I didn't know when it started, but when I was a kid, my mom stopped me from borrowing a neighbor's melodica because their family has been affected by tuberculosis. A melodica looks like this:
For it to work, one has to blow through a pipe. Looking back, they shouldn't have let ANYONE but the owner use it, anyway. It was like using someone else's toothbrush.
Yech. (wipes mouth)
Fast Forward to 2013.
I work in a call centre, earn my own living, and am loved by a beautiful man.
Sure, I cannot be a Jeanne Napoles, but hey, life is not bad.
Until yesterday.
I was pulled out from work because of a letter from the company nurse asking if I can have another set of chest x rays due to 'suspicious densities'. I had it last year, too, after my APE so I thought: here we go again.
I went to the Adventist Hospital in Pasay City, and boy, that was quick. I got the results in only a few hours, and have booked an appointment with a Pulmonologist, Dr. Rodolfo Pacatipunan.
Warning bells began to ring when he asked me, "have you taken TB medications before?" And when I asked if I have it, he bluntly said, "Yes".
I burst into tears.
Millions of worrying thoughts began to invade my thoughts: my job, my salary, how much the medicines cost, my leave credits (I'm saving them for our holiday in a few weeks' time), and mostly, what will my parents say?
I admit, my parents are not the average touchy-feely sort. AND they're the sort to believe in pasma, too. During the instances when I have a shower after a day at work, they'd issue warnings about getting really sick, and burden them with caring for me. TB was not mentioned, but it was hinted at, very heavily.
And now that I DO have it, I can see them saying: I TOLD YOU SO.
Dr. Pagcatipunan then prescribed a two-week rest from work (there goes my leave credits!) and a medication that I will have to initially take for the next two months. He prescribed Quadtab ™ to me but assured me that it was caught early, hence the lack of symptoms. (I wished for the weight loss part, though. haha)
The first person I called was my boyfriend, and fresh tears sprung anew when I told him. He asked me a million questions about it, but he was very supportive of me, even if he was upset. It's really too bad for us to be miles apart in times like this - he is in the UK, I in the Philippines - but the sense of having someone care for you and NOT judge you is like a balm to my soul.
I went back to the office to sort things out - and to start my leave of absence. Our nurse, Josephine Suba RN, was another person who gave me assurance on this disease, that anyone could have had it, especially in the Philippines, and no, it's not the late nights or the after-work showers I used to have. It's just that my immune system was weakened enough to let TB get hold of my lung.
As of press time, the only people who know are my boyfriend, my doctor, the company nurse, and my team lead.
I found some articles from the web (Internet: the greatest thing since sliced bread, even more so.) that informed me well about this disease:
Tuberculosis in the Philippines: 10 things you should know by Willie T Ong, MD
Preventing and treating tuberculosis by Willie T Ong, MD
and since the bf is British:
Tuberculosis Testing in the Philippines from the UK Border Agency
and now, I start my medications to combat this disease. Although, I wouldn't mind looking like Fantine:
Hah.
