On arrival at Ubon Ratchathani I went straight to the hospital in a tuk tuk from the bus station, and registered as a patient. It wasn't long before I was seem by a doctor for an initial assessment and asked if I could stay in for treatment. I was sent for x-rays CT scans and abdominal scans to see the extent of the damage and I was given pain relief to help, already a far cry from the hospital treatment I received in Laos. I'm relieved to be staying in hospital as I was struggling myself, I knew I wasn't right and in a lot of pain, and I'm glad that someone else will be looking out for me.
After my checks it turned out I have two fractures in my head, one at the front left, and one at my right ear which I've been worryingly bleeding from, I have a broken collar bone which I knew plus broken ribs which I didn't and on top of that, I'm covered from my eye area to my feet in cuts and scrapes and I really am a sight for sore eyes (just as well the camera is out of order). I am fitted with a proper support which goes over both shoulders and under arms which is tightly fitted and I need to keep on for the next 6 weeks to try and bring my collar bone into place, and straight away I feel that having some support makes a huge difference to my comfort, my bandages are changed and I head up to the ward where I rest and come in and out of sleep for what seems a long time.
The nurses are great and I am extremely relieved that the ones allocated to me can speak English. They provide me with constant care and I'm relieved to be getting injections for the pain which is helping a lot. Although I'm brought meals, I don't have an appetite and I've really turned against Asian food, but hopefully soon I will get back on track. The ward only has an older gentleman in it and his wife comes over and sits with me a few times, talking away which is lovely and caring, she was so concerned and sweet in her actions although I couldn't understand her language I knew what she meant.
When I left hospital I found a hotel not too far away, I can tell by the doctors questions and expressions that they are concerned for me and don't like the thought of me being on my own but I've no magic wand to summon friends or family here. They've given me instructions to attend as an outpatient to get my bandages changed and make sure everything is OK and to get a check up in 3 weeks time to make sure I'm healing.
I still feel sore, drained even, and I'm reaching for medication every 4-6 hours when it wears off and the pain starts again, I hate feeling this way, but I am extremely glad I came to get checked out properly. I have dressings on both my elbows, both hands, both knees and both ankles plus a huge wound on my leg which I cover with iodine which seems to be helping. Most painful though is my collar bone which pops out of place depending on how I move, and my ribs when I try to turn... ouch! My head is all bruised and painful which is giving me a lot of headaches which I hope will clear up soon so I can start to recover.
Thankfully I don't have any bandages on my head so I can be fairly inconspicuous and not embarrassed when I leave the hotel. It doesn't really matter I suppose as I'm only up and down to the hospital, the local shops and the market in the main square which is straight across from the hotel. The market is great, it's bustling every night and nearing the end of the week I manage to go over a couple of times - it's manly all stalls with hot food and BBQ's and it's great to watch. I don't sit and have food with them but I bought a piece of BBQ chicken one night which was just what the doctor ordered...
I enjoy being in Thailand and love the new tuk tuk's I find here, there's a very different feel here from Laos, the people seem very polite and respectful of each other in comparison to frequent raised voices in Laos, maybe my ideas will change once I return though and get to know the Laos people better.
I end up staying in Ubon Ratchathani for just over a week, most of which I spend lying in bed sleeping, and boy can I sleep... every trip out still leaves me tired. I need to make some decisions about my journey as I am going to be out of action for two months, so instead of cycling north through Laos and over to Chiang Mai, I decide to take the bus to Chiang Mai and work in reverse until I am well enough to cycle again, this way I still get to see places I had planned on seeing (although not by bike). So I booked an overnight bus direct from Ubon to Chiang Mai which I thought would be fine however, I didn't account for the amount of pain I would still be in. Only 30 minutes into the journey my collar went out of place and I couldn't manouver it back, which meant it was a painful journey.
After 17 hours of being bumped around the road with very little sleep, I arrive in Chiang Mai bus station extremely frustrated and very tired. I asked directions for the nearest hospital and managed to get my shoulder pulled and strapped tightly back into a better position before going to find a hotel. As I've not had my support off, it had become too slack causing too much movement for me so I was relieved after it was tightened.
On leaving the hospital someone must have been looking out for me as a young guys taxi stopped for me, he was just going back to his hotel which he recommended after staying here for a couple of months, so I went with him, got booked in and went straight to bed.
I think this healing is going to take a while but please let it begin 😊
