We were at Penang last weekend for a short holiday, hubs brought her to the pool. After 30 minutes, she was shivering, her teeth were 'chattering'.. chat, chat, chat, chat, chat... LOL !! I quickly took her to the room for a warm shower followed by warm milk. She still complained cold. I suspected something amiss, she hardly complains about feeling cold.
I was on the phone with a friend y'day and he told me another friend of ours was down with pneumonia at the hospital. It all started with a prolonged cough and one day he turned blue and couldn't breath. He was admitted to ICU immediately and put on a ventilator as his oxygen level is only 60%. He advised me to get Amber checked asap by Dr Iean, Amber's paeds at the hospital. I'll bring Amber to see him for more serious condition, he's known as an impatient doctor but I personally find him caring and does his job meticulously.
In fact, I hesitated to get Amber to the hospital coz I was afraid of being exposed to H1N1 virus. Private hospitals are taking in H1N1 patients now. I was also afraid since her immune system is down, she may catch the virus easily. I discussed with hubs and he decided to get Amber checked asap as the longer we wait, more H1N1 cases in the hospital and more germs around. That got me hurrying to make an appointment asap.
I arrived at the hospital this morning and the situation was different form my last visit 3 months ago. They no longer check you for temperature but you'll be given a mask if you have cough or runny nose.
I've already put on a mask for Amber on the way to the hospital and the nurses at paeds clinic gave me another to wear.
I stopped her from playing with toys and touching anything at the clinic. Luckily she was obedient today. I had my hand sanitizer and wet wipes with me, wiping her down everywhere she goes.
While waiting for her turn, we played and monkeyed with our masks on and took some photos together. I'd rather carry her the whole morning than let her run around touching this and that, god knows where the H1N1 virus lurks.
When it was her turn, I was surprised to see Dr Iean taking ALL NECESSARY precautions :
- he sat 3 feet away
- he wore double mask and a plastic cover over his face
- jacket, and plastic suit
- gloves
- when he checked Amber, the nurses placed a plastic sheet between him and Amber.
My ! Oh My ! So many layers of protection. He took necessary measures to protect himself. I don't blame him coz If he falls sick, who's going to treat our sick kids ?
He looked at Amber and asked what's wrong coz Amber looked fine to him. Then I told him about Amber's prolonged cough and he checked Amber's chest, front and back, and said "AIYO ! WHY ! WHY LAH ???"
My heart skipped a beat. He mumbled mumbled and with so many layers of masks in between us, I can hardly hear what he's saying. Then he drew a picture of lungs with dots. He said Amber has chest infection and needs to be treated. The infections been the for a while but not serious that requires hospital admission (I have been giving her chinese meds and I think that helps too).
He prescribed the following ;
- Klacid (clarithromycin) antibiotics
- Singulair powder to strengthen the lungs
- Rhinatoil Promethazine
and asks to have her reviewed again on Friday by another doctor as he'll be on leave. I'm lucky to catch Dr Iean before he goes off. He's a very meticulous and experienced doctor. In fact, some of my friends kids were treated by him for lung infection at very early stage. My niece also had lung infection but it was not detected by clinical doctors. She had difficulty breathing and had to be admitted, only then did they discover her weak infected lungs.
Hopefully with early treatment, she'll get well soon. I miss her sweet voice.
