On Monday, I got a thorough physical exam. I get them annually, but every 3-4 years, we are required to get these MAJOR physical exams. I had every conceivable medical exam short of a MRI (they did a regular x-ray on my head instead...yeah, really). I was screened for cancer of every kind. I had blood tests, hearing tests, lead level tests, and all sorts of things. The various doctors told me I was the picture of health, no problems. I felt a twinge of pride at my healthy condition. A doctor once told me that these exams are a "snapshot," an indication of your health at that one particular moment in time. He wasn't kidding.
About 10 p.m. that night, in my Bangkok hotel, I got violently ill, sick as a dog. I don't know if it was food poisoning or something going around. It was really, really bad. I was by myself. For six hours this went on and on and on. Finally, when I thought I could do so safely, in the middle of the night, I threw on my clothes and dragged myself like someone in a drunken stupor to the hospital emergency room. It was not too far from my hotel...only the Pakistan Embassy was between my hotel and the hospital.
I told them what was wrong (they speak English, I do not speak Thai). They sat me on the side of the gurney as they gave me various injections in an I.V. stent, and when they turned their back, I laid down on the bed, curled up and took a long nap in the ER...I don't think they expected me to camp out there for a long time, but that's when they realized how bad I really was, so they were amused and left me alone.
Later I told them I wanted to go back to my hotel, so they got me a wheelchair and a taxi (we agreed that the Pakistan Embassy was too much territory to traverse by foot in my condition), and I went back and slept all day, woke up to send my parents an e-mail, and then slept all night.
All in all, it could have been worse. I'm 90% better now.
No comments:
Post a Comment