Ray Of Hope For Azalea: An Encounter With Pharyngitis

I am sick. I have been sick for the past 2 weeks. I have been having this severe cough and it’s really taken a toll on my health. I have been to 4 different clinics and been given 4 different kinds of antibiotics; erythromycin, augmentin and whateva names and 4 different cough syrups. But nothing works. In fact, taking medicine only make me worse, I’ll be coughing and coughing until my eyes were teary. This is the first time that I have gotten a cough this bad, normally coughs will come with some flu or fever but I have no other symptoms. Just this dry irritating cough that doesn’t seem to go away. It is more like “batuk tak lepas” where I will end up coughing and coughing until I felt my body started to ache and my lungs about to burst.
I have taken MC on Monday, then came to work on Tuesday. By then I have seen 3 doctors already. But by Tuesday night I was coughing so bad that Aqus got so worried that he forced me to go to the clinic. It was already 11pm, the Az-Zahrah was packed with people (I went there for my 3rd doctor consultation of which the Dr told me to come after 5 days for x-ray, 5 days! Are you kidding? I could have died from overcoughing by then) . So we went to Meditec in Precinct 8, Putrajaya. I was exasperated and tired since I couldn’t get any sleep since the very first day the virus invaded my body. The GP was a serious looking female doctor, she listened to me talking on the antibiotics and cough syrup I have taken and me mumbling on my sore throat, body ache and croaking voice. She took a look at my throat and heart beat and told me it wasn’t bronchitis or anything like that, just a bad bacteria. Streptoccocus something..and said nothing can be done about it , it will eventually pass…arrgghh eventually is like when? But at least despite another antibiotic and cough syrup, she prescribed me with a gargle solution and told me to boil hot water and inhale the steam..in through the nose and exhale trough the mouth. Oh well, at least she has some sound advice.
Nevertheless, Aqus suggested that we shud go to the specialist so since his aunt works in HKL, we were lucky to get an appointment for the next day. Normally, we would have to wait for several weeks upon appointment. So, on Wednesday morning, we headed to the specialist clinic. We waited for 2 hours , then it was my turn to see the dr. She was kinda young for a specialist, and after listening to me rambling on my sickness and medication history bla bla.. ( it was really tiring doing the repeated explanations to different docs), she looked and me and said (with a kinda triumphant smile on her face) :
Doc : You tau tak kenapa you makan antibiotic tapi takde effect on your cough?
Me : Tak doc. Kenapa? ( Duh, you’re the specialist here…)
Doc : Sebab most probably the cough was not due to bacteria but virus, that’s why tak responsive to antibiotics
Me : Ohh…padanla…. (Is this the part when I’m suppose to say Yay! finally I know what was wrong?) Habis tu macammana doc?
Doc : Kalau virus slalunya nothing much you can do, just drink plenty of warm water and gargle. I will prescribe you with the gargle solution (1 point to the Meditec Doc!) , Vitamin C (ermm??) and also cough syrup walaupun it won’t work that well.
Me : Ok doc, tapi kalau tak baik jugak?
Doc : Hari nie u buat blood test and amik throat swab so we can check if it is something else. Kalau tak nak gargle dengan solution pun takpe, u just balik, gargle dengan air + garam. You have a case of pharyngitis, an infection of the throat.
So, that was my encounter with the doctor, then we headed to the pharmacy before going to blood test, by then it was almost 2.00 pm but the pharmacy was swarming with people. It was so packed which was a normal thing for gov hospital. I looked at the list and told my hubby “Errmm..tak payah amik ubat la, sama jer dengan ubat doc yang lepas” which was actually true. So, we headed to the blood test room and was waiting outside since the sign says “Open at 2.30pm – 3.30pm”. We waited until it was 2.30pm but still no sign of the lab assistant or nurse giving out the numbers. They were busy chatting and walking around . Aikk? tak keje ke diorang nie? About 5 mins later, my hubby knocked on the door and asked them what time we can actually do this blood test thingy, and this stupid nurse was saying “ You pegang je ker borang tu dari tadi? Dah nak pukul 3 dah nie.” Haiyaa..memang dah sah-sah kat depan tu suruh amik number, kalau tau dari awal, we would just barged in. Nanti kena marah tak tau protocol pulak…what the *^&$@*& is wrong with these gov servants? Takkan nak lepak jer kot? So the lab person took my blood and throat mucus sample (after searching for the swab, plaster, and what nots yang semuanya macam takde kat situ eventhough clearly stated in front of the room BILIK PENGAMBILAN DARAH) …dah la tak pandai cari urat….uwaaa….he put in the syringe the first time, couldn’t find my veins but jolok-jolok jarum tu, rasa cam nak tampar jer. Luckily, he managed to find it the second time or he would have rasakan my tamparan, tak tau ke orang sakit.
So today I am back in the office. Still have the cough especially at night, but I’m feeling much better. I did the water steam thing and gargle. Somehow, it seems to help. Thank you so much to my hubby who patiently tendered and cared for me while I was sick eventhough he was busy studying for his exams. He was the one who boiled the water and quick to get me a glass of water when he heard me coughing even in the middle of the night..you are so wonderful, thank you dearie…
I heard that we should bersabar menghadapi penyakit kerana penyakit itu penghapus dosa. Tapi being human, our patience run fast, but I’m glad my encounter with this cough is almost over. Haven’t got the blood test results yet, dunno how long they will take to process, but InsyaALLAH and hopefully nothing serious. Will update on the results later..