Living with TB 2: At the Hospital

Reached the hospital emergency ward with no more bout of throwing up blood.

The team of medical staff was busy hooking me up to all sorts of equipment and inserting IV and more needles within minutes.

For someone that can't stand the sight of blood and needles, I was doing rather well. At least I did not faint!

My main concern was to stop the bleeding.

All I recalled was I spit (not threw up!) a fair bit of blood from both my mouth and nose quite a few times between being hooked up to machines, poked and pushed to the X-Ray room and back.

The next few hours was the wait to get the test results.

"Pneumonia, virus infection of the lungs, TB (tuberculosis), cancer" I was told by the doctor in-charged of the possible causes.

Pneumonia or virus infection is fine. I remembered saying that to myself as it is not contagious.

Not TB, as I wouldn't want to pass this on to my family members and loved ones.

I have been spending a lot of time both in Penang with my mum, aunt and 2 dogs, visited my in-laws and played with the nieces. As well as Kuala Lumpur with my wife, cousin Joo Lee, her mother and niece. I know TB is curable. But it takes time.

At the same time, I hope it wasn't cancer as I wasn't prepared to deal with that.

I called my mum, told her I went to hospital for X-Ray and was told to be admitted as the hospital needed a few days to make certain what's the cause of my prolonged cough (I wouldn't want to tell her the whole truth as I wouldn't want her to rush down to KL or stressed out in PG. The plan is once I am on the way to recovery, I would dramatize the whole incident! Hee hee.).

2 days later, I was officially diagnosed with TB.

I freaked out! Not so much because I have become a TB patient, but the possibilities that people I have come in contact with the last few weeks/months may have gotten it!

I couldn't forgive myself should this happened. Honestly, I wouldn't be able to deal with this should it be the case!

A week later, feedback was that my family and loved ones tested negative!

To be continued...