While I was serving a mission in Indonesia (I was in the city of Bandung at the time) I was bit by
a mosquito that gave me "Dengue Fever". {*The mosquitoes infected with the virus really do look like the one in the picture*}I remember on the Saturday night feeling a little achy and sore all over my body but I thought I was just tired from a long day of missionary work. The next morning my companion tried to get me out of bed and I woke up in more pain than I had ever felt in my life. It felt like every bone in my body was broken. I barely had enough strength to go to the bathroom then straight back to bed. My companion called the mission president and also the missionary couple that was serving in Bandung with us and told them I was too sick to go to church. I laid in bed freezing cold (which was a big red flag seeing how Indonesia is always SUPER hot and humid) trying not to move. After sacrament meeting the missionary couple came to our house to check on me and see if there was anything they could do. Sister Vandongen took one look at me and knew something was terribly wrong. They put me in their car and took me to the Emergency Room of a beautiful new hospital that had been completed 3 months beforehand. I had a REALLY high fever, low platelet and blood count (normal range is between 150-1,000 and mine was at 139), and a rash was forming on my body. They checked me into the hospital and pumped me full of fluids. And there I stayed for 8 days straight!
To make things worse the whole week I was in the hospital my companion was paired up with a recently returned sister missionary (an older sister who was retired) so she could still visit all of our investigators which left me at the hospital ALONE. Do you know how frightening it is to be by yourself when you're a so use to having someone with you 24/7? I have to admit I broke down and watched some TV (mostly nickalodeon and the discovery channel!) but don't worry I confessed everything to my mission president later (which he chuckled at me before saying his classic exasperated "Sister Mead" with that what-am-I-going-to-do-with-you look on his face!!) I had a lot of visitors all week which helped a lot too.
Elder Laulusa and Elder Sujono came to visit and brought me mosquito repellent, and guava juice they made themselves. Guava juice is supposedly really good for you when you have this disease.
Sister Yanti (right) Erlin (middle) and Yanti's mom (left-I can't remember her name right now) also made me guava juice and brought me an Ensign to read. *Erlin was the only person my entire mission that we found, taught, and was eventually baptized on Christmas Eve. *
This lady was so nice. She was one of the non-active people in our branch that we would visit every week. She found out I was in the hospital (after my companion showed up with Sister Mimi instead of me!) and that night she came to visit me and brought me bread. I was so excited to get that bread because I was not enjoying the hospital food at all.
This is the Branch President's wife(left) and Sister Yanti (right) who also brought me a bunch of food.
This is the old lady that lived right next door to us and her granddaughter. She was seriously the nicest person ever. She loved it when we would stop and say hi to her before heading out for the day. One day she let me borrow her cake pan to make a birthday cake for myself and we ended up staying at her house and talking to her and her husband for a little while. They were very strong Muslims but loved talking to a Bule *boo-lei* (white person). She kept grabbing my hand while she was visiting me and telling me how beautiful I was and she hoped I would get better soon.
This is Anas, Erika, Erika's friend, Margi, and Sister Mimi.
Lucy, Sister Dappalangga, and Sister Silen.
I don't remember their names except for Sesi (left) and Amber (standing next to Sesi). Sesi and Amber are sisters and that is their mom next to them. On the other side that is Sister Yanti's mom (back) and the Branch President's mom (front).
This is Elder and Sister Vandongen. They were my very favorite missionary couple I served with. I love them so much and I wouldn't have been able to handle that week without them.
This is the day I got to go home. All of the nurses loved me because not only was I a white person but I was a white person who could speak Indonesian fluently!
So to finish my story of what happened....
I continued to have a high fever for a few days and major body aches for longer. This disease is sometimes called the "Breakbone disease" because it literally feels like your bones are broken. There is no treatment for Dengue since it is a virus so the best thing they can do for you is keep an IV in you to make sure you are well hydrated and make sure that your blood count and platelet count doesn't get too low or you will need a transfusion. You can't even have an asprin to help with the pain which was annoying. During that week my Thrombocyte (platelet) count kept dropping. A normal range is about 150-1,000. I went from 139 when I was admitted all the way down to 89 and they were worried they might have to do a transfusion on me (this was on Friday night) The mission president called my mom and told her what was going on and my mom contacted her Stake President and told everyone she possibly could to keep me in their prayers and fast. My branch also fasted for me and miraculously the next day my blood count shot up and kept climbing. By Monday afternoon I was released from the Hospital. I was still pretty weak and it took me a while to get back into the swing of things but I was ok. The doctor was amazed that my count changed that drastically that fast. That's the power of fasting and prayer baby!!
