Look out, I am a biohazard!
The fever didn’t go down as I’ve initially hoped, so it was back to the hospital’s A&E again.
Because my ever-fluctuating fever was accompanied by nausea and mild diarrhea, I ended getting blood drawn. Despite having gone through this countless times (I’m a veteran at blood tests. Hurhurhur.) I still buried my face in my jacket throughout the entire procedure. Can’t bear to look luh. :(
Anyhoo, that is not the point. After the test, they placed the tube into a plastic bag plastered with a loud yellow label with the words ‘Biohazard.”
That made me go “?!?!?“.
BIOHAZARD?! ME?! Hey, I am not radioactive or anything, okayyy?
All right, I concede that the above was standard procedure. But the choice of label used is enough to baffle me.
Brenda Tan, the biohazardous patient. Hur.
I am very tempted to complete the story of the biohazardous patient by replacing the plaster that is on my forearm now with the one from Australia which states ‘Crime Scene – Do not enter‘.
Nifty bandages from Australia. Crime scene, indeed!
Perhaps I will.
Now, wouldn’t that be a sight to behold?
Unfortunately, I am still stuck (quarantined?) at home so there wouldn’t be anyone around to show it off to.
Anyway, my blood test results were normal. (Sidenote: Swine flu, or H1N1 is not diagnosed through blood tests but rather, through nose and throat swabs. Hospitals are now carrying out these tests selectively and so whether I do have H1N1 or not is still unknown.) However, since my fever is still fluctuating, I am asked to return to the hospital for retests should the fever and nausea not subside over the next few days.
Right at this moment, I am still running a low-grade fever of 37.8 degrees celsius, despite having drugged myself with two paracetamols.
I hope things get better tomorrow.
I came down with a runny nose, a cough and low-grade fever today. :(
Of course, the first thing that struck my mind was the possibility of H1N1 because of the ongoing epidemic – so I was literally dragged to the hospital by my anxious mum. (I am after all, under the high risk group of developing complications due to my multiple medical conditions.)
I was ‘beeped‘ by the thermal scanner as I entered the hospital, given a mask to wear, and was later chucked in an open-air isolation area for nearly forty-five minutes. My turn eventually came after a long, painful wait. (My head was throbbing throughout.)
They didn’t conduct any tests for H1N1, though.
Apparently, Singapore has too many cases and so the hospitals are presently overloaded with samples. As such, they only reserve testing for the more ‘certain’ cases such as patients who have returned from H1N1-affected countries (according to the list stipulated by the WHO).
It makes absolutely no sense to me. If they were to restrict it that way, then how on earth are local transmissions detected? (Of which Singapore already has quite a large number – of all the 629 cases that have surfaced in Singapore as of 30th June 2009, 54% are through local transmissions.)
Ah well, I am not in the position to question their policies so I decided to clam up.
The doctor told me that he is unable to ascertain whether I really have or do not have H1N1 – so I hereby remain as a suspected case. As such, I am presently on home quarantine for the next 5-7 days.
Additionally, because I also reported symptoms of nausea along with the fever, the doc’ was concerned that it could be something else. So I’m to monitor the fever situation for the next 2-3 days and should it persist, I’ve to return for a full blood count. Argh.
Meanwhile, I’d be stuck at home for the next few days. I was instructed to monitor the status of my fever, and to watch out for any deterioration in my asthma and heart flutter condition over the next few days.
Boy. Extremely bored, I will be.
My status currently? The throbbing headache and low-grade fever is still persisting. Slightly dizzy, and I still feel like puking. My cough seems to have subsided a little, though.
Sigh.
My friends and I had a stall at the Flea Titan flea market today.
Definitely not the best flea market I’ve taken part in for sure. With every flea market I attend, my earnings become exponentially lower. Seems like flea markets have become so commonplace with more and more people jumping onto the bandwagon, making competition among stalls more intense.
What made me so miffed was that our takings were not proportional to the amount of effort we’ve put in. The countless hours spent making and designing signs, sorting out the items for sale, planning store layouts, making checklists, and the actual setting up and packing procedures … all that just for just a few tens of dollars of earnings for each of us.
And like every other flea market I’ve been a part of, I will never fail to spot genuine cheapskates.
G was selling this particular tee (brand new, from a highly reputable brand – often retailing in stores at exorbitant prices of $39.90 or $49.90) at a mere $12.00.
A girl with a long ponytail and heavily made-up face comes along, spots the tee, decided that she likes it, and speaks up.
“I want this tee for 5 dollars.”
G and I were stunned. What? It wasn’t even posed as a question. It was a demand – the epitome of rudeness.
Plus, it really amazes me how people can blatantly axe the price of an item of (what we, and most people perceive as being one of) a fairly high value, by more than fifty percent without feeling an ounce of shame.
Needless to say, our answer was ‘No.’
G however, was nice enough to make a fair offer. “If you purchase another item, we will let that tee go to you for $8.00.”
Little Miss Wayang Face starts to paw through the items available at our store, picks up a basic tee for sale at the $5 bargain bin, stares at it for a long time before chucking it at us along with the tee she’s selected earlier.
“This one, and the other one. Seven dollars for both.”
What. The. Fuck? Hell, no!
Yes, this may be a flea market. But honestly people, don’t you have at least some dignity? It is not as if you cannot afford clothes, especially not Little Miss Wayang Face who was nicely decked out in extremely decent clothes which I can safely say, did not cost her ‘$7.00 for two items‘.