From the time she was about 3 years old, we discovered that Nat had developed a serious allergic reaction to medication.
Natalie, at 3 years old
She fell sick a lot, during the early years. About every other month or so, Nat would be down with a cold, a fever, or cough. We didn't notice it at first. Didn't pay much attention to the skin rashes which would appear a day or two after she started on paracetamol syrup. Body heat, we thought.
But it turned out to be worse than that. Her rashes would get bigger and redder each time, and her eyelids, ears, nose, and fingers would get swollen and go double their original sizes. Once, her eyes were swollen completely shut. My poor, poor baby.
We went to see countless medical specialists, even sinsehs, and switched to ibuprofen, even penicillin. Nothing worked. The rashes persisted and grew larger.
After one year of trying, I totally gave up. I couldn't let her suffer anymore. It was more than I could take. No way was I going to give her another drop of medication.
So everytime she fell sick and had fever, I would drop everything and tend to her. This is my baby. So what if I had to stay awake the whole night. If you're a mum, you would understand this so well. I would die for my babies.
Earlier this week, Nat fell ill again. This time, her fever crept up on her at school. By the time she got home, the temperature was hovering around 102C. With no medication to bring down the temperature, I did the age old remedy of sponge bath, every few minutes. Learnt a few tricks too. If you keep the forehead and armpits cool, the fever tend to subside a tad faster. We kept her on a liquid diet for most of the day, (she couldn't eat anything anyway) and I texted my mum to pray for her. See, when my mum prays, God listens. ALL the time.
Throughout the night, she slept. I kept her cool. And while she slept, I gazed at my baby and thought if I could bargain with God for anything, exchange anything in my life, I would want Nat to be allergic free.
Today, she is all better. She called her Popi to say thanks for praying. (Nat's such a rebel. poh-poh just won't do) . And she said to me, Thanks, mum for taking care of me. I am nothing without you.
Silly girl. It is I who am nothing without you.
