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The more observant amongst you will note from the title that quite a lot has happened since we last updated the blog but rather than cutting straight to the juicy bits (pardon the pun) I will address things in chronological order, in order to build the dramatic tension.
Day 28
We got up and had some breakfast before taking a taxi from our guesthouse in Bangkok to Ayutthaya. We had decided to rent a room for one night (even though we would not actually be staying overnight in Ayutthaya) so that we had somewhere to dump the bags and somewhere to take a shower. Our previous experiences of temple viewing had taught us that the more you see, the more you sweat! Given that we had lined up a day of power temple viewing a shower was going to be a necessity, particularly in light of the extreme heat!
We decided to take a taxi to Ayutthaya as it was cheap, air-conditioned and quicker! We arrived at our guesthouse which was simple, but nice. It had a lovely pond with a deck over it and a plenty of wildlife including some huge mozzies!
We dumped our bags
and got changed to begin our temple tour. The guesthouse owner suggested hiring a tuk tuk for the day to take us around all nine temples in three hours. We were a bit sceptical but she was convinced we could do it. She arranged the tuk tuk for us, gave him a list in order of where we wanted to go and we began our tour. After twenty minutes it became obvious we would die if we attempted to keep the pace needed to see everything. We ended up seeing about five sights before we gave up and made our way back to the guesthouse. We wandered out to get some dinner before the tuk tuk came back to pick us up to take us to the train station. We were due to catch the night train at about 9.10pm. About ten minutes before we got to the station the heavens opened.......not that weak rubbish we get at home.....real rain like you only get abroad! Now just as a reminder, tuk tuks are fairly primitive modes of transportation, particularly as they have no sides! We both got totally soaked through! We were like drowned rats when we got to the
station and the locals looked at us like they look at the stray dogs, but with slightly less sympathy. You had to laugh about it or you would have cried!
When the train finally showed up we were shown to our cabin (1st class air con!) which is not quite as plush as it sounds but was still very nice! We tried to air all our wet gear but just ended up making the tiny little room smell of damp! It was quite a bumpy trip as the train was not as big as the ones in China (less people=less need, obviously) but at 8.30 am the next morning we were being woken with our breakfast! Nice!
Day 29
We got a tuk tuk to our guesthouse which is like a mock English pub called the Queen Victoria! When we arrived it was Sunday and they were serving a carvery and it actually tasted like proper English food! Heaven! We sat down and filled our faces before going up to the room for a rest. At this point in the story things start to take a turn for the worse.........
I had stomach ache which anyone
who has been travelling will tell you is pretty normal experience at some point on your trip and being me it is even more normal given my IBS. However, I can usually tolerate the pain that comes with my IBS as after a few hours of it coming in waves it subsides. This felt a bit different though, it wasn't coming in waves as such.......it was just getting worse until it reached a constant level that made it pretty difficult to stand up, move, talk etc.. I convinced myself I had food poisoning and that it was all the fault of the bloody roast dinner! Damn that English food for making me ill! I thought I would just have to sweat it out as I had done in the past but when it got to 1am I realised that I needed to see a doctor, trouble was we didn't have a clue where to start! Being a guesthouse there is nobody 'on duty' at night so we could not ask them for help. We decided we needed to flag a taxi although we both realised we hadn't seen a single one since arriving........hmmm..........We decided to go to the posh hotel
next door and ask them to call us a taxi but they looked a bit confused as their English was not brilliant but eventually they got the message as I stumbled about like an old man clutching my stomach. They offered to take us to hospital in their minibus which was nice.....but not until we had paid them for it! Nice!
Anyway, we arrived at the hospital and were taken straight into a room. Up until this point I had been rather concerned that I could be in for one of the most traumatic experiences of my entire life but my visions (and yours too probably) of a Thai hospital turned out to be entirely inaccurate. Granted it was the most expensive private hospital in town but still it was really nice. The junior doctor who looked like he had been awake for about five weeks came in to see me and began prodding me. They then started on the pain medication which was having little effect and so got progressively stronger until I couldn't see, think or move. He thought I probably had food poisoning and said I would need to see the gastroenterologist in the morning, consequently
I was admitted. They took me up to my private room which was very nice, got me settled, pumped me full of drugs and it was off to sleep for a few hours.....
Day 30
The gastroenterologist came in to see me in the morning and he was very good also. His English was superb and he was very reassuring. He also said it was probably something I had eaten and then began prodding me in the stomach.......around the appendix area.........He disappeared and a nurse came in to take me for an ultrasound......bit strange for food poisoning I thought?.........The ultrasound lasted about 30 minutes and the entire time was spent looking for my appendix and poking in that area trying to get a reaction out of me. I had been given pain medication just before I went for the scan and anyone who knows me will know I have stomach ache fairly regularly anyway, making me relatively tolerant to it. I knew things were getting worse when the head radiographer was called in and he started jabbing me in the stomach asking me 'why it didn't hurt' rather than 'did it hurt?' It was decided I needed a
CT scan to confirm the diagnosis, which I was taken straight to have and then wheeled back up to my room. The gastroenterologist re-appeared and broke the good news........suspected appendicitis.........the surgeon will be in to see you shortly.......Great!!!
The surgeon came in and again was excellent. He poked me but was far more assertive and after ten seconds he told me my appendix needed to be removed and that he would see me in theatre within the hour! It was all happening fairly quickly so I didn't really have time to worry about it and to be honest I had had enough of the pain. He told me I would be able to continue travelling and so my mind was eased somewhat, I just had to get through the operation now. They came to collect me and took me down to theatre. The anaesthetist was asking me how much I weigh (substantially less than when I left home!) but clearly he had already decided as before I could answer I was asleep!
Next thing I knew I was coming around in recovery coughing like hell as they removed the tube, every cough feeling like my stitches were about
to burst! It was at that point I realised I was actually in even more pain so they gave me some morphine, which caused me to try and sit bolt upright to be sick! (not a good idea when you have just had an operation!) Afterwards is a bit of a blur except for the fact that they decided to show me my appendix by shoving it in my face pretty much the second I woke up! It was huge! The biggest the doctor had ever seen which is quite an achievement I think!?
Right, you've had the gory stuff so I will just skim the next few days as they were pretty uneventful.
Day 31 to Day 33
I was kept in hospital until the Thursday for observation as I developed a bit of a fever which quickly passed. The first couple of days were pretty painful and moving around was a bit of a nightmare. the nursing staff were really good though, always checking on me, taking my temperature, pulse, blood pressure etc. It did get mildly irritating as they did it every few hours without fail........including in the middle of the night.........that bothered Marta
more than me as it woke her up also and we all know she doesn't like being woken up! The food was like all hospital food.....disgusting and I was bored to tears but to be honest I was in need of the rest as I felt pretty wiped out by it all. Every day the nurses asked me if I had been pee-pee, poo-poo or pop-pop-pop (farted!). Its strange how normal those questions became from complete strangers?! So on the Thursday I was discharged and we went back to the guesthouse who have also been brilliant, coming to see me in hospital and bringing me flowers!
Day 34 to Day 36
We have just been dealing with the insurers (I hate them) for the last few days and making some adjustments to accommodate the fact that I am not very mobile. We have had to cut out one place in Thailand and are extending our stay in Phuket so I can recover a bit more. It means we have to miss Malaysia which is a real shame and something we are both disappointed about but it can't be helped. We are lucky we get to continue the rest
of our trip at all I suppose? The last few days have been a bit difficult as I have been a bit down about it all and Marta has had to do so much to take care of me. We are both tired but she has done a brilliant job so well done Marta! I know things could have been worse and I'm really grateful for the brilliant care I have received, I'm just a bit of a disaster and was destined to end up in hospital at some point!
We have also been to visit one temple today as it wasn't too arduous! It is called Wat Chedi Leung and some pictures are attached for you to see. It was the original home for the Emerald Buddha for those of you who have read the Bangkok blog!
Thank you to all of you who have already sent your best wishes and we miss you all (although I'm not really missing England that much??!!) Keep reading the blog as I will be back up to full speed soon enough!
Take care,
Nick & Marta
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Lucy
non-member comment
OH MY GOD
OH MY GOD... I cannot believe you have actually put a picture of your appendix on the blog!!!! I just hope that nobody is reading this whilst eating their breakfast/lunch/dinner or even attempting a light snack!! xxxxxxxx