Bollywood Diet

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So I just went thru the worst twenty four hours ever.... I've been getting sick on and off for the last month now three times total where I thought I just ate something bad and would have about 24 hours where I couldn't eat and would have vomiting or diarrhea or if real lucky both...
So the other day I felt another bout of this coming on and so I just stopped eating and just drank fluids to make it easier on myself if I ended up vomiting....so now that I've prepared myself it ends up soooooo much worse. Around seven pm I start feeling really sick worse then before and start getting really cold. I ask the front desk to call a doctor because in a matter of two hours I felt all my strength disappearing. The doctor arrived in about twenty minutes and by then I'm a mess. He takes my temp and blood pressure asks what's wrong and then wants to give me a shot because my temperature's at 102.
I feel kinda weird about this because he show's up with regular clothes and with a male nurse helper which is not much help anyyyyway I ask him for proof...like a license, certificate, anything....because at this point I want something so bad because my stomach feels like a towel being wrung out to dry... He can't give me anything so I look in the lonely planet and tell him I don't want anything from him and that I want to go to the hospital. He gets upset with me so I go to the front desk and just point to the hospital and tell them take me...NOW!!

So I go down to the hospital about midnight and a really nice doctor helps me and ends up giving me a shot and tells me that's all he can do tonight until he runs blood tests and he couldn't do that until the following day when the pathology lab opened. So I'm sent home with the promise of feeling better and that we'll find out what's the matter the following morning. He's right I do feel better however I wake up around three in the morning and end up being more sick then I've ever been in my life....
Wendy you remember when Dedo came and he was sick and I caught whatever that was from him? And how bad it was? This was soooooooo much worse.
That was the longest night of my life I was counting the hours until I could go back to see the doctor. At nine I was getting my things together to go back because I was feeling so much worse and trying to keep everything in....so gross... when all the sudden my hands and feet started tingling like I'd stuck them in a light socket and then my vision went all white. It was the scariest thing ever....it was like something from a movie when they flash the big white light over the screen...
I am so thankful I had such good people at the hotel. I was so sick that everything I drank didn't even help and my electrolyte balance was completely off and I was going into hypoatremia. They took me to the hospital and immediately put me on an iv and started giving me lots of liquids and antibiotics. I have never felt so powerless in my life. It's kinda scary when you must put all of your faith and trust in a complete stranger. I stayed their all day and felt better...it's now been two days and I feel like a new person. They are getting rid of a bug I caught about a month ago which has just been multiplying.
I have realized that I can have complete faith in the healthcare system here. The hospital was sanitary, the doctor was used to seeing this in foriegners, and I got the best treatment I could of...I am really pleased with it and now I feel reassured that if anything happens I can be treated well in a timely manner. But ugggghhhh!!! I felt sooooooooo bad.
Then when I got back to the hotel I found out that the owner of the hotel ended up in a fight with the doctor that came because he thought he was a complete cheat. So again when my faith in someone here is tested someone else comes thru and reverses my feelings.
I didn't write this story to freak anyone out rather I want you to know that you can get treated really well here if you need treatment. Plus if ANY other travelers read this like I sometimes get emails....please please please I cannot stress how important it is to a couple pouches of electrolyte powder in your backpack. It's costs a fraction and it can save you from a lot of unneccasary pain if you start getting sick.
I also want my dad to know that you can get outstanding treatment when it's needed so not to worry!!
Our bodies aren't immune to the food here. I have to make sure everything is always properly washed or just stick with cooked food....but even so the doctor says this happens to everyone when they travel for a longtime....and they are used to dealing with it. I'm just happy it's over with and I'm starting to feel better. Nothing like losing 10 pounds in three days...I'll call it The Bollywood diet 😉

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Comments

[anonymous]

First of all you ask a doctor to make a house call, when he comes up u ask for all his certificates as though he is going to carry it around with him/her to please you. Not done lady. Trust me the hotels won't be calling in quacks to treat you, if you are dead it would be a lot of bother for the hotels with the cops and all. And quacks dont come armed with syringes here, they just bring some pills or pastes or powders. And all this for the pittance you would end up paying them and complaining about it loudly too.

[don]

:)
I'm beyond happy to suppose that you are ok. Are you? Are you afraid of future bouts? Your illness must have been terrifying, and conjured fearful emotion. Yet you seem cool, calm, and collected. Are you really this tough? Regardless, your bravery continues to astound, and draw appreciation, and love.

[Sevreni]

To "Anonymous"
Just to further explain... the guest house would not allow me to pay the "doctor" either. They'd never seen him or heard of his name or clinic. They didn't believe he was a real doctor either. And every practising physician should be able to show some kind of identification...how about maybe even the letterhead of what he writes his prescription on? It's not like I was asking him to show me his medical degree. Further more in India many men say they are licensed doctors when they are not. Maybe you are just more trusting then I am but hey that's your perogative isn't it? I trust that I did what was neccesary in my situation.

[Darcie]

Stick it!
I, for one, am very proud of you for going through the sickness and telling the "doctor" to stick it. You gotta go with your gut ... which I'm glad is working for you again.

[Ken Gossett]

You Go Girl
Hi Sandra, This reminds me of Amy's first month in Mumbai. We were absolutely worried sick but she finally made it and now seems to be okay. Of course she has 7 months now and I guess that helps. I think it took her about a month to get over the bad stuff. So hang in there.

[DavidS]

So glad that you're ok. I'm so glad to hear that the situation with getting medical attention when you need it is good. Solie dog says if she was there, she would lay with you and bite that doctor.