At Least It's Not Typhoid!

This was my dear friend Tom's reaction when he heard of my recent situation.  I think some one out there is punishing me for leaving India, for my last week here in Chennai was made miserable by a "viral fever" resulting in a "severe tonsillitis".  I was at work feeling fine, eating what turned out to be my last idly breakfast from my favorite idly stall when I started to feel weird.  A few hours later my legs started hurting and then I got a headache.  I took some tylenol but things got worse so I left work during lunch.  I got home, got into bed in my AC room and started watching Bride Wars.  By the end of the movie, I realized that I was freezing despite turning off the AC and the fan and going under the sheet.  I was shivering but felt hot to the touch.  I was miserable.  I called Jacob (who would be my nurse Ratched for the next few days) and took more tylenol. 

That night I was crazy, with lots of fever induced dreams (some in Tamil!!) and sleep talking (only English).  Every 4 hours my temperature would spike (Tmax 38.8C) and I'd take pills and an hour later I'd be drenched in sweat.  I was convinced I had malaria.  I had never had such bad fevers without any other symptoms.  I called the International SOS doctor and the doctor said (no more monkeys jumping on the bed?!) that I should just keep taking the tylenol and if I still had fever the next day I should go to the hospital.

So since the fever continued (for a total of 48 hrs in the end) I got to go to the hospital.  For some reason, this was the happiest thing I remember about the whole sickness.  I think it's cause I had just taken some tylenol and by the time we got to the hospital my fever was breaking and I was able to make sense of things.  I was also finally hungry and my severe tonsillitis hadn't kicked in yet, so I was able to eat the biscuits Jacob found for me.  The hospital was big and clean and looked just like a hospital at home, except everyone was head wobbling!  I saw the doctor who said I was having viral fever and it didn't look like malaria or typhoid, although they didn't do any blood tests, so I'm not sure how he reached that conclusion.  He said to come back if I wasn't better by Friday (I don't remember what day it was then).

Back home, the fevers continued and then my throat started hurting, a lot.  As the fevers subsided, my throat got worse, till I could barely swallow.  I wanted to go to work to say goodbye to everyone but I felt like shit.  I went anyways and I had Dr. Sathish look in my throat.  He said it was tonsillitis caused by the viral fevers, that it happens all the time here and I need antibiotics.  I also showed Mani and he reacted like it was the worst thing he'd ever seen!  I started the tablets that afternoon itself.  At work they got me a cake (that I coudln't eat) and everyone made little speeches, etc and Nirmala Madam even cried a little (which made me cry a little too).  They gave me a lovely, albeit heavy, statue.  I took some pics (posted along with other pics from the office) and then got outta there as fast I could so I could go home and take rest.

I'm mostly recovered now, I can eat and have a bit more energy.  And I'm leaving on a 630am train tomorrow where I can have 52 hrs of uninterrupted rest.  I moved out of my house today and left my beloved neighborhood for good.  All in all my last week in Chennai sucked.  I didn't really leave the house, I didn't get to eat all the stuff I wanted, I didn't get to play with the neighborhood kids (I didn't even get to say goodbye!), I didn't get to go to Geetha's house, or take all the pictures of my neighborhood like i was planning to.  I didn't get to do last minute shopping or get pants made and I didn't really have a good last day at work.  But at least I don't have typhoid. 

Heading up North, I'll try to update when I can!