Mansi Sharma

It was the September of 2018. Just like any other 17 year old young girl who finished high school, I had my dream to become a doctor, for which we have an entrance exam in my country. I was preparing for that when I suffered from Dengue. (Sepsis and Parasitic Infections) It left me extremely weak.

The excruciating pain, dizziness, confusion lasted for around fifteen days, after which my platelet count started improving. It was September 26th, my birthday, when all went downhill again. The body temperature raised to 104 degrees, and I wasn’t able to breathe, or even sit or give thought to what was happening around me. It was past midnight, and we didn’t live in a pretty developed region that could have provided emergency facility. So I had to wait till the morning.

By the time dawn hit, I was in such extreme pain that dying seemed easier. I wasn’t able to sit, stand, lie down, or even throw up. I was going blind. Everything was fading away. When they took me to the local clinic, the doctor was all in a rush and panicked, and told me to go to another city where they had the required equipment. I was in a cycle of being in and out of consciousness, and screaming my whole two hour ride to the hospital in a cab due to lack of facility. I arrived just in time to get my life saved and was kept under intensive care, but that particular hospital was just able to have me stable for so long. They had to refer me to another hospital.

The pain, hallucinations, weakness, and being in complete throes was too much. It took time, but the second hospital was able to get me stable after an insane amount of treatment. As doctors put it, mine was a disturbing case: dengue, then going into septic shock, and retaining of the high degree fever and inability to find out its cause for so long. (Sepsis and Septic Shock) The doctors had to carry out a complete array of tests, which caused extreme pain. Finally my intestine being affected showed up in the PET scan, which was strange, as the previously conducted scans did not show it.

I was finally good to be discharged, but life was tough after that – being bedridden, and not being able to study for my dreams. It hurt. After one and a half years, I still sometimes go through pain in my abdomen region. Although I wasn’t able to clear the entrance test that year, I’m still trying. My loved ones have always been with me. It took time, but it gradually got better. It made me stronger, for I realised that nothing can take away your dreams. I still have mine. I came out stronger with a new perspective and a sense of never giving up. And it is all that matters.