Only a month after our house got flooded by the wrath of Typhoon Ondoy (International Name: Ketsana), our family experienced another blow.
October 30, 2009 (Friday) started out like any regular day. My hubby was at work. I was busy calling and following up service centers on job order requests due to our many electrical appliances that got damaged by the floods. I already accepted the fact that, although our refrigerator, washer & dryer units are practically brand new, damages caused by "acts-of-God" are not part of the warranty (and to think, we even paid for an extra 4-years! note to self...never do this again!). But, is it really THAT difficult for these people to keep to their end of the deal? By simply calling when they said they would; updating us on the progress of job orders when they offered to do so; delivering the units on the date and time they promised to return them? Anyway, I digress.
My mind got so wrapped up in so many things and other matters. I admit, I was partly to blame for what happened to my Maia. What did I do? I left her under the total supervision of her two (2) yayas. I was THAT confident that nothing bad would happen to her. By afternoon, she had been vomiting all that she had eaten up until that moment. But of course my yayas, who thought nothing of it at first, didn't inform me until about the 3rd vomit. In my panic, I called my husband, who calmly told me to call Maia's pediatrician first. I was crying in the midddle of my phone call, and so the pediatrician had to calm me down first, then proceeded to tell me what I needed to do and observe.
After about half an hour, my pedia and I decided it was time to go the ER where Maia can be properly treated. My husband told me that he would meet me at the hospital. My dad, through all this, had already asked the yayas to fix both my and Maia's things, in case Maia will need to be admitted. It was a real good thing that we were staying with my parents at the time while our house was being fixed.
In the cab, and as the vomits progressed, I noticed Maia getting weaker and weaker and was expelling green liquid. Then the liquid became thicker, almost phlegm-like, and that was when, it seemed, that Maia was having a hard time expelling. It's as if her gagging reflexes were on full-swing, yet, she was no longer able to vomit anything more. I couldn't keep myself from crying.
They immediately checked Maia's vitals and took tests and observed her. After a couple of changes to the sheets of the bed where Maia was on, they told me Maia was experiencing a case of food intolerance, that it was also viral, and that she needed to be admitted because of dehydration. I thought Maia would give me and the residents and nurses a hard time when it came time for them administer her dextrose via I.V. But she just gave a brief shout, and tried to twitch her arm away. But when she sensed that everyone around her meant "business", she just gave in and sat there. Then watched as the nurse wrapped her arm with a diaper to keep the I.V. needle snug and stable. After all that, she tried to "shake-away" that "thing" around her left arm. But to no avail.The ER only allows one (1) person to accompany patients in the pediatric section. But they allowed my husband, my dad and mom to be with me as we watched over our little angel. Thank God! There were so many kids with, I think, the same symptoms...dehydrated yet still vomiting. Some even had severe diarrhea. It was depressing enough to see Maia in there.
Finally, after about an hour in the ER, my husband was able to get a room. As we settled in, we found Maia sound asleep on her hospital bed...snoring even. She looked so exhausted. She still continued to vomit hours after...in the wee hours of the morning...confused as to where we were. But seemed consoled by the fact that I was beside her in bed. Her poor father had to sleep on the couch inside our room.
By morning and up until the time her pedia paid us a visit after lunch, Maia's vomiting had already stopped. Her doctor advised us to go home, but to continue administering some medications she prescribed. And so, by 7pm that Saturday, we did just that...we went home and were greeted by her grandparents, uncles and aunt, cousin and yes, her yayas. I was so thankful that we didn't need to stay for another day in the hospital. More thankful that Maia just bounced back into health like nothing happened. Nothing can be more disheartening than to see a child, your child, confined in the hospital.I thank God for Maia's pediatrician, Dr. Jo Bondoc. Thank God for all the residents, interns and nurses in the pedia ward and ER of The Medical City. Thank God for my husband, Cupid, who is really heaven-sent. Thank God for my parents and their loving support. Thank God for hearing all my prayers.
