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Published: September 21st 2007
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Hospital Room
This was my accommodation for my week in hospital, not bad, probably the nicest place i've stayed yet I remember quite clearly one of the last things mum said to me before I left for my travels:
"remember to clean and cover any cuts or wounds you get". This comment was filed in my memory under "acknowledge and ignore" along with other such comments as
"only wear factor 50 suncream and always wear a t-shirt, etc etc" Well it seems mother is right again, as the week following the full moon party was spent in hospital on Ko Sumui, an island I had no intention of visiting in the first place. By the second day after the full moon party most people had moved on, Ben and the girls were on their way back to England and I was supposed to be joining Jack, Katie, Amy, Lola and Soph on Ko Toa, where Jack and I were gonna get our PADI diving qualification together. However, that morning I took a trip to the clinic on Koh Pha Ngan since I could no longer walk due to the pain in my knee and the doctor was quick to diagnose me with an infection. When on Railay beach the previous week I had taken a bit of tumble running to get
Hospital Room 2
They actually had a hard time making me leave, I was really starting to enjoy watching ESPN all day, having my meals being brought to me and being high on morphine....(definately miss that) out of the rain. The wound on my knee was tiny, maybe the diameter of a penny and I just mopped up what little blood there was, but didn't clean it, leaving it to heal by itself as I would with any wound. It didn't give me any problems and I soon forgot about it, however, it was infected, and it turns out infections lie dormant for a week before they kick in, which is exactly what had happened.
Upon visiting the doctor on Koh Pha Ngan, he offered me either; Just antiboitic pills, or and injection in the bum and pills. Since the injection was apparently more effective I went for that and the doctor said it should be fine by the next day, but that I should return then to check. So Jack and the girls went on to Koh Toa and I planned to catch them up the next day, however, that night I barely slept as the infection, apparent by redness and warmth of the skin, had gotten worse. By the morning the infection had spread down my leg towards my ankle. The doctor advised for me to go to the Bangkok hospital on Koh Sumui,
Hospital Room 3
I think I want to go back....maybe I'll fake something he gave me another injection in the bum, which seemed to not go into my veins, rather just form a painful lump on my arse, now making it painful to walk on my other leg. I then had to get a taxi back to the guest house to pack up my mess of a room from the past 4 days and check out before I could leave for hospital. I returned to the clinic to pick up a medical form at which point I fainted, probably as a result of a combination of the painful infection in my knee, the now painful lump in my arse from the doggy injection and general confusion as to what was going to happen to me. After I came around I was put on the ferry to koh Sumui, where at the other end an ambulance was waiting for me. I was taken to A&E and visited by the doctor. Now at this point it would be really dramatic to talk about my experience in a doggy Thai hospital, where I was left on some rickety trolley surrounding by dying people until some Thai
doctor who barely spoke English came and tried to butcher
Antibiotics
Check out the size of this thing, they're like horse tranquillisers! my leg. However, if i'm honest I was probably better off here than back in England. I was pleased to learn that the Bangkok hospital in Koh Sumui is world renowned. I was given my own room, which was to be my digs for the next week, it was actually one of the nicest places I've stayed in yet, Air Con, my own bathroom, a TV and DVD player and a bed that electronically adjusted in two places....nice.
Later that day I was taken into surgery where they gave me a spinal block, an injection into my lower spine, rendering my paralysed from the waste down for the next 6 hours. I was awake and high on morphine for the operation, so happy to chat away with the nurse while the doctor cut away at my knee and sucked out the infection. Afterwards I was taken back to my room, where I lay unable to sit up or move my legs for the next 5 hours.
The next day consisted of not much.
By the following day, it appeared the infection wasn't clearing and I was told I would need another operation to increase the size of the cut
My Wound
Feast your eyes on this bad boy!! to allow the doctor to remove more of the infection. That afternoon I went into surgery and again opted for the spinal block, only this time I could feel the cutting when he started, I don't mean it felt the pain of having a knife put into my knee, but I felt something uncomfortable. The next thing I woke up back in my room.
After this operation the infection was under control, I was given antibiotics twice a day in the form of an injection into various parts of my body. I started off with one of those needles, they leave in your vein, taped to your body so they can just come and inject into that each time, an IV i think. I started off with one in my left hand, but after a few injections, this became too painful, so next I got it in my right forearm, but then my veins started reacting and turning red. Following this they moved it to my left forearm, where it stayed for a while until they could physically no longer get the antibiotics in, lastly they switched it to my right hand. This one came out during the night while
My Wound 2
Ummmmmm.....nice!! I was asleep, lucky I'm a heavy sleeper. Fortunately by this stage I was ready to be switched to oral antibiotics anyway, just as well, as I think they were running out of places to put the needle. I was in hospital for a total of a week. Each day the doctor would come in to change the dressing covering my wound, this would involve first removing the old dressing and then replacing it with new, fresh dressing soaked in some sort of anti bacteria solution. I would rate this experience at number 3 of the most painful things I've encountered, after the pain in my tooth which subsequently required a root canal and dislocating of my ankle. I dreaded this part of my day, however, after the third time, in which I must of been showing more obvious signs of the pain I was experiencing, I was offered painkillers in the form a morphine injection ten minutes before the doctor came to carry out the brutality. Yeah, thanks doc, now you tell me there's a painkiller option. Anyway, this part of my day then became the highlight, the 10 or so minutes each day before the doctor came in
Leaving Present
They were kind enough to give me a goody bag on my departure, a nice red bag full antibiotics and painkillers. when I was lying on my bed, high on morphine. That was fun......................slightly worrying as well maybe.
The pain I had experienced the first few times that the doctor changed my dressing meant I had gotten into the habbit of lying back and looking anywhere other than in the direction of my wound, however, the day before I was released I finally got to see my knee. Now I was expecting a slit across my knee, from which they had used to draw out the infection, given, maybe a large slit, but a slit, requiring some stiches, leaving a line of a scar. However, when I finally saw my wound, I got to see what the butcher.........sorry..........doctor had been doing to me during those operations. I was missing a significant chunk of my knee (see photo). He had to remove this skin and flesh as it was badly infected. I was informed that the dressing would require changing everyday and that I would have to return in a week or so when enough flesh had grown back for a skin graft.............yes, the fun was going to continue.
At this point I'd like to say that I was quite disappointed by the number of visitors I received during my stay, I'm really quite hurt that none of you made the effort to come and see me.
On the plus side, I have now saved one weeks worth of my buget complements of First Direct Insurance, so you know what they say, every cloud.......
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Janeski
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Southern Softie...
That's nowt lad - I've just given birth - get on with it! ;-) We're here in Oxford showing off the product of my labours to your family... sorry you missed it. Rich has already over stimulated him - it took hours to bring the poor little guy down! Jx