Me, Dany & Dengue Fever in Jeddah!

I was quite hesitant before writing about my experience -as a woman and my husband's experience as patient with high fever- with doctors, clinics & hospitals in Jeddah during last week, but finally I decided to share it.

I will start with, I don't give a damn about anyone who will criticize what I write…

And to save time just in case you will decide to criticize me –because I'm unhappy here and I feel I'll rot here, if I don't get out soon, let me list some facts – BTW I'm not justifying what I will write or giving excuses-:
I had no choice, it was either moving to Saudi to join my husband or live in separate countries or maybe get a divorce.
He had no choice, this was the best option he had – to take the job he was offered in Jeddah-.
I'm a very independent FEMALE and I hate the fact that I must depend on a MALE in whatever I do. Those of you who know me well can confirm that!!
After more than a year I simply hate the garbage bag aka 3abaya that I have to wear over my cloth and I feel I'm growing old and becoming ugly, simply because life here is quite different from what I grew up knowing!!
Last but not least if you don't like what I write and if you feel offended, simply BITE ME!!!

Sun. Feb. 10th, Dany came home early from work with high fever. We thought he's getting a cold, especially that the night before, he told me he's not feeling well. Unfortunately we were mistaken big time!

Mon. Feb. 11th, we decided to go to see a doctor, especially that his fever was still high. And here we face our first obstacle. Guess what? He can't drive, he's boiling hot and he's hallucinating. As for me, yes I do have a driving license and yes I know how to drive, but we are in Saudi, women are not allowed to drive. So my options were either we take a taxi – but wait a second, I didn't even know, where I should take him- or ask someone to drive us.
Lucky us, Dany's colleague offered to pick us up. We decided to go to GNP's ER. They took his fever and gave him a Voltaren  injection and asked us if we wish to do a blood test. We decided not to. The doctor gave him a sick leave for 2 days with a note saying his respiratory system is inflamed and sent us home with a medical prescription for antibiotic and a Paracetamol medication.

We decided to monitor the fever for 24 hours, however his condition didn't improve.

Wed. Feb. 13th at 4 am, I wake up with Dany's body boiling because of high fever, he was shivering and allucinating.
Again I find myself helpless… I can't call a doctor –this is a luxury I had back home in Egypt- … I can't grab the car keys and drive him to hospital. We didn't want to bother anyone that early in the morning, so  we decided he should take Paracetamol.
By 8 am his fever was back to normal and an hour later we went to see a doctor at Tala Medical Clincs. And yes, it was Dany, who drove us there.
I must admit we received very good treatment and they asked for a blood test. They informed us that the results will be out on Saturday and accordingly the doctor can determine what he has.

Unfortunately by midnight Dany's fever was getting high again and we called a friend, who took him to the GNP's ER again. After a Volteran injection, the doctor insisted on doing him a blood test to check if he's infected with Dengue Fever. The results were negative. And the doctor assumed it's either a virus or bacteria that will be determined by the detailed blood test he did in the morning at Tala Medical Clinics.

He gave him a prescription for a Volteran injection just in case his fever gets high again. Accordingly he can just go to the Pharmacy next door to where we live and get the shot instead of driving all the way to the hospital.

Thurs. 14th, early morning I went to meet the doctor at the Tala clinic to show her the blood test he did the night before. She preferred to wait until the results of the detailed blood test come out and shared the same opinion as the ER doctor that most probably it'll only be a bacteria or virus infection.

Around 8 pm Dany's fever started rising again and he went to the Pharmacy with the Volteran prescription asking to be given an injection. And guess what in Saudi Arabia, they refuse to give you an injection at a Pharmacy, even if you have a prescription… They can let you faint,shout & yell as loud as you can because of pain or even die & they still turn their backs on you refusing to help you out, insisting that they can't help you… just go to a hospital.

And here we start the dilemma again…. A chain of phone calls to find someone to drive us to the ER. However the Paracetamol tablets he took started being effective and we decided not to go to the ER.

Fri. 15th, we had the regular routine of high fever, shivers & hallucination.

Finally it was Sat. 16th, We went to see the doctor and to get the test results. To our surprise the tests turned out to be positive for Dengue Fever.

The doctor referred us to a public hospital claiming their laboratories are very well equipped and that we should repeat the test again, especially that the results of the 2 blood tests Dany did on Wed. had 2 contradictory results. She sent us to the King Fahd Hospital and gave us a referral letter explaining my husband's condition and what test they should do for him.

We rushed to the hospital and the minute we arrived marked a start of a 5 hours misery. A NIGHTMARE…

We checked in at the ER –which was not smooth at all-, we were sent to clinic 4. It was not easy to find clinic 4, it was sort of going through a labyrinth full of sick people. At first they didn't want me to go in with him, claiming that women are not allowed inside…. But there were other women and I insisted on accompanying him!
The minute you walk in, you feel sick, it's a dirty room full of patients piled up on beds and their relatives standing around.
We finally got hold of a doctor, who told us to find an empty bed. And guess what there was no empty bed… Actually I was happy there were no empty beds, cause they looked filthy. After a good 20 minutes of standing around we found an empty chair. The doctor checked the referral letter and the tests and asked a nurse to do him a blood test, which was a “torture test” trying to find a vain. They said the results will be out in 2 hours and meanwhile they will be injecting him with a solution. Dany's fever was high again and we were both trapped in a disgusting room full of viruses, bacteria and ugliness. In some point he fell asleep sitting on the chair and I stood on my feet for more than 2 hours. No doctor answers you, when you ask a question; no one tells you what's going on. It was just waiting and waiting…

Finally after I harassed every nurse and doctor they came with the test results. Let me remind that Dany got transferred to King Fahd Hospital to do a blood test to determine whether he has Dengue Fever or not. The doctor says that the test results are negative and gave him a prescription for Panadol and sick leave for 3 days and gave me the test, which consisted of 3 papers.
Well I'm not claiming I understand much about those tests, but I can read English and it says: MALARIA result NEGATIVE and there was no mention of the Dengue fever. I asked the doctor and all what I got was this is what the tests say. I tried to explain to him that according to the referral letter and the tests Dany did before, we are here to check on whether he have Dengue Fever or not and NOT MALARIA, but he says that this is it and the test is negative!

At that moment, I just wanted to take him and rush out of this ugly place. We left the hospital and Dany whose fever was back to normal drove us home.

Sun. 17th, I took the tests and asked a friend to drive me to the clinic to show the test results to the doctor. I wasn't surprised at all when the doctor says that the test Dany did at King Fahd Hospital did, is not what she asked for. They did him a Malaria test instead of Dengue Fever test.

Now what??? Actually nothing happened, she says we don't need to do a new blood test and that he should take Paracetamol every 6 hours, if his fever doesn't go down within a week we should see her again and that we should do a new blood test in 3 weeks. She can't confirm it, but most probably he was infected with Dengue Fever and now he's in the recovery phase!!!!

I must say that Dany's fever is stable, yet he's still not feeling well. He takes Paracetamol every 6 hours and we will monitor his fever for a week. We will wait for one more week…

Now the conclusion is:
Tough luck, if you are a woman in Saudi. Let alone being a foreigner and not veiled.
Never go to a public hospital – I forgot to mention the reason why Dany was transferred to a public hospital, is simply because of statistics for the Health Ministry, they are doing a count of people that are infected with Dengue Fever in Jeddah-. We went through shit for a fucking statistic!!!
Once we find another opportunity out of here, we will grab it and run for our lives.

Below are links for information about Dengue Fever:

تزايد الإصابة بحمى الضنك في السعودية.. تعرف على أساليب الوقاية
http://www.mbc.net/ar/programs/sabah-al … ent%7Clist

جدة تتخوف من حمى «الضنك النزفية»
http://www.alyaum.com/News/art/69328.html

تسجيل عشرين حالة «ضنك» في جدة خلال أسبوع وخبير يدعو إلى مكافحته بالهندسة الوراثية
http://www.alsharq.net.sa/2013/02/16/724957

أمانة جدة : إرتفاع الإصابات بحمى الضنك إلى 200 حالة
http://www.5abr.com/local/2013/02/02/60593.html

Dengue Fever
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dengue_feverhttp://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AD%D9% … 9%86%D9%83


Last but not least, I would like to thank everyone, who called us, passed by, offered help or drove around. It meant a lot.

As for those who got offended by my note & Facebook status on Feb 13th:
Living in Saudi Arabia & being a woman is as bad as it gets, especially when ur husband -who usually drives u around- gets sick & starts hallucinating cause of high fever.... I just hope I leave this country soon before I rot here!!!!!
Let me tell you one thing, put yourself in my shoes and then we can talk... I would love to watch you being alone as a foreigner, as a woman in a country like Saudi Arabia without your family & friends (you've known for your whole life) & very important without the luxury of having a driver .... Trust me you will feel as bitter as I feel!!!!!