It was early morning Wednesday when I was waken by the nurse to tell me that the blood matching was completed and that the blood is ready for pickup. Again, he told us to hurry because the cut-off is at 12 noon.
So I called my parents up, who at that time were already preparing to go to the hospital, and told them the news. By 10am my parents were here. After a few minutes of freshening up, my dad picked up the request from the medical lab and went straight to DOH Tayuman. My mom stayed behind.
While my mom and I were talking, a visitor entered the room and caught me by surprise. Let's call him M. He is a friend I've been talking to online for quite a while now, and a fellow RITM patient. I was surprised because I completely forgot he was visiting. After saying hi's and hello's, M handed me a box of cranberry juice. And then said, "Magpapa-flu vaccine lang ako sa baba." My mom overheard. I panicked, I'll be busted. She asked my if the guy was a friend from college, I told her he was a friend visiting because he lives nearby. And my mom asked no more.
(To M, if you're reading this, I'm very sorry if I was not a very good host to you... I'll make it up to you when I'm better. And thank you very much for the cranberry juice!)
I immediately texted S, my dear friend who was also confined at RITM also for anemia (know more about S in my blog entry "False alarm!"). He was also at RITM for a checkup and asked him not to visit me while my parents were with me. Minutes after, someone knocked at the door, and guess who it was? Handsome S, wearing a face mask.
I introduced him to my mom and this time, I acted coolly. We had a few minutes of chit chat when S looked at his phone and told me, "Ngayon ko lang nabasa." Haha! He immediately excused himself.
(To S, if you're reading this, thank you for the visit. It's a pleasure as always, I'll see you paglabas ko dito.)
After S has left, my mom asked if he was working here. I told him no, he's just a visitor. I know something is already running through my mom's head, and I don't think she's buying my alibis anymore.
Around 1pm, my younger brother arrived. He is a registered nurse, albeit non-practicing. He will accompany me for the next two evenings.
At 2:30pm, my dad arrived with the blood, three bags in total, and handed them over to the medical lab. The medical lab will have to prepare the blood first before it can be transfused to me, and I was told it can take a while.
At around 5:30pm, my parents decided to leave. While they were preparing to leave, S popped his head into the room to say goodbye. After he left, my dad said, "Bakit sya naka-mask? May sakit ba sya?" All these naive questions are really making me feel uneasy. If this continues, I'll be busted soon. I told him this is an infectious disease hospital, baka nag-iingat lang.
My parents left a while after and I was left with my brother, who was obviously bored. He only had my laptop to keep him company. Good thing Sun Wireless Broadband was fast in this area. He was streaming movies after movies, occasionally stopping to buy medical supplies needed for my blood transfusion.
At around 12 midnight, I was informed that the blood was ready for transfusion. At around 1am, my nightmare started. They couldn't find a suitable vein to to stick the IV needle. They said I was dehydrated. Three different nurses, five unsuccessful attempts. Both my hands were full of cotton balls, and after a quick glance at the mirror, I swear I looked as pale as a ghost.
It was Doc Mark who successfully stuck a the needle in on the 6th attempt. I thanked him big time.
It was 4am on Thursday when blood started pumping through my veins. After sixteen hours, and three bags of blood, my lips were rosy again.
No comments:
Post a Comment