When chickenpox comes a-calling

‘When you get chickenpox as an adult, it’s not a laughing matter.’- Australian mixed martial artist, Robert Whittaker.

When my son, Pat came to see me yesterday morning, he asked me “Did you have chickenpox before?”
Taken aback by the funny question, I quickly replied, “Of course. I am old already. I think I had it when I was a pre-teen.”

On hearing that, Pat did not say anything. He just walked back to his car which was packed outside the gate and drove away.

He would meet me again after doing an errand for me.

Before that, he had asked me where I would be having my lunch. I told him I would contact him later.
Later on, when he came, I was happy he had brought along my little grandson, Raidon.

The boy had not gone to his playschool for many days now because of chickenpox.

He has officially been granted 10 days’ sick leave from the playschool. He woke up one morning with fever and just refused to go to school.

His working mother, Amelia, had no choice but to leave Raidon with his maternal grandparents.

It was only there that she and Pat discovered that Raidon had contracted chickenpox. After that, they promptly took him to see a doctor.

I was greatly surprised by the news. Chickenpox? The whole world including yours truly had been on the lookout for mpox (monkeypox) after the World Health Organisation declared the mpox virus a public health emergency of international concern earlier this year.

I did not know that chickenpox was still making its rounds in Sarawak.

Do you know that the main symptom of chickenpox is a rash that turns into itchy, fluid-filled blisters that eventually scab?

Other symptoms will include fever, tiredness, loss of appetite, headache, sore throat and belly ache.

The rash, which first appears on the chest, back and face, can then spread to the rest of the body. It takes about seven days for all the blisters to become scabs.

For the past week or so, Pat and Amelia had been busy, taking turns to look after their son. Sometimes, Pat takes leave from work just to stay at home with Raidon.

I was glad Amelia worked hard to keep me informed of my grandson’s progress.

Early one morning, I saw on my WhatsApp a picture accompanied by the words “Food delivery to the boys this morning.”

It showed my son accepting packages of home-cooked food from Amelia’s caring and hard-working mother.

The next day, there were two pictures of my grandson showing a blister on his gum and blisters on his chest and the rest of his body.

Amelia confessed it hurt her to see her son in pain.

“Part of growing up. We all went through it. God bless your mum. She is really caring,” I consoled her.

Last Friday, Amelia shared with me two more pictures of my grandson. This time, he was climbing a sofa and playing with a stool in her mother’s house.

“Got complained by my mother,” she wrote.

“Naughty just like Bailey (my dog) and Mimi (my cat),” I replied.

Deep inside me, I was happy that Raidon was active again. It meant he was already recovering.

“C0VID generation kid,” added Amelia.

“Apu … really naughty,” said my niece, Ah Hong, when she saw the pictures.

Her mother and my sister, Ah Lan commented, “Your grandson really naughty, Adeline. Hyperactive.”
Yesterday was the first time I saw Raidon since he contracted smallpox.

I did not know he was in the back seat of the car when his father came over to the house to talk to me.

When I asked Raidon if he was better, Raidon quickly opened his shirt to show me the chickenpox scars.

He showed me his chest and his back. All these happened when we were in a food court that was still relatively empty and waiting for Pat to order his food.

Later on, during lunch, he proudly showed me how, with the help of two straws, he could drink two different drinks from two glasses at the same time.

Later Pat explained why he had earlier asked me whether I had contracted smallpox before.“If yo

u hadn’t, I would not bring Raidon to meet you now. I don’t want you to be infected. Do you know Amelia has not contracted chickenpox yet?”

His revelation did not make sense to me. As far as I know, all my friends and siblings contacted chickenpox when we were in primary school.

If Amelia has never had chickenpox before, will she have it soon since she is in close contact with Raidon?
I asked Pat whether Raidon contracted chickenpox in his playschool and whether other kids in the school were infected as well.

He said he did not know and did not want to know.

For me, that was all right. The most important thing is that my grandson is recovering and will be back in school again to continue his education.

The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of Sarawak Tribune.