We were planning our first outing as a family in Borneo today. A simple outing to the local Lok Kawi Wilderness Park 15 km away. We were planning – but with children, plans only go so far. Ezra woke up with a slight fever and before the day was done around midnight, we had had our Borneo field trip – a trip to the local emergency room. Ezra was being seen at the loca ER for his high fever that had spiked to 40C (104F) around 10 PM. Yes, we could no longer wait and see with Ezra. Not this time. Our host Peter took us to the ER in Papar about 8km away. Thank you Peter. Ezra’s temperature was 38C (100.5) at the ER. They gave him some fever reducer and antibiotics for inflamed tonsils and some cream for the circular rash that had appeared on his back this morning. T he circular rash of unknown origin was what tipped the scales. I was thinking that the rash was ringworm when I discovered the nickel-sized circles, and with a combination 40C fever, I could wait no longer, and when Peter offered to take us, that was great. Thank you Peter. Being in a foreign land where you do not even know where the hospital is, or how you will transport yourself there, or how you will communicate at the hospital once you arrive … this is all scary stressful stuff … and all for a fever that might just go away by waiting, that most likely will go away by waiting. We tried giving Ezra a tepid bath and that decreased the fever to 39C. But thanks to Peter, we were able to not just wait and see and we were able to see someone at the ER for 50 Ringgits ($20). 50 Ringgits is the foreigner fee, Malaysians pay only 1 Ringgit (33 cents) for their ER visit. There were about 5 people in front of us and the facilities were open-air and clean. The medical professional was of the opinion that the circular rash was just coincidence. Ezra did pick up a kitten at the market about 4 days ago to pose with the local market girls. I tried to stop the photo shoot, but they were all looking at me with that look that said ” you are going to stop a photo shoot with a small boy holding a kitten posing with local Malay girls at the local market!” What type of Dad does that?
oneworldtwokids 