Indonesia goodbye prez - Dengue
Trip Start
Jan 06, 2010
1
14
Trip End
Feb 11, 2010
Phuket, Phuket, Thailand
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
So we got to our hotels and the rooms weren't ready. We lay by the beach and drank water and ate fruit until we realised we probably needed to see a doctor. I asked the (increasingly worried looking) hotel guy (it was his second day) where the local doctor was and he directed me up the street. I sat in a crowded waiting room, as close to the fan as I good, and tried not to breath on anyone. There was the usual parade of motorbike accidents and kids with stomach bugs, and then there was the sweaty, blotchy lady in the corner!
When I finally got to see the doctor he was wonderful. Better than most GPs I have seen in Melbourne. He looked concerned when I mentioned I had been "in the jungle" in Sulawesi (once I explained where Sulawesi was) - then did a quite thorough check of blood pressure, temp and the like. He then proceeded to tell me he didn't think I had malaria, but that I might have Chikyngunya virus and would need to go to the hospital.
Now I love Thailand, but when I was experiencing a temperature of 40 and are covered with a rash, and your eyeballs are hurting - I just longed for the matter of factness of the Indonesians and not the sweet smiles of the Thais. Of course I had to get Jay and take him to the hospital, trying to negotiate a decent fair in a taxi (you would think that saying we needed to go to the hospital might garner some sympathy but no). I also lamented the fact that I had spent 5 weeks learning Indonesian which was now totally useless, and I couldn't remember enough Thai for it to be any help at all.
We got to Bangkok Hospital (where we had been told to go) and it was not really like I expected (although I was too delirious to expect anything at that point). We walked in and were greeted by doormen, and women in smart uniforms waving forehead thermometres. WE were triaged and had our photo taken for our "file", then before you can say "I would be waiting 16 hours in Western Hospital if I was in Footscray" we were shown through to a doctor and a nurse with winged eyeliner and a white old fashioned nurses hat. He took one look at us and told us he thought it might be Dengue and we thought he was nuts because we didn't even think of that. They took Jay's blood (cheaper to just do one test in case we had to pay upfront, and we both had the same symptoms, so no need to test both) and I drifted off on the couch waiting for the results and having weird feverish dreams. When I woke up Jay said "I think you had better come in here" and we were told we Dengue and I burst into tears (not that I really cared, and it didn't sound any worse than Chikungunya and it wasn't Malaria so it can' t be that bad, but fevers make you a bit 'neurotic'!)
At that point we were told we would have to be admitted because we might get shock and die. "Oh, and who is your travel insurance with". A woman in a smart pant suit came and showed us glossy pictures of the rooms and we were confirmed that World Nomads would cover our stay. We could've had a private suite with free Thai massage, but we decided Thai massage probably isn't the best thing to have when you are covered in a rash from burst blood vessels leaching blood. So we went for the next option, which didn't include any extra fees and was totally covered.
We were shown to our room, actually it was two rooms one kitchen and one bedroom, and two plasma TVs and two beds. Nice hotel style bathroom.
We spent three days there. I cancelled my Air Asia ticket as they weren't originally going to let me go, then had to rebook. And of course, even though they had guaranteed me that Jay's ticket wouldn't be cancelled, when we arrived at KL airport later, of course it was and at this stage i had run out of money - F**K.
So Phuket was awful (or what I saw of it anyway). Ads for English style beer barns - WTF. But their hospital is really nice and from what I saw regularly, a good place for a face lift of fake boobs. In fact I felt like we were the only people in the entire hospital with an infectious disease. Dengue was annoying - in that they don't do anything apart from keep you on a drip. I learned that every time you turn your head, your eyes move first - and when you have Dengue your eyes hurt when they move, so I got into the habit of closing my eyes every time I moved.
Thanks for the farewell present Sulawesi. Despite the fact that you have now given me an infectious disease that has no treatment or vaccine, and I will now be susceptible to getting it even worse next time and maybe getting really sick, I still love you and can' wait to come back. Thailand ... a bit over it to tell you the truth.
Love indonesia tho. I might even go to Bali next!
