Getting 'Disco Fever' on Gili Air (Day 178 - 186 by Chris)

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Saturday 12th March 2016

Happy to be waving goodbye to the sweat box of a room, but sad to be leaving Gili T which offered us an amazing 4 days, we left the homestay to catch the 9:30am boat to the next island on our list, Gili Air, which is only a short 10 minute ride away. Loading our bags aboard along with tonnes of other island hopping travelers, we arrived at Gili Air and made our way to our new accommodation, a detached bungalow set in a lovely green private garden. We were met by the owner of 'Yoland Guest House' and he showed us to the room. The first thing that hit us was the cool air of the aircon and we knew we'd have a good stay.

After dropping off our bags we headed towards the beach and the main stretch where the bars and restaurants where. Similarly to Gili T, the busiest area on Gili Air is near the pier and this is the area we were walking towards. What we noticed though was that there were far less people here and it was a much more relaxing, laid back place. We looked in a few restaurants before deciding we'd have lunch in a place called 'The Lost Boys' and the name was quite apt as the staff seemed to be floating around and playing rather than working.

After some food we found some sun loungers on the beach opposite a bar and made our bed for the afternoon and had a beer. We were sat directly facing Lombok, which is the mainland where we landed a few days previously. Lombok is very mountainous and whilst on Gili T we noticed that there always seemed to be rain clouds on Lombok and now that we were closer we were able to witness an epic thunderstorm with Hollywood style lightening. It was brilliant, that was until the rain clouds came overhead. We quickly packed up our stuff and made our way to a cafe for some tea and cheese cake. Once the rain had stopped we returned to the room to rest and shower before heading out for some dinner.

Sunday 13th March 2016

Our guesthouse offered bikes for rent so after finishing breakfast we got a bike each and decided to explore the island. Our first impression of Gili Air when we arrived was that it was very VERY relaxed. Staff in restaurants and bars didn't seem in too much of a rush to do anything and the whole island had a dreamy sort of vibe to it which we liked. We headed around the island which only took 40 minutes on the bikes with some places so sandy that we had to get off and push. There were some lovely looking hotels and spots with reggae bars and beautiful stretches of beach and we couldn't decide where to perch for the day. We finally settled on a bar/restaurant which had some sun loungers and parasols which were free if you ordered food. We spent the remainder of the day here drinking beer, reading and occasionally taking a dip in the crystal clear water.

By evening time we made our way back to the room and after showering were going to head out for some food. Gemma suddenly came down ill and had no energy and had a headache so i found a place that did take away pizza and brought some dinner to the comfortable room that we had.

Monday 14th March - Wednesday 16th March 2016

The next 3 days were spent in the room on account of Gemma being ill. Over this period she gradually became more unwell and began aching in her joints and muscles which seemed to be creeping up her body as the days progressed. She had a fever which thankfully broke after only 24 hours and she had a constant headache. We visited the doctor on the island who did an examination and told her to rest and take paracetamol for the pain. We then spent 48 hours monitoring her and resting and thankfully she seemed to be recovering well. Using Google, we self diagnosed her with Dengue Fever given that she matched all of the symptoms other than a rash. Not feeling too confident that paracetamol and rest would heal Gemma given what we'd read on Dengue Fever (if in fact this is what she had and it wasn't the flu) we made the decision to visit the hospital the following day regardless of whether she felt any better or not.

Thursday 17th March - Sunday 20th March 2016

The nearest hospital was on the mainland of Lombok in a town called Mataram. To get there we had to take the boat off the island and then a taxi for 1 hour to the hospital. We packed a small bag full of essentials should we have to stay the night, which neither of us actually thought would be necessary as Gemma was feeling much better.

We arrived at the hospital and decided to walk into A&E rather than the main reception. The A&E staff seemed quite shocked at this and not long afterwards i discovered that the main reception was full of people waiting their turn to see the doctor and we'd just pushed in. Ah well, we're foreign and don't know any better. The doctors sat Gemma down on a bed and asked her to recount the previous few days and said they would take some blood as it sounded like Dengue Fever. After an hour they came back to tell her that she had in fact contracted DF (something we began referring to as 'Disco Fever' or 'Dingo Fever').

Dengue Fever, for which there is no cure or any way to protect yourself against (the body just has to fight it off over a period of time) is transmitted by a mosquito bite, but not all mosquitoes carry this virus. We've been taking malaria pills and also covering ourselves in insect repellent, but for the amount of time we have spent in Asia, there is no full protection from being bitten unless we walked around in a wet suit all day and Gemma has told me that this is 'not on trend'. So unfortunately, one of the little buggers that bit Gemma was carrying this virus and after 5-7 days of incubating in her blood, it began to come to life. So its very possible that she was bitten over a week ago whilst in Malaysia.

The blood test results showed that the platelets in her blood (which help to cause blood clots if you are bleeding - a good thing) had dropped significantly, and because of this they would need her to stay in the hospital for at least 2 days so that they could monitor her and provide her with medication to help increase her blood platelets. This took us a little by surprise as we honestly thought that she was actually getting better, or at least it seemed this way on the outside. The doctor said that after 4-5 days of the symptoms she has already shown the body begins to fight against them and to all intents and purposes you think you are well, but between 5-7 days your blood platelets can drop massively and cause the body to begin bleeding. We were a little worried at this point but the doctors assured us that DF was very common among not only travelers but local people too and they knew how to treat it. It turned out that there were lots of travelers and holiday makers in the hospital most of which had DF.

As the general ward was overcrowded we checked into a VIP ward, which is basically a private room with an en-suite bathroom, TV and WIFI. The Insurance company were picking up the tab, so we thought we'd get a bit of luxury. For the next 2 days Gemma had round the clock attention from the nurses and daily visits from the consultant. Unfortunately though, after 2 days and being ready to leave, the doctor told us that he would need Gemma to stay for another 48 hours. This was a real bummer as Gemma had prepared herself to leave and was getting cabin fever at being couped up the in same room for 2 whole days. At this news we decided that I should return to the island and pack up our belongings and return to the hospital. As we couldn't be sure how long we'd be here there was no point paying to stay in a room that we weren't actually anywhere near. So that morning I took a taxi and boat back to the Island, packed the bags and made made my way back to the hospital. A trip that took 5 hours but with the heat and all the bags felt like a much longer day. We then settled ourselves down to wait for as long as it would take to be released and to continue with our trip.

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