Confined in San Lazaro Hospital H4 Ward (part 1)

It was August 3, morning, Wednesday. I was on my way to San Lazaro from work, when I started to feel unusually tired. When I arrived in San Lazaro to have some lab work done, I was already feeling weak, so weak that I could barely walk far. I decided to go to the H4 ward to have a temperature check or perhaps an impromptu check-up, but all my vital signs were normal, so the nurses told me to go home and take a rest; so I did. In the train, I was so weak I can barely hold tight on the metal bars for support or even on the over head bars. Good thing I was able to find myself a seat. I was able to go home safely that day. A few hours after I arrived home, my fever shot up to 40 degrees. I called up the ward to tell them what happened and what to do. They told me to take paracetamol tablets. The next day was my check-up; so I'll have everything checked on that day.

Check-up day came, August 4, 2011. I was feeling a bit better, dad drove me to the hospital that morning. My fever was intermittently high on some hours and I have to take paracetamol for it to go down. I was inside the car the whole time because I was so weak to even sit on the plastic chairs in front of the ward. When it was my turn to be checked, the doctor asked me if I wanted to be confined, I said no. Although he warned me that anytime that I feel something else aside from the fever, I need to be confined right away, the doctor also told me to observe anything unusual so we can determine what causes the fever.

August 5, 2011, I woke up in the morning and saw my arms with bright red spots. I told my dad who then just arrived from the market. He told me to pack my things, I am going to be admitted. While we were in the car, I started informing people that matters that I am going to be confined. Everybody responded with well wishes. I was soon to know who will visit. When we arrived at the hospital, the doctors were on lunch, so we have to wait a couple of minutes more. My fever started to get high again so I was shivering at the ward's lobby, I laid myself down on one of the benches and slept. My name was called after some time, and a wheelchair was waiting for me to take me to the doctor's office. I told the doctor I am ready to be admitted, so the doctor arranged all the needed documents. A bed in the female ward was prepared for me along with other male patients who were just kids. The only female patient in that room was a pregnant girl. we'll call her Female OFW.

DAY 1 - It was my first time to be confined in a public hospital. This is better than nothing at all, I cannot afford to to be in the pay-ward anyway. I was put in the female ward, with only 1 female patient and with three males; all three were in their early twenties. The room was around 50 square feet with green walls and screened windows. There were 5 beds that were made of old hospital metal frames and some foams already have cracked because of age. My bed was the one with the cracked foam and was at the very end of the row of beds. At my right was a kid with both of his parents at his side who frequently has severe fever attacks at night, let's call him wiggly#1. On my left is a small space where some stuff are stored a bit further down and was Female OFW's bed, and at the foot of my bed is bikiniboy, the twenty something provincial lad who was confined because his body reacted violently to Nevirapine. At my far right was a twenty year old someone from somewhere in NCR, let's call him wiggly#2. While my dad was at the mall shopping for supplies I need. A friend from work who lives nearby was the first one to visit me with her boyfriend. We had a little chitchat and we caught up with some stuff at work and about her kid. She helped me settle down some of my stuff I brought with me. My dad came back in the room late afternoon and my friend and her boyfriend had to go, we had fun catching up. My mom came late afternoon and I told her to have dinner with my dad. While the two were away I was left alone on my bed, half asleep, when the mother of wiggly#2 told me that I was bleeding. I looked at my hand and saw a fountain of smooth flowing blood gushing out of my wrist. My IV tube went out, thus, the bleeding. The blood was gushing out so fast that almost half of the bed-sheet got wet of blood. Infairness, I was at awe on how much blood gushed out and how beautiful the flow was that I almost did not bother to stop it from bleeding. The next thing I knew was that my hand was full of fresh, warm blood, and so as the sheets. The nurse came and and immediately wore his gloves, took the paper towels at my stainless steel desk and stopped it from bleeding. Half of my bed was full of paper towels because I have to pat it dry. My IV tube was then transfered to my right wrist. Anne, my best friend was the one who was with me on my first night in the hospital. I asked my dad to go home and take a rest. Anne was very diligent on checking my temperature and wiping my back and changing my clothes. I never knew she would do it, not until that day. She bought DVDs and a player with her. So after watching a flick, we slept. She was not able to slept soundly because I kept on coughing and moving around all night and I was sweating like a roasting pig with my pink-rashed skin.

DAY 2 - More visitors came by to greet and bring food. Anne's dad dropped by and brought food during lunch time. I also was able to get to know more patients as I my fever goes down and I was able to walk around inside the ward. I was able to talk to a mom of a mid-20-something boy who has a CD4 count of 10, let's call him wiggly#3. Who struck me the most was Alexis, more of him later. Rico, was a former OFW, he was confined at the same day I was and because of high grade fever. There was Marsha, a loud, flamboyant, and very funny gay guy who was already there for more than two months because of a fungi infection in his brain; because of HIV. Wiggly#3, Alexis, Marsha, and Rico were at the room opposite to the female ward, that's the male ward, with a brighter atmosphere and big windows with plenty of fresh air circulating. Marsha, is so loud that he screams when he is in pain or wants attention from everyone. I noticed him when he was yelling... "ANG SAKIT... ANG SAKEEET SAKEEET... NG ULO KO!'. All the nurses came running to his bed and I came to the door of their room to see what the commotion was about. He asked the nurses if there is are pain relievers he can drink to ease his headache, he said "Nurse, may gamot ba?" ...all the nurses said was "wala kaming kumot Marsha eh, wala nang extra". Marsha said, "Aanhin ko ang kumot, kelangan ko ng gamot! Jusko"! I walked back to my bed with a grin on my face. Night of day two, I asked my dad to go home. I am strong enough to take care of myself anyway, even if I have an IV inserted on my wrist. I don't need someone to watch over me at night. So he went home that night and I chatted with the other patients until bed time came.

Part 2 here