Waiting for blood.

So here I am at RITM confined since Monday evening. It's now Wednesday afternoon. Allow me to tell you about my experiences so far.

The doctor told me I need to get admitted for blood transfusion around 5pm on Monday. Since I was half-expecting confinement, I already have an overnight bag with me and said ok.

I called my parents and told them that this time, I really have to undergo blood transfusion. But I told them there's no need to go to the hospital that night because there wasn't much to do, and the doctor said she won't put me on IV fluids yet.

So before I actually got admitted, I went to Festival Mall to buy myself some food to eat and toiletries. During my trip, a huge dilemma dawned upon me once more: is it time to tell my parents of my condition? I don't want to tell them because I don't want them to worry, and I didn't want to disappoint them. I want to tell them when I'm strong and normal, not when I'm confined at the hospital. But how can I hide it? The burden was so much, for the first time since finding out about my status, tears fell from my eyes. I felt stupid because tears were falling while I was doing my grocery, while paying at the cashier, ordering food and while having dinner. I guess I wasn't that strong after all.

So after doing my grocery, I went back to RITM. I was interviewed by the pretty doctor, Doc Sheena, who was very cool, and filled out all the forms needed for my admission. Unfortunately that night there was a scarcity of rooms, so they had to put me in a room that looks like it's never been used in a while, with no electric fan and no toilet. But I didn't complain because at least I was alone in the room.

I spent the evening alone. I wasn't able to sleep very well because of the heat, and they won't allow me to turn off the lights.

So far the only tests done with me are ECG and XRay, which were done before I got into the ward. I was instructed to fast so that they can extract blood in the morning and do some more tests.

At 7am, breakfast arrived: 1 piece of hotdog and a cup of rice, with no spoons nor forks. But I couldn't eat my breakfast yet because I'm fasting.

At 8am, it was time to take my ARVs, but I couldn't because my blood hasn't been extracted yet. So I followed up with the nurse. At 8:30am, staff from the clinical lab arrived and took my blood. Soon after the blood was taken, I took my anti-tb medication, isoniazid. After 30mins, I took my breakfast, barehanded, which I found homey, and took my ARVs afterwards. I took my ARVs late for about an hour.

Nothing much happened the entire morning. Around lunch time, a poz friend I met online visited me. He was at RITM for consultation also. After lunch my parents arrived, so my friend had to leave.

The first question my mom popped was, "Anak, paano ka ba nakarating sa pagkalayo-layong ospital na 'to?"

I laughed. Haha. But deep inside, I was uneasy. I told her this is the only public hospital in Metro Manila that is not congested and cheap. I'm not sure if she bought my alibi, but she never asked me again. Whew.

(To be continued.)