My Story Of Surviving A Dengue Fever Attack With Even My Sense Of Humour Intact!

Posted: January 19, 2017

A Dengue fever attack can be deadly, and excruciating at the least, and this is what you can do to overcome it!

Two weeks back, I was hit by the deadly Dengue fever and it’s almost after a decade that I was down with some serious fever and body ache that I have never experienced in my life earlier.

Around 3 days prior to my fever hitting the roof and all other symptoms coming out of the closet, I was experiencing some terrible joint ache, which I had never felt before and so I was unsure of what exactly this could be. I casually mentioned this to our Yoga instructor, an extremely passionate and learned Guru on Yoga and he very firmly suggested that this wasn’t a valid excuse for me to skip the yoga sessions and very earnestly stated that I needed to lose weight to bring in more flexibility in my system.

And as luck would have it, the next day I was reeling under very high temperature and tested positive on the Dengue NS1 test.

The moment you hear the word ‘Dengue fever’, you and your family is petrified and rightfully so, for all the danger and the deadly facts associated with it. And everyone, upon hearing of my being ‘Dengued’ was very curious to know – “Where did the mosquito bite you?” I so wish I knew where I could find that mosquito who took my health away, but thankfully not my happy spirits or my humour. I have proprietary rights over those two elements and am too thick-skinned to let a mosquito affect it in any way.

The family immediately got into action and everyone made sure I was well hydrated with tender coconut water and all the tender loving care I needed to successfully overcome the drop in platelets and to boost my low haemoglobin levels. I did as I was instructed, and stuffed myself with plenty of fruits (pomegranate is the king), juices and Papaya leaf extract, which is the wonder herb to have during such times! Thanks to everyone’s efforts and prayers, I recovered within a week and flushed the disease out of my system.

But, while I was down and out and didn’t have the energy to hustle around, I learnt some key lessons, which will remain special to me.

Do what your doctor asks you to

I pray to God that no one should ever get struck with dengue fever or chikungunya or malaria – it’s an extremely painful thing to be down with any of these (I have been through malaria in the past) and if you are (which can’t be avoided) it’s important to follow what your Doctor instructs and also do what your primary care giver asks you to.

Those heavy doses of Paracetamol and those frequent gulpings of juices and extracts do make your taste buds go for a toss, but it’s important to be well hydrated and that’s half the battle won.

Protect yourself well and hope for the best

How much ever we cover ourselves and keep our house and surroundings clean and well fumigated, when it has to happen, it will happen.

I diligently shut every single window of my house at sharp 5:00pm every evening and there’s enough Night Out and the other dispensers neatly placed in every room, but nothing seems sufficient anymore. We must do everything it takes to keep our home devoid of mosquitoes, but sometimes there is very little control on mosquitoes. So instead of fretting over it, it’s important to protect yourself and then just let be.

Early detection of Dengue fever is the key

That’s exactly what helped in my case. I had read about the symptoms of dengue fever and so when each symptom was getting unveiled, I was certain it was a case of dengue and got myself tested immediately on the onset of high fever.

A lot of cases get complicated as the detection is not done early and the platelets are very low, so we need to be vigilant and do as the Doctor advises you to.

Don’t panic and don’t spread the panic

When my 11 year old son discovered his Mom with struck with dengue fever, he was quite proud of the fact that his Mother was the ‘chosen’ one to be down with one of the most talked about things today. Well, he was very concerned about my fever and the acute body pain I was going through, but seeing his reaction was one of those mega stress-buster moments that made me roll on the floor laughing and that’s the best remedy.

Dengue fever has stirred panic amongst us, especially for parents and senior citizens and it’s important that we share with each other more about the recovery path and not spread panic and cause undue stress.

Count your blessings

This is the most important. You are blessed to have family that loves you and would do anything to see you hale and hearty and friends and well–wishers who wish you the best and you have the most wonderful feeling of being loved and pampered, because you are worth it. It’s important to count our blessings daily and feel a huge sense of gratitude for everything that we are blessed with.

Enjoy the resting zone and make the most of it

Well, at least that’s what I did and I recommend it very strongly to all, whether in dengue fever or not.

This is the time where you get to rest the most, are served everything on a platter and everyone is keen to know your status. I made the most of it by reading up two books of my favourite authors, watching my long-lost love – Television, catching up with friends and family and being lost in my own world of imagination and peace.

This is my story of conquering the much dreaded Dengue fever. The intention was only to share some special, crazy fun moments and spread some cheer.

And my only question is to the clan of mosquitoes still hovering around me – “Why don’t you suck FAT instead of BLOOD?”