Well, as Robert Burns said, "The best laid plans. . ."
We arrived at our hotel early today and it was a good thing since I barely got to our room when I was hit with the running flux and projectile vomiting. I was shivering so turned off the fan and ac and covered up with all the blankets in the room.
Before long I was hit with the uncontrollable shakes. Glenn had gone out so I texted him to come back to the room.
Long story short, after consultation between our group, our guides and the hotel people, off to the local hospital I was transported.
By the way, that was an interesting conversation. We don't speak Vietnamese, the hotel and hospital staff don't speak English and our guides speak Vietnamese but don't have any specialized English medical or health vocabulary. In fact I would say they have rudimentary English but it works.
We muddled through thanks to everyone's ernest efforts and concern for the sick westerner.
My fever was 41.3°(C) at the highest point and blood pressure was quite high.
The doctors examined, nurses helped, our guides translated and recommended folk cures so quickly I was given something to lower the fever, something else to lower the BP and another to stop the shakes. They finished off with saline to replace lost liquids.
This friendly guy was a patient. He thought I was cold so he went somewhere and came back with a comforter. He was in the hospital because he lost power to his house, had climbed up the nearby pole to splice the line and got zapped. The shock threw him into the river, his neighbors pulled him out, gave CPR and brought him to the hospital for treatment.
When I was able to sit up the patients and visitors gathered to stare at the westerner with the hairy arms. Many of them wanted to rub the "fur" on my arms.
The treatments seemed to do the job and I was discharged a little after 2100 feeling much better. Five and one half hours well spent. I tried to pay but Wing took care of it. Since there was no receipt I don't even know how much it cost. I do know that the same treatment in a Seattle hospital would run at least a thousand dollars.
We arrived at our hotel early today and it was a good thing since I barely got to our room when I was hit with the running flux and projectile vomiting. I was shivering so turned off the fan and ac and covered up with all the blankets in the room.
Before long I was hit with the uncontrollable shakes. Glenn had gone out so I texted him to come back to the room.
Long story short, after consultation between our group, our guides and the hotel people, off to the local hospital I was transported.
By the way, that was an interesting conversation. We don't speak Vietnamese, the hotel and hospital staff don't speak English and our guides speak Vietnamese but don't have any specialized English medical or health vocabulary. In fact I would say they have rudimentary English but it works.
We muddled through thanks to everyone's ernest efforts and concern for the sick westerner.
My fever was 41.3°(C) at the highest point and blood pressure was quite high.
The doctors examined, nurses helped, our guides translated and recommended folk cures so quickly I was given something to lower the fever, something else to lower the BP and another to stop the shakes. They finished off with saline to replace lost liquids.
This friendly guy was a patient. He thought I was cold so he went somewhere and came back with a comforter. He was in the hospital because he lost power to his house, had climbed up the nearby pole to splice the line and got zapped. The shock threw him into the river, his neighbors pulled him out, gave CPR and brought him to the hospital for treatment.
When I was able to sit up the patients and visitors gathered to stare at the westerner with the hairy arms. Many of them wanted to rub the "fur" on my arms.
The treatments seemed to do the job and I was discharged a little after 2100 feeling much better. Five and one half hours well spent. I tried to pay but Wing took care of it. Since there was no receipt I don't even know how much it cost. I do know that the same treatment in a Seattle hospital would run at least a thousand dollars.
posted from Bloggeroid
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