On Monday, Niha and Srikanth were in their fifth day of fever. Both had chills. Srikanth was restless, unable to sleep the previous night. Hence I accompanied both to the doctor. for the first five days he was travelling at Teerthahalli and taking OTC medicines for his fever. When we consulted the doctor in Bangalore, he asked both Sri and Niha to get a CBC (Complete Blood Count)test done.
That evening results showed Srikanths platelet count to be 40000/cumm, where as Niha's was 3.4 lakhs. Normal platelet count ranges from 1.5lakh cumm to 4.0 lakh. Srikanth was tested dengue positive and asked to be admitted to the hospital immediately. There they put him on drips, antibiotic and dolo for the fever. The Doctor said that if the platelet count drops further, he would need a platelet transfusion.
A platelet transfusion is an intravenous transfer of platelets collected from a donor or pooled from multiple donors.
On Tuesday, he was tested twice and there was a slight increase in Srikanth’s platelet count, and the doctor assured me saying he might not, after all need a platelet transfusion, since his platelet count was increasing gradually. Meanwhile Niha fainted at home with high fever and she got admitted to the hospital. Since there was a spare bed in Srikanth ward she was shifted there. She underwent a repeat CBC and once again tested negative for Dengue.
On wednesday Srikanth’s platelet count dropped to 28000. By mid morning Srikanth’s platelet count further dropped to 20,000. Low platelet count leads to internal haemmorhage. Next step was to collect 2 units platelet concentrate from Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain in exchange of blood from two donors.
While leaving to collect platelet, at 12.00 noon, dear friend Gurudath called saying there was APHERESIS method of PLATELET extraction which albeit costly was more effective. This requires special type of machinery where , only the platelet is extracted from the blood of a healthy individual with the same blood group as the patient, and blood is simultaneously pumped back into the donor. This facility is available only at Ramaiah Hospital. (In the other method, the plasma is extracted from the donated blood and the remnants are discarded.)for the Apheresis method, Donors’ specification was a healthy male, aged above 18, weight 70 kgs, should not have had any medication recently, and to have abstained from smoking and drinking the previous day. We soon sms ed all our friends circle in Bangalore.
The platelets have a life span of only 5 hours. So it cannot be stored for emergency cases.
None in our office matched Srikanth's blood group. most of them were 'O'. Mine is B+ve, malavika is AB+ve and Niha has the same blood group as mine, but she is only 17 and was ruled out. We had help from the following quarters:
1. Sanjay Balsavar (also known as magician Sanjay): software engineer. Relation to one of our colleague ,came forward at an extremely short notice, he reached Ramiah Hospital first and was present there before we could beat the traffic from Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain Blood bank. But alas though he matched all the criteria, his weight was 67 kgs. He in turn smsed all his friends circle. He is called Magician because every weekend he holds magic shows for terminally ill children at Kidwai memorial
2. A lady internee at Ramaiah, Aarati, who came forward overhearing us, as we were all talking on the cell phone for A + blood donor. But she was ruled out by the lab saying only a male donor can donate platelet to a male. I thanked her profusely. She said it was her duty. Soon she came along with her fellow internee and they went around campus looking for male donors with A+ blood group.
3. Dear friend Vasudhendra who heard of my predicament SOS ed his office staff and found one match, which i asked to be kept on hold
4. Guru (Gurumurthy) Our colleague Salimath's Nephew. We found the perfect match in him for platelet. Guru has completed Industrial Engineering, but works for Sankalp labs. Weekends he joins Ulhas Karanth's son in campaigns for saving our environment or birdwatching roaming the forests. after thanking him i came back to the hospital since the process would take 1 and 1/2 hours, probably more for he had to wait in a queue. There was an overwhelming demand for Platelets on that day. And there was no spare bed or machine to hasten the extraction process. There were only two machines at Ramaiah. But the staff were polite and hlepful inspite of many a tempers running hot.
Meanwhile while waiting for Guru to turn up, there were two dengue related deaths at Ramaiah hospital and I found my mood spiraling down.
While I was returning to the hospital, I got a call from Malavika saying that could we please hurry up. Back at the hospital Srikanth's platelet count dropped to the dangerous 12,000 counts. All the hair follicles in his body turned red and the points were the blood was drawn for the various tests, started to clot. His eyes glazed. Doctor started sweating and i totally freaked out. Called my brother to come immediately. Dear friend Apara(Raghu) joined me at the hospital and i was glad for his moral support. The doctor called me out once again requesting me to ask the people who were getting the platelet concentrate to hurry up. When I came again into the ward , Srikanth and Apara were coolly discussing SL Bhairappa’s ‘kavalu’ novel. All my office staff were present there.
In order not to delay anymore, as an emergency alternative, Doctor suggested us to get an exchange platelet concentrate from a nearby/new private hospital Akshaya. for the time was ticking away. every lost minute meant that Srikanth's vital organs might start haemorrhaging. It was a life threatening situation. a few of the office staff went to Akshaya. But everywhere there was a mad rush for platelet. And again they were in a queue.
There was nothing else to do but to wait with bated breath. I went on automaton doing the right things at the right time, keeping a straight face so as not to panic in front of Srikanth. for we needed his BP intact.
At 7.30 in the evening both, the platelet by apherisis method as well the platelet concentrate (through blood donation exchange)reached simultaneously. The doctor put Srikanth on Platelet IV. he was pumped with all the 5 units of plasma. That night his fever subsided. But doctors wanted him under observation. The platelet extract looks like thick pineapple juice.
In some cases even after the transfusion the platelet count drops, requiring another round of platelet transfusion.
In Srikanth's case ,there is a gradual increase in his platelet count and he is out of danger. We test his blood count for platelets every two days. Friday we came home. Those days went as if in a blur , me trudging from hopsital to home. One nightmarish situation that scared the daylights out of me. now i am a 'not so cool' malathiakka.....(my family members and few close friend call me cooool malathiakka)
Srikanth is on the slow road to recovery and has been advised complete rest for atleast a month. I have taken charge of his cell phone.
I am highly grateful to everybody (Salimath, Sharma, Nagbhushan,Raghu S, Manjanna, Laxmikanth, Amarnath,Tejaswi, friends who were a continuous source of moral support, all of my office staff, the hospital staff etc )for standing by me in my tense moment.
Some information regarding Dengue: (pronounced dengi or denge) (copy pasted from web)
It is caused by the bite of Aedes (Stegomyia) Aegypti mosquitoes. The classic dengue fever lasts about two to seven days, with a smaller peak of fever at the trailing end of the disease (the so-called "biphasic pattern"). Clinically, the platelet count will drop until after the patient's temperature is normal. Cases of DHF also show higher fever, variable hemorrhagic phenomena including bleeding from the eyes, into the gut, and oozing blood from skin pores etc. When Dengue infections proceed to DHF symptoms, DHF causes vascular leak syndrome which includes fluid in the blood vessels leaking through the skin and into spaces around the lungs and belly. This fluid loss and severe bleeding can cause blood pressure to fall, then Dengue Shock Syndrome (DSS) sets in, which has a high mortality rate.
I received a mail today from my old neighborhood friend. Her daughter, aged 8, had Dengue shock and she had to be hospitalized for 21 days.
There is no tested and approved vaccine for the dengue virus. Monitoring the fever, platelet count and platelet transfusion is the only way to tackle the disease.
Such a tiny insect, but the havoc it spreads is dangerous. I would have been oblivious of the dreaded dengue ,had it not stuck my household. I now am worried about villages where there is no access to good hospital with necessary equipments to tackle such life threatening situation.
At the hospital I finished the novel ‘kavalu’. I really cannot fathom the hue and cry about this book. The novel is more like a case study. I have come across such ladies, like mangala and Ela so it was no great shock for me to read about it. The book is a ‘damp squib’.
I have read all his works until now and ‘Mandra’ is my favorite book.
(I know i need to edit this version...but this is for the benefit of my blog friends who missed me and said so in the mail)
:-(
