“Dad, there's something wrong with me. I can't see. nothing makes sense. Please call.”
She sounds panicky when I phone. She has just woken from about 5 hours sleep. Her head hurts really badly, like no headache she has ever experienced before. Her back is extremely painful, and she feels sick. She has a temperature so high that she feels freezing cold. I still think it is the flu. Then she tells me that she cannot see herself in a family photograph; she can see everyone else, but there's a gap where she remembers herself to be. Also she cannot see herself properly in a mirror.
Now I start to get worried. I ask her to look in a mirror and cover one eye. Her description of what she sees makes no sense. I ask her to cover the other eye and try again. To my alarm I find myself having to explain to her that she must first uncover the first eye. She does so, then forgets which eye that was. Nor can she remember any more which are her left and right sides, I begin to feel the panic myself. This is clearly nothing like flu any more. This is serious, although I am more focussed on her extreme temperature, which I believe can be dangerous by itself.
I attempt to try to bring her temperature down. I instruct her use a wet flannel to keep her face & forehead moist, and drink plenty. She does so, and at first this seems to give her some relief.
No comments:
Post a Comment