Jaundice Day – Part 2

Morning was hot and sweaty as uncle accompanied me to the doctor. Doctor, a GP, got the hint when he first looked into my eyes, but when he saw my report he remarked,” How the hell this boy is standing!” Well how can I answer to a question like that, when even I didn’t know what I was enduring and ignoring; and it was from that day when I really felt something serious has stuck me. Instead of asking me to sit he asked me to lie down as he check my liver, it had expanded considerably, he said, and prescribed a sonography of the liver. There is no medicine for Jaundice so he gave me so energy pills and fat burning drugs. And then began one of the longest resting periods I’d ever have.

Next morning I got the sonography done. With report being available only in the evening I waited for the entire day. But the day was long; it was August 25^th, the judgment day for any CS student. Either it would be culmination of six months of my hard work or it would throw water over it. Well as it is said when bad things strike they just keep on striking, I failed. And if it isn’t bad enough, my training which would have started on September itself was now jeopardized. To add onto this when I visited the doctor with my report in the evening, it read something like this,” Gall bladder shrunk, liver entrenched, coats of fat on the liver, Presence of Hepatitis?” it might not be the exact words but it was something like this. This was the point where the doctor began to lecture me on my food habits (something I would listen from many people, more on it later), and checked my blood pressure. It was high, the reason for me was obvious, but he thought of deducing something, something supposedly from what I eat. However, he let me go after an injection. But the next day was one of the hardest. It was Wednesday and the entire day my fever didn’t go down below 102 degrees, and for most of the time it was 104. I couldn’t sleep the entire day. My mother had to phone the doctor for his advice. I visited the doctor next day with my mother.

It was Thursday August 27^th, I, my mother and uncle visited the doctor in the morning. Although fever had fallen down by few notches by then, but as usual for any mom, she was worried. She fired many question to the doctor; about the scope and the period to be taken. The doctor on his part took a sample of my blood to have it tested again. He remarked on my blood of being too dark, that it has a heavy presence of cholesterol; effectively ask me to debar from bakery products and red meat in future. He also tested my blood pressure which was a bit high, a borderline case (92-110); but that piece of information was taken by my mom quiet seriously. Anyways by the time we left the doctor, I was sure of one thing, what my relatives are going to hear from my mother.

It was Friday evening when my mother received a call from the doctor. By that time almost every relative knew what I was suffering from and I was having a ‘High BP’. Now after a brief chat with my mother, doctor decided to break the news to me, news that my Bilirubin has increased to 18.40, a totally unexpected thing. Seeing the expression of my face and hearing the words that I used, mother snatched the phone from me and talked to the doctor. There was a silent clamor in home. As my mom and dad rushed me to the doctor, or possibly to the hospital; the doctor has advised me to consult a liver specialist. Mom, dad, uncle and I rushed to the doctor. Worry was etched in their faces. But somewhere in me I wanted to laugh maniacally, I always wanted to laugh ever since I got to know about this disease. We reached the doctor within few minutes, he handed us the report and told us the observation. He referred us to a liver specialist. We were there within next 10 minutes. We were not alone there, mom as already called my ‘mama’ and he was there with ‘mami’. ‘Mama’ was cool, but it was usual for ‘mami’. We took the appointment and waited for our turn.

The Doctor has already received the call from his professional colleague. He examined me, pressing my tummy at different points and made few observations. He then explained the type of jaundice I was suffering from, Acute Viral Jaundice, reason either Hepatitis B or E, follows a time period of 8-24 weeks to recover, virus takes its time. This type of jaundice makes a curve, at first stage it increases at a very fast pace, at second stage it stabilized at a higher point and at third stage it falls. There was no need for hospitalization, and it was required only if there are five symptoms, one was vomits, second heavy dizziness, third swollen legs and tummy, fourth red colored rashes in the body and fifth very high fever on a continuous basis. Luckily, I didn’t have any. He asked me to get myself checked for Hepatitis B and E. The next day report came, and he was right, it was Hepatitis E.

Here I would end my second part. Because after this, it is only rest and lectures. But my observations will be listed on third part.

To be continued….