Why I was thrilled to know I had a fistula infection

I woke up yesterday feeling a little different. It was a slight feverish kind of feeling. I felt a little sore in my throat as well. I had an iced drink a couple of days back and day-before-yesterday, I took my trusted home remedy for a sore throat or cough - Fig tea which is made by boiling 2 pieces of cut dried fig (anjeer) in a glass of water until the water becomes dark brown. I was feeling much better by that evening. Which is why I was surprised that I felt sick yesterday morning.

I started imagining the worst. Did I have COVID? Fever and sore throat are common symptoms. I started thinking about what I should do. My meditation exercise also went horribly as my mind kept playing out the various scenarios. To make things worse, someone forwarded a video of Hyderabad's Gandhi Hospital's COVID ward (an unhygienic mess). My mind kept imagining having to stay in that ward.

After my shower, I checked my temperature. 99.1 degrees Fahrenheit. I started panicking.

After about half an hour though, I noticed that there was a little oozing from my cannulation site. It looked like it was puss. I felt relieved. It was only a fistula infection. It was not COVID!

I was actually happy that I got an infection in my fistula. Look at the irony!

The scare among everyone is so bad these days. The way this pandemic has changed our lives is crazy. The constant reporting of the news on the virus has not helped. People think this is worse than cancer. The contagious nature of the disease has obviously changed the entire perception. I don't blame the people though. The fear of the unknown is often worse than the fear of the known.

I called my vascular surgeon. Thankfully he answered my call. He asked me not to come to the hospital unless it was unavoidable. He asked me to send a pic of the site. After I did that, I was advised to start an antibiotic, apply an antibacterial ointment and change my cannulation site.

The fever has since subsided. I am much better now thankfully.

Comments

jogalamurali said…
Thank God!
Hope the infection got treated by now and you must be feeling better.