Welcome to the Jungle… or Dengue Fever
Last Saturday morning, I woke up with what I assumed was a headache earned the old-fashioned way. A little too much wine the night before. A rookie mistake. Except…that explanation didn’t really hold water. Over the years, I’ve built up a fairly respectable tolerance, and this felt different. By midday, it became clear that I hadn’t overdone it. What followed was a seven-day odyssey that I wouldn’t wish on anyone, but will absolutely write about. Enter dengue fever. Thanks to the truly life-saving dipirona (which I am now convinced is the greatest medication ever invented and, naturally, illegal in the United States), my days became a strange cycle. High fever. Then, suddenly, I’d turn into a walking swimming pool as the medication kicked in. Add in joint pain that made me feel 30 years older, dizziness, tinnitus, bloodshot eyes, and the general sense that my body and I were no longer on speaking terms. And then, just as mysteriously as it arrived, it left. At approximately noon ...