Little Story 241 : Surviving Sofi's first Flu

Sofi had her first viral flu - her first cold and cough. The last time she had fever was more than a year ago. We aren't fully equipped in managing Sofi while she's sick because she hardly fall sick (Alhamdulillah), so it is expected for me to deal with this with anxiousness and worries. She's 2.5 years old and we are so glad that it took this long for it to happen (I've been anxiously waiting for the time). She needed her body to react and create antibodies for the future :F

She was weak at times and active when the medicine kicked in. She was fussy, clingy and very picky when it came to her food intake, but she still drank her milk. We fed medicine through her milk and yogurt - it was not ideal but at least she won't throw up.

There were nights when we hardly sleep and I was in alert mode, catering to her needs and uncomfortableness. The night when her nose was stuffy and she can't breathe. When we can hear her fighting over her phlegm and fever. 

On day 4 of her fever, we went to the doctor, got her blood and covid test, got cleared from dengue, covid or bacterial infection. So the doctor said it was most probably a viral infection.

What helps other than her medicine :

• Kool fever baby (refreshing mint) - to help her breathe and reduce the heat
• Nasal spray (Sterimar Baby) - to unclog her nose
• Nose aspirator - haven't used it yet, at this moment the nasal spray helps a lot
• Essential Oil (Eucalyptus, peppermint, lemon, tea tree) - to diffuse throughout the day
• Vicks Baby Balsam (the pink one) - also to help her breathe
• Small napkins (a lot of them) - to use for snot and what not, wash daily

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It took 6 days for the on-off fever to go away and today is day 11 of her cold and cough. 

She is still on medication (twice daily), I'm still using the nasal spray twice daily to help her unclog her nose and I gave her honey when she cough too bad. 

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Our go-to children clinic is Klinik As-Salam in Bangi (24 hours).

First visit : RM 164 - Consultation, medication, blood and Covid test.

Second visit : RM 96 - Sofi's fever spiked to 38.9 °C at 3 am , so we went straight to the clinic, doctor inserted suppository (anal paracetamol). I also bought the nasal spray and aspirator there.

There is no clinic more friendly, more welcoming than Klinik As-Salam, in handling worried parents after midnight. I went here twice after midnight and I'm always thankful for their hospitality. 

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She hates to cough so much because it made her puke and so she always restrains herself from coughing by clenching her teeth. It is odd and uncomfortable to see her so determine to not cough, we can hear her breathing through her phlegm. So I always tell her that it is okay to cough it out, and it is okay to puke. We are still using the nasal spray to help dissolve thick mucus. She only refused to get her nose sprayed during the first 2 days, then later she seems like she enjoyed it (like a game).

Here are all the random toys I bought to bribe or calm her when we had to go to the clinic, or asked her to try the medicine, or when she puked all over. 

Little Story 232 : Having a Strong Support System

It is important to have a strong support system. 

I feel like this is one of the bad side of being physically healthy almost all my life, I took my health and time for granted. I thought I don't really need a strong support system. 

https://unsplash.com/@jhvisuals_de

But when I fall sick, Af had to focus on taking care of Sofi and I was put on quarantine alone in different room. I was sick to the point that I can't do anything. We had to ask for my brother and his friend, we also had to contact my dad and stepmom for help as well (because they live near our house). 

They took care of everything. Brought me to the hospital, bought groceries, prepared recovery meals, advised me on stuffs. My mom and other siblings send us foods from afar because it is still the lockdown and they can't cross-the-border to visit. My dad and stepmom took turn to feed me foods and drinks when I was too unwell to feed myself, and I've never felt so low in my life.  

This incident taught me about what I've been taking for granted.

The good health, the strong body, the time and the energy. 

I'm grateful for my families and close friends, for my Patreon for the understanding and the supports. 18 days has passed, and I'm still slowly recovering. Last night and almost this whole morning I was bedridden, waiting for some energies to kick-in. I started my recovery meals back again after stopping yesterday (I thought I was well enough to have a normal day). 

But I'm not. 

I'm still weak, and I need to remind myself this. That my body needs time to heal, and it is okay to take it slow. 

Little Story 230 : I Fell Terribly Sick and I Want to Remember This

I am overwhelmed by the things that happened this past 2 weeks. 

I fell sick and here is my story :

• 19/1 - I had a hard time breathing, cold sweat, heart thumping.
• 20/1 - I took my 1st covid swab at a clinic near my house and tested negative.
• 23/1 - I had another attack (hard time breathing, that lead to exhaustion and I hyperventilated because I didn't know what was happening. Af called an ambulance, I was taken in, did all basic medical checkup : blood test, EKG, x-ray, and all came out okay. I even had to take pregnancy test - it was negative. I was discharged that night).
• 24/1 - The next day I was a bit too weak. I stayed bedridden the whole day, hardly eating because I was too weak. I was scared and too tired to do anything, breathing was hard, doing anything was hard. On bed the whole day.
• 25/1 - My condition got worse. I can't speak, I can't eat, my breathing was slow, but my heart was thumping hard. Fatigue. No one didn't know what to do, everyone was worried. They called an ambulance again. I was taken in, and had to do the same checkup. Took my 2nd covid swab test - negative. The doctor taught me how to control my breathing if the heart-thumping happens again and she reminded me to push myself to eat to recover.
• 26/1 - I started my recovery plan. I push myself to eat and drink the whole day (every 4 hours). I was still bedridden, but I can now eat liquid meals. Every time my heart thump hard, I try to meditate and focus on proper slow breathing. Still too weak the whole day.
• 27/1 - I got a bit stronger than days before. I started eating some solid meal. I went to the hospital again to take another covid swab test for my release from quarantine on the 30th. Heart thumping on random occasions, every time it happened, I laid down and focused on my proper breathing.
• 29/1 - Got my result, still negative covid. Still on recovery meals.
• 30/1 - Had my hospital's quarantine bracelet (gelang pink) removed. Tired on most occasions, resting a lot, still on my recovery meals.
• 31/1 - I swept the house for the first time since I first fell sick. I sat at my working table - just for 1/2 hour. I rested the whole day. Still weak on random occasions, still on recovery meals.  

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So these are the things that happened to me.

I fell sick. The worst one that I have ever felt, I was on ambulance twice, stayed at the hospital twice, hard to breathe, can't eat, can't speak, can't think, did 3 covid swab tests, felt like dying, didn't touch my husband or Sofi since then, bedridden for days, quarantined alone in my room, and recovering alone in my room.

It was really bad. I really felt like there was something huge happening.

Not sure what really trigger this. The doctor said everything during the checkups were normal. But I know I wasn't well and it wasn't just 'stress' or 'tiredness', because it can't be it.

But I was really pushing myself to recover, pushed myself to gain some energy T^T And I'm so grateful that things are okay now, that I'm recovering.

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Here are my recovery meals (almost every 4 hours) :

• Honey + warm water
• 1 spoon of virgin coconut oil
• Coconut water throughout the day (1 coconut per day)
• A bowl of blended soup (potato, meat, broccoli, tomato, +any mix veggies)
• Dates (kurma) / banana (whenever needed)
• 2 boiled eggs (in the morning)
• I glass of less sugar Milo (in the morning)

I've been eating/drinking this diligently. When I missed my meal by the hour, my hands will start shaking and I will start getting weak and tired. So I just had to push myself to consume these foods even if I don't feel like eating anything.

All these foods gave me strength and I'm sure it helped me recover fast from the fatigue.

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I've never felt this sick and weak ever before.

And it was terrifying.

But I'm recovering now and I am getting stronger. Please pray for my fast recovery and I hope you are in good health and please take a good care of your health (it's never too late to start a good diet and exercise).

Note : This post was taken from my Patreon post 2 days ago.

Little Story 227 : Coughs and Herbal Tea

In the past 2 months, I got sick twice : viral cough and allergic cough. 

The viral cough took 10 days to recover. It infected my throat (so I was having a really bad and painful sore throat), my nose (I can't breathe through my nose at all), my eyes (there was a LOT of discharges and my eyes were blurry most of the time) and phlegm (infected ones). I went to the doctor and he said that I had to wait for it to recover from the inside and it might took awhile because of the viruses : 10 days.  Note : My sister passed it to me and I passed it to Af.

Another one is allergic cough. This one had me so sudden because of some herbs that I tried (and maybe isn't suitable for me - I stopped eating it right-away, it was the black seed or habbastus-sauda). It was more like a wheezing non-stop cough and phlegm. Plus, it was also pretty bad, the sound of it terrifies people around me. I had this for 7 days.

Twice, I had to conduct my workshops at Stickerrific while wearing face mask and they even prepared hot green tea specially for me because they were so thoughtful and probably because it was 'that' uncomfortable to watch me cough like I was fighting a demon inside me (and I love Stickerrific ♥️- please go there and buy a lot of stuffs to support our local business guys). 

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I rarely get sick - except for my migraine, so when I do get sick, it is often a surprise for me. I also hardly eat medicine because I hate to imagine having these unknown chemical drugs in my body, so I usually go for alternative natural ways to help me get better. 

How I helped to soothe my cough :

• drink hot Camomile Tea (in the morning / at night) - it's caffeine free, so it won't disturb night sleep.
• a spoon of honey twice (in the morning and at night). 
• drink hot Green Tea (while working) - it works like magic. 
• also tried a spoon of apple cider vinegar in the morning (and it was super awful) :F

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Extra note :

• If you are still new in the habit of drinking herbal tea, I should remind you that the usage of sugar is unnecessary. You don't have to add sugar. Just add in the tea bag and hot water, that's it.
• Don't drink too much - enough with maximum of 2 bags of tea per day. Nothing in this world is good when consumed too much.
• Some teas got caffeine - some teas don't. Do your research if you are trying to avoid caffeine, especially when fasting season is coming soon and you know you need to detox to avoid extra cravings. 
• Some teas are mild, some teas are strong - please try different brands to find something that matches your taste. 
• Jane Goodall reminds me to go for "natural, local and organic" foods and drinks in buying things from the mall. So if you can, go search for it ♥️