Social media is an illusion, I bet I don’t have to tell you that. You either already know about this or must have seen it play out in more than one way. It’s the one place where humans can shape other people’s perception of their realities. People let you see what they want you to see and lockout the not so pretty side.

Ever wondered why everyone on Instagram and Tik Tok seems to have a perfect life? From where they live to how they dress, dine, how they vacation and what they wear. It’s all curated and humans will let you in on only the things they want you in on — and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Last week Tuesday, like every other night, I tucked in Lee and Livy and said their evening devotion and all was well until it wasn’t. A few hours later, Livy threw up(nothing surprising here as kids throw up all the time), we cleaned her up, try to put her back to sleep and things went South from there.

She started from a minor cry, then restlessness set in and no one could sleep again. We tried everything; take off her clothes, shower her, try to feed her again in case she was hungry, but nothing seems to work. By daybreak, it was obvious we needed to seek medical help. Got to the first hospital, and they didn’t have a nebuliser. The second hospital is a relatively new place and their processes are all over the place — teething issue, I guess.

We then decided to do the long 1hr+ drive to Victoria Island. Thankfully, when we got there, she got started with a nebuliser and drip. A few hours later, it was obvious she needed Oxygen as she was gasping. Blood samples collected and the test was conducted. While this was on-going, the hospital informed us that she was going to be admitted, to be honest, we saw this coming and had mentally prepared for it. But before any admission can happen, she needed a Covid 19 test. In my head, I am thinking “a 19 months old and a Covid test?” But this is hospital policy and there isn’t much we could do about it.

When the results for the blood tests were out, it turned out, we needed a proper paediatric hospital with ICU. In the midst of this, I had training to conduct and a school pick up.

Then came the transfer to the 4th and final hospital. I watched as my baby was hurled into the back of an ambulance, still under Oxygen and drip. The whole experience felt like a dream. 24hours ago, I had a daughter that was running around, jumping, screaming and just generally being a happy baby. 24hrs later, I watched as she was being taken to ICU. I honestly couldn’t hold back the tears.

Got to the last hospital and another round of test was conducted, this time around, we had to do an Xray. Results came back, she had pneumonia, bronchopneumonia and foreign bodies in her lungs.

Then we started another round of treatment. Six days, later, we are back home. But here’s an interesting thing. Apart from family, very few persons knew about this. If you followed only my Tweets and Facebook status, you probably would think I was having the most amazing time of my life those 6 days.

Don’t feel bad when you think the other person is living a far better life than you are just because of their social media feed. Everyone is struggling one way the other. Humans just let you see the part they want public.

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