Back in the Alley

Apologies, my loyal readers.

It's more than a month since I last blogged. And you deserve to know why you could not read the stellar content I put up here. Even if you didn't, I am going to force it down your throat, in typical Mally-Alley style.

Well, all the week that I put in my last few posts (end August), I was feeling tired and unenthusiastic, unenergetic and exhuasted. I had also lost all my appetite. My wife promptly blamed the symptoms on me being "allergic" to her. She claimed that I was fine when I was all alone here in Singapore and when I was enjoying my vacation in India, but I was tired as soon as she got back here. And I had to endure all her comments for a while.

The beginning of September was my wife's conference in Malaysia (for which the entire family travelled, just so that all of us could see her present her paper there). Even there, I had to put up with all the comments, especially one that went right to the top of my temper pole. She had heard about "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome" at the conference and did not waste any time in labelling me with it.

While we were heading back, my mom commented that I was looking "a bit yellow". That raised a lot of eyebrows (mainly cause I am not Chinese and don't lay any claim to being part of the Yellow Race). As usual, my wife got into hyper mode and insisted that we get me checked...a suggetion that I was not entirely averse to.

As it turns out, I was diagnosed with Jaundice! But I was not exhibiting any of the symptoms of "classical" Jaundice caused by Hepatitis A or C. I had no pains in my abdomen, I did not have fever, I did no have nausia. I was just exhausted and unenthusiastic about food in general.

Since the doctors did not have any clue why I was the way I was, they suggested that I get admitted to the hospital for observation so that they could wake me up at all odd hours to take my blood pressure, keep my hungry as the reason for a few tests and not do those tests at all, and in general to keep me away from home.

I spent 4 days in that state with needles stuck in me and my patience running out. I also think I lost a lot of weight in those few days.

My wife, in all of this time, silently bore my snide remarks about how accurate her statements were about the "chronic fatigue" I had and beinf allergic to her. Her expression told me that the one comment I made to her was enough. I was unwell when we went for the conference and she knew that I never complained once.

Finally, the doctors told me that I had Epstien Barr Virus (EBV). When I Googled it, I found that it happens to 95% of the populace of the world, only mostly in the early years. When one gets it in older age, it's a bit harder to recover from. And with that momentous news, they allowed me to go home on the condition that I will not step out of my house, eat food only given to small kids and in general, behave like an intelligent vegetable.

I spent the most part of 2 weeks in this state. And I realized how weak I had gotten when I started getting tired after going from my bed to the restroom. Even talking on the phone made me get tired. And after 2 weeks, I had shrunk to where I could put a fist into my 34" waist Levis and still button it down. I had gotten to the point I thought was not possible.

From there, it has been a slow path of recovery and I am glad to say that I am a LOT better today. I feel hungry a lot more often, I am not at my usual energy levels, but I am getting there.

All in all, I hope that the blog does not go silent and that I do justice to your faith in this site. I know I have a lot to tell you folks, something I intended to do earlier, but could not because of the medical condition I went through.

So, me hearties, Mally is back to the Alley.

Stay tuned!