Because of the above, I am constantly interrogated about what I’ve been posting online.

It doesn’t help that I have members of my extended family on my Facebook account. I am not divulging names but one person apparently read my status update last week, spread it to the rest of his family, leading to another who phoned my mum and literally screamed into her ear – “BRENDA HAS H1N1?!?”

Following which, imagine the same person phoning other extended family members and screaming the same thing down the line.

As a result, mum comes along and demands why I have to “write on my blog” that I have H1N1 when I do not.

That is when I will let out a loud sigh and reiterate that I did not say that I have H1N1 but rather, just a ‘suspect case’ because no confirmation tests were done.

However, it will be too late because the garbled information would have spread throughout prominent members of my extended family, leading to half of them believing that I have H1N1.

See how people distort information?

These days, any Twitter or Facebook status update I make will undoubtedly make its way throughout my extended family. (Read: Gossipy relatives)

Unfortunately, given the prevalence of social media now – this is something I have to come to expect.

However, I do not appreciate being discussed about. Considering my recent Twitter posts and Facebook status updates, the scenario of my extended family members sitting around the dinner table and talking about how “Brenda has H1N1 (?!?)” and that “Brenda has stopped taking her medicine. OMG I HAVE TO TELL HER MOTHER!!!” has become a reality.

As such, I have begun blocking my Facebook status updates from the view of a handful of individuals with effect from yesterday.

I refuse to censor myself because I heavily utilize the Facebook status feature and my Twitter to simply spill out what I think. However, I believe I still have the power to filter certain people from reading it – and that is what I have done.

Thank you, Facebook for your powerful filtering feature.

It kind of helps that the bulk of my extended family (particularly the middle-aged and above) are technophobics. However, let a handful through – coupled with the pervasive, basic phone technology – and I find myself with a sticky situation.

P/S: If you find that you have been blocked, don’t take it personally. I still treat you as a dear relative and I still love you. But you really have to learn to shut that gap.

Because my ever-fluctuating fever was accompanied by nausea and mild diarrhea, I ended getting blood drawn. Despite having gone through this countless times (I’m a veteran at blood tests. Hurhurhur.) I still buried my face in my jacket throughout the entire procedure. Can’t bear to look luh. :(

Anyhoo, that is not the point. After the test, they placed the tube into a plastic bag plastered with a loud yellow label with the words ‘Biohazard.”

That made me go “?!?!?“.

BIOHAZARD?! ME?! Hey, I am not radioactive or anything, okayyy?

All right, I concede that the above was standard procedure. But the choice of label used is enough to baffle me.

Brenda Tan, the biohazardous patient. Hur.

I am very tempted to complete the story of the biohazardous patient by replacing the plaster that is on my forearm now with the one from Australia which states ‘Crime Scene – Do not enter‘.

Nifty bandages from Australia. Crime scene, indeed!

Perhaps I will.

Now, wouldn’t that be a sight to behold?

Unfortunately, I am still stuck (quarantined?) at home so there wouldn’t be anyone around to show it off to.

Anyway, my blood test results were normal. (Sidenote: Swine flu, or H1N1 is not diagnosed through blood tests but rather, through nose and throat swabs. Hospitals are now carrying out these tests selectively and so whether I do have H1N1 or not is still unknown.) However, since my fever is still fluctuating, I am asked to return to the hospital for retests should the fever and nausea not subside over the next few days.

Right at this moment, I am still running a low-grade fever of 37.8 degrees celsius, despite having drugged myself with two paracetamols.

I hope things get better tomorrow.

Of course, the first thing that struck my mind was the possibility of H1N1 because of the ongoing epidemic – so I was literally dragged to the hospital by my anxious mum. (I am after all, under the high risk group of developing complications due to my multiple medical conditions.)

I was ‘beeped‘ by the thermal scanner as I entered the hospital, given a mask to wear, and was later chucked in an open-air isolation area for nearly forty-five minutes. My turn eventually came after a long, painful wait. (My head was throbbing throughout.)

They didn’t conduct any tests for H1N1, though.

Apparently, Singapore has too many cases and so the hospitals are presently overloaded with samples. As such, they only reserve testing for the more ‘certain’ cases such as patients who have returned from H1N1-affected countries (according to the list stipulated by the WHO).

It makes absolutely no sense to me. If they were to restrict it that way, then how on earth are local transmissions detected? (Of which Singapore already has quite a large number – of all the 629 cases that have surfaced in Singapore as of 30th June 2009, 54% are through local transmissions.)

Ah well, I am not in the position to question their policies so I decided to clam up.

The doctor told me that he is unable to ascertain whether I really have or do not have H1N1 – so I hereby remain as a suspected case. As such, I am presently on home quarantine for the next 5-7 days.

Additionally, because I also reported symptoms of nausea along with the fever, the doc’ was concerned that it could be something else. So I’m to monitor the fever situation for the next 2-3 days and should it persist, I’ve to return for a full blood count. Argh.

Meanwhile, I’d be stuck at home for the next few days. I was instructed to monitor the status of my fever, and to watch out for any deterioration in my asthma and heart flutter condition over the next few days.

Boy. Extremely bored, I will be.

My status currently? The throbbing headache and low-grade fever is still persisting. Slightly dizzy, and I still feel like puking. My cough seems to have subsided a little, though.

Sigh.