True story: From platelets to papaya leaves, my brush with dengue

What exactly happens when you get the virus?


Nayel Noorani September 18, 2011

KARACHI:


It all started with that one mosquito. It even looked different — larger than the usual kind, and even today, I distinctly remember the gray and white markings on its wings and body.


I killed it within seconds of seeing it, but by then it was too late. My ankle was itching. Still, who pays any attention, right? I scratched my ankle and drove off.

Two weeks later, I noticed a few black marks on my arms, which I figured were bruises. I was running late to get to a wedding, so I paid no attention. When I got back, my back was covered in bruises and when I woke up the next morning, I had a large bruise on the inner side of my lower lip. I rushed to my family practitioner, who said: “It’s nothing to worry about. Probably a viral. It’ll go away in a day or two.”

On somebody’s instinct, I got a blood test done, but before the results could come back, I had spiked a fever and was feeling extremely nauseous. My parents took me to the nearest hospital, where the emergency room doctor ordered an immediate platelet count. It was 3,000 (the minimum for a healthy person is 150,000).

Within half an hour, I was placed in the ICU, with strict orders not to brush my teeth or shave and to think twice before so much as going to the bathroom. The next three days I was averaging temperatures of 104 degrees. I couldn’t eat. I still don’t understand how my family and friends could look at me then - my lips were constantly oozing blood. Then the fevers stopped and all hell broke loose.

In all this while, my brother and uncles were constantly hunting down volunteers to donate platelets, which were given to me twice a day for the first eight of the 10 days I was hospitalised. After the first three days, my platelet count crossed 10,000 and my blood resumed some semblance of its normal ability to clot outside my veins.

The blood oozing from my gums and lips became semi-solid. My lips turned to black stone. Two days later, the blood starting clotting in my bladder and doing pretty much what a kidney stone does - blocking the piping, 12 times. All the while, the only medicine they could give me was paracetamol to help with the fever.

As if all this wasn’t bad enough, the doctors couldn’t decide whether I had dengue, Congo fever or Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP). Checking for ITP meant drilling a hole in the breastbone to draw a sample of bone marrow, which couldn’t be done. Why? Because my blood wasn’t clotting enough for me to be able to cope with the wound and so, if they did, I was a goner.

Everything seemed bleak, when a family friend suggested to my mother to give me the juice of a few papaya leaves twice a day. Within two days of that, my platelet count jumped past 450,000. From needing platelets, I could now donate! The doctors put me under observation for 24 hours and then the ordeal was over, or so I thought. It was a month before my muscles, particularly those in my back, realised that I was no longer bed-ridden and that they had to start doing their jobs.

To date, I shudder to think what my family went through, even just to look at me. What’s worse, not only did they have to take care of me, but they also go through the effort of finding donors so that I could get the platelet infusions I needed twice a day. I’ve learnt my lesson —take that mosquito seriously next time. And use mosquito repellent.

The writer contracted dengue in August 2009. He is a former medical student and rotary representative.



Published in The Express Tribune, September 18th, 2011.

COMMENTS (23)

Mrs Nadeem | 12 years ago | Reply

That was a close brush with death.. All thanks and praises for Allah swt who gave you your health back... Its an oppurtunity for you to realize how temporary this world is.. Turn to Allah in the true sense and adopt the principles given by our prophet Muhammad saw. There are many supplications in the Quran and ahaadeeth that are the greatest protection against every disease and calamity. Unfortunately for us we trust our capabilities and the doctors more than Allah. Not everyone is lucky to get a second chance. If just for a moment think of the worst possibility God forbid that could befall you, what would have happened? Do you think you would have been amongst the successful ones in the hereafter? I am not the judge of that but you yourself can contemplate on it. May Allah guide us all and give us the taufeeq to implement this beautiful deen in our lives. A deen that is not based on mere rituals(namaz, zakat and hajj) but is a complete manual as to how we are to live this life and what Allah expects from us. This life is an AMMANAH from Allah and we are supposed to live it by His rules. So dont waste it.Rememeber we can never make people happy no matter what we do but we can make our Lord happy very easily.

Afnan Ansari | 12 years ago | Reply

Hi, i lost my 18 years old brother due to dengue shock syndrome (Last stage of Dengue fever) and because of the mishandling of doctors, any ways his time has come now what ever i say, it will change nothing.

Juice of Papayas leaves and fresh apple juice + some drops of lemons in it are not the medicines nor cure of dengue fever. the will only help the patients to be in good shape or i can say empowering the patient to avoid admitting in hospitals or incase of admission in hospital avoid the extreme medication and drips etc.

i have done a little research on dengue fever and it might be help full for some one. 1. The life of dengue virus is almost 8 days, In first two days the virus spread it self into the body and start eating the white blood cells. white blood cells works to protect our body from sickness. as the count of white blood cells drops the first thing happens is Pain in Shin then Stomach and then in arms. this pains increase gradually and after it on the end of 2nd day it turns in to high grade fever, all the problem starts from the fever, as the fever increases the patients got dizzy and weaker.

Mostly all the doctors try to avoid and control the fever through medicines (which is wrong), it must be controlled through cold water strips, taking bath from cold water, lie down in bath tube in cold water to reduce the fever.

do not take any extra medicines until or unless it is necessary, take normal healthy digestive food.

try to avoid the fever and some how pass 7 days untill the life of the virus is over.

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