen and this is the usual reaction. By the time night falls my feet itch and burn and I cannot use them, not that I have the energy to.


Day Six:
It feels like I am sitting sideways in the back of a Land Cruiser, on a windy mountain road, reading a 900-page novel, with hangover. But really all I am doing is lying in bed surrounded by mountains of pillows. I didn’t sleep a wink last night because of the itch. The rash is ALL OVER and my hands and feet sting when anything touches them. I showered for an hour and made myself raw with the loofah. Everything that touches my skin feels like steel wool. I nix the clothes. I need mittens and more Benedryl.


Day Seven:
No work and all Benedryl make Biffy go something something. I am delirious but having a good time with it. Doctor prescribes me “suero” and my sitemate agrees to go pick up said drug. Arrives with Pedialyte. I proceed to drink my apple flavored drink out of my bottle and watch sitemate do funny faces and make sounds into the fan. Baby needs nap.


Day Eight:
I think this is the light at the end of the tunnel. My back hurts from lying in bed for 183 hours, and when I stand up the feeling of blood rushing to my lower legs throb a bit. But I think it may be over. I need to go outside.


In conclusion, I could not have survived without my sitemates, who cooked every single meal for me, brought me groceries, picked up my prescriptions, and acted as my personal translators at the medical clinic. I think I actually gained weight over the past week, I’ve eaten so well. I owe them BIG TIME.