The one where we got hospitalized in Thailand

Text written by: Linnea

So Arno had been talking about this paradise island he had visited with his dad years back and I was open to see some more of Thailand than just Bangkok and terrified to enter any super crowded places like Phuket or Krabi. So this little island - called Koh Phangan - sounded pretty nice. It is one of the many islands in the Gulf of Thailand. There are kind of three on a row: Koh Samui, which is the biggest and super popular among the tourist, Koh Tao that is full of divers and backpackers (also some tourist get murdered yearly) and then Koh Phangan that has the full moon party, but is pretty quiet otherwise.

Getting there took us some time. We rode a taxi to the Yangon airport, catched an early morning flight from to Bangkok and transferred into one from Bangkok to Surat Thani. There we got in a bus that took us to the harbour and a 3 hour ferry to Koh Phangan. We arrived pretty late and got a taxi to take us to our hotel. Except that the taxi left us on the corner of the street and we had to finish by foot. We got to our cosy bungalow after 10 pm.

The next morning we really saw where we had come to and daaaaamn the place was nice. First of all the whole resort was pretty empty – us and another couple who stayed by the pool I guess. We had an amazing view from our balcony that had a hammock we spent a lot of time in. The beach next to us had swings hanging from the palm trees and there it was always so quiet. Oh how we had missed the island life!

If anyone is wondering about that scar on my right leg, it's the one I got in the scooter accident in Bali.
And the other one on my left knee is from running with my friends in a forest in Zimbabwe and falling on my face (and knee).

But there was this other thing tho... We both had had pretty bad (sorry for TMI) diarrea for several days now. Arno's stomach had gotten ill already in Mandalay and I'd joined with my cramps in the night bus from Bagan to Inle. And it is not that we aren't used to stomach bugs - as said they are pretty common while travelling, we've had plenty and usually you go through at least one on a long trip – but they shouldn't last longer than 5 to 7 days after which you should seek for some medical help. And we were on the edge of 7 in this point. We had waited with it to cross over to Thailand for some better health care than in Myanmar and had treated ourselves with all the possible ways you can (bananas, whole grains, dairy products, seeds, oils, Western food, rice, green tea, probiotics, more fibber, more protein, extra vitamins, even Immodium). Yeah. My parents are big time lovers of natural/herbal medication and have taught me a lot. It gets pretty tiring when you can't leave the toilet or keep any foods or liquids in and soon your body can't function normally anymore. And with the Southeast Asian heat it is critical to have some nutrition in your system.

We didn't want to spend our first day in the paradise hanging inside a doctors office, so we decided to have breakfast and just wish wish wish something would stay in. I had the best acai bowl ever but poor Arno couldn't even finish his banana pancake and was getting very pale. So we decided to rent a scooter and drive to a hospital in town. Arno tho insisted that we would stop by the beach we passed since it was low tide and so beautiful. But after half an hour of walking in the heat both of us felt so weak that it was time to keep on going.

We have both been hospitalized in several countries so we are familiar with the healthcare systems abroad. We picked a good Western hospital and checked Arno in because he was the one that was feeling worse, besides the fact that I couldn't keep nutrition in, I was still fit to sit and didn't have as severe cramps.

In that point it was still news and I was so hyped to start to study paramedic nursing after returning to Finland (medicine has always been close to my heart) but even without any education I could tell Arno's test results were pretty bad. His poulse was sky high and blood preassure higher than normally – his heart was raising like a marathon runner's when we just sat in the waiting room. And as we waited for more results he started to get very very pale and sweaty. The nurse took us to the ER and told him to lay down on a hospital bed. And then they ordered an iv for him – I am used to those things but it was his first time and well, this guy has never been that excited about long needles squeezed into blood veins but I mean, who is.

After seeing several nurses, doctors and insurance people who took very good care of us, they moved him to the ward. I sat next to him on the bed as the iv pumped liquid and medication in. He didn't have fever when we checked into the hospital but I felt his body heat up as it had occationaly done during the last few days. The nurse took his body temperature and he actually had high fever that had come up in like 30 minutes. They brought ice bag to cool him down and some meds that blurred his vision as a side effect (and I mean he has a pilot's vision so we really hoped it would be temporary, you never know what you get abroad, even in good hospitals).

Then started the insurance war. Luckily the hospital had people who were hired just for that and they helped filing the papers – plain tickets, visa stamps, passports, insurance cards... We called to several numbers in our insurance companies and talked with multiple departments to finally get the checks flow from the hospital to the companies. (We both have the European travel insurance – Eurooppalainen - and could not be more happy so in case you are hoping for some honest recommendations...)

As it seemed that Arno would have to stay in pretty late - if not over night - they gave me a choice of a ride to the hotel - if I don't want to sleep in the hospital - or one there and back if I just wanna pick up some stuff. I chose the second and said I would sleep on the couch next to him. And as Arno felt a little better already I dared to leave him for an hour to go with this private driver the hospital had assigned for me. He took me to our bungalow and I threw in my bag everything we could possibly need – not knowing what they would diagnose and how long this stay would last – books, laptop, clothes, wallets, hygienics, underwear because I was only wearing my bikinis under my clothes... The driver who sat waiting on the balcony pointed our view and told that the sunset on this side of the island would be pretty. We would be missing that again, but yeah probably, I murmured. By the time we were driving back I was already about to split in half since we had been gone for like 30 minutes, which by far had been the longest on this trip I had been separated from my boyfriend, who now was so sick that I had never seen him like that.

When I got back he was still feeling okay and his vision had started to come back. But he was tired, needed some rest and told me that it would be dinner time for me already. Yep, we had had breakfast around 9 AM and it was already five o'clock. I had been so pulled into the whole worry rumba that I had forgot how hungry I was. So I let him sleep and left the hospital to find some food. I passed a few restaurants since all the smells I otherwise so deeply loved made me gag and decided to roam around a market area on one parking lot. I collected a bag of pineapple, a few spring rolls and shish kebabs and poured half a liter of water down my throat. I realized that I was hungrier than I had thought and after one shish kebab, half the pineapple and one spring roll also very full. My tummy wasn't used to eating, so stuffing myself didn't really work out. I decided to save some food for Arno and after enjoying some fresh air outside the hospital, started to head back.

I wanted to take the long way back to go around a little but the more I walked, the worse my stomach started to feel - twisting and turning. And the last 50 meters I ran back into the hospital, pass the nurses station, Arno's bed and straight to the toilet. When I returned to Arno's bedside and lied down next to him I realized that eating wasn't such a great idea and also that I would need to check myself in too – I was still sick. So off I went. I got admitted to the hospital and started to do the same insurance battle, got to see a doctor and then finally the nurses put an iv in my hand and started to push some meds in.

So there we lied in bed, the sun had set and it was raining so hard I thought the roof couldn't take it soon. Lightning and thunder right above us. Then I started to smell something burning. I thought it was just me and some side effects of meds but when a guy (who's son on a bed across from us was suffering some tropical illness) stood up and pointed outside saying “fire!” I knew it wasn't just in my head. I jumped out of the bed and ran to the end of the room where there was a balcony. I opened the door and saw this tree next to the hospital really in fire after it had gotten hit by a lightning. All the nurses ran up to us and started to wow. The flames were high and cracking hard but no one came to kill the fire. The hard rain finally put an end for it after the tree had burned into little pieces.

We calmed down to wait for doctors and more info by watching Netflix on the computer. It was kind of cozy laying next to each other on a narrow hospital bed, holding hands (that had iv in them) and enjoying some Orange is the new black listening to the rain under dimmed lights. And after a few episodes we got hungry, so we got ourselves some pancakes and nutella bread – even tho we couldn't finish them. But it felt good to eat with the medications holding things in.

The doctor came in around 10 PM to tell us that we would have to spend the night so they can run some more tests on us and we have to give them a... sample of... well you know. Too bad you cannnot force nature, especially after you have gotten some meds to stop everything from falling through. So we then decided to hit the hay so to say.

I woke up around 8 AM to some weird noises and once Arno was up too, we ordered breakfast from a nearby restaurant that got brought in to the hospital. After the breakfast the doctor wanted to see me. He had found a paracite from my sample and it would needed to be killed with antibiotics. They wanted to keep me for another day for iv, but were ready to reliese Arno since he had “only” a virus. We both agreed we don't want to spend any more time in this hospital while we are paying for a nice bugalow and missing out on the island life. Besides I was a big enough girl to drink my own fluids and take my meds now that they stayed in. We knew that in Europe we would have been releazed already. So we talked to the incurance ladies and agreed on writing a denying medical treatment forms. There was really no other reason for us to stay than getting more fluids into our bodies so we made a deal with the doctors that if it gets worse, we'll come back. So they gave us antibiotics and so many other tablets for pain, cramps, nausea... The incurance company payed for our stay that came to cost around 1000 euros. And then we were out to explore again with more strength. As we walked to our scooter and put on our helmets to ride to get some lunch, I felt some preassure in my throat. But I decided to ignore it under the warm Sun.

Here are our medicines.. :D

We had some amazing lunch at Haad Yao beach, which is this very quiet, white beach area with the perfect ocean view. We sat and enjoyed some food (and medicine) that stayed in our tummies and decided to go for a swim. Arno had a little bug bite (or something) on his lower abdomen so he couldn't really dive in but came to hang out just chilling and standing.

The next day we decided to head for the hidden waterfall in the central of the island. Needless to say Google maps was very helpful – after all it was a hidden waterfall. We hiked up, took some pictures and enjoyed the small waterfall. I went swimming in the gem and did some rope swinging. Once again Arno could not join because of the bug bite but he was happy to keep me company. After that we headed to walk in the woods but didn't make too far before the sky turned grey. It was best to head back to the town quickly and then to the bungalow. Because when it rains in the tropics it really rains.

That evening Arno started to get very pale again. I told him to lay down and took his fever with a termometer we had bought from the town on our way back. It told us that he had a little bit of fever. I still insisted that he would eat something salty because you cannot go around in 30 degrees without any salt in your body. So I pulled him up on the deck where the bungalow owners had a restaurant. After dinner I let him take a nap and went to shower. Just during that shower (and trust me there is not that much hot water to take a long one) his fever started to rise. It was now so high that if it were to rise half a degree more I would need to call the hospital to come pick us up. I tried to cool him down without any medication. Just giving fluids and keeping cold bottles on his forehead. He slept a lot and was very fuzzy but finally towards midnight I got to measure lower numbers. We decided to head to the hospital the first thing if the fever goes up again.

I look like I had just peed my pants but trust me it's just my bikini being wet under my pants after the swim :D

But it didn't. Not on him at least. I can't remember much from the next day. Only that I sat up on the deck drinking ginger tea with honey and my head hurted terribly. Arno didn't have fever anymore but my thorat was swollen and nose stuffed. And then the fever broke. I was dizzy, nauseas and my body was burning hot. But after laying down for a few hours I insisted to go shell picking on our beach just 10 to 50 meters away from the bungalow. We climbed on the rocks and swang on the swing hanging down from two palm trees. But after that my fever jumped so high I slept the rest of the evening. Now it was his task to measure my fever and bring me water.

Yep, sounds a lot like Dengue fever or Malaria - except not. I've had the Dengue, much more horrifying pain - it is not called the "breakbone fever" for no reason. And as I have had it once already, I would have been in much worse shape in case I got it again – and that was the risk we took when going on a trip like this (we didn't either eat Malaria pills in any point, even in Inle lake, since I get so sick from them). And when the fever went down so “easy” we knew nothing was badly wrong (not that we would still know, what virus or what parasites we had) and we finally got to drive around the island, eat in cool restaurants, walk on beaches and swim during Sunset. And I have to say, Koh Phangang was incredible. Just as Arno always talked about it.

We had lengthened our stay there because the whole hospital case but didn't wanna stay during the full moon party that always fills up the little paradise island with loud and messy tourist drinking and not respecting the island rules (sorry co-travelers, but one must behave on another's backyard). So one morning we decided to look through our options. We wanted to continue down to Malasia and make our way to Sumatra from there. And we really wanted to see Kuala Lumpur. But we didn't have the money to fly all the time. So we went through several people who helped us with different options. Except that there really was no options. We thought our heads through what could be done. There was a train connection with switching trains somewhere in the middle of Thailand like 3 o'clock in the morning (if the train runs on schedule). The other option would take us to Kuala Lumpur by several buses and mini buses but last 23 hours. And I wasn't going to sit in a metal can for a whole day and night.

We found a travel agent who helped us with different options and used her precious Wifi and phone to make some calls asking for more detailed schedules. She had an idea of us taking first two ferries to make it down to the harbour, then jumping on a bus that would take us to a minibus in another city. And then the minibus would drive us over the boarder of Thailand into Malesia where we could take yet another bus from this town called Penang to Kuala Lumpur. And as she was explaingin this combo, my eyes travelled down a map on her wall. So I asked what if we would fly to Sumatra from Penang and visit Kuala Lumpur on our way back from Indonesia. This seemed like a good plan so we bought the bus tickets. Then I sneaked a Wifi password from a nearby restaurant we had had lunch in and sat on the curb of the road. We googled plane tickets on our phones and booked a Sriwijaya airlines flight from Penang (Malaysia) to Medan (Sumatra) that costed about 30 euros. Then we even found a nice hotel online for like 6 euros/night by randomly searching and decided to spend a day in Georgetown just because it sounded so funny and American. We had no idea what this rest stop city would be like and didn't expect much but oh boy when we got there this little accident trip of ours turned into something pretty cool. But more about that later!

And we finally got to see the sunset!

Here I listed some tips about healthcare while travelling:
(these tips are based on my own experiences)

• Prepare: 
• Check your vaccinations and the vaccinations needed in your destination. 
• Take with you the basic first aid stuff like bandaids, disinfectant, gauze, painkillers etc. Especially in tropics even little wounds can get infected very fast. Clean them often. In the evenings check your body for ticks, coral scratches, bug bites, mosquito bites, weird marks, burns etc.
• Note if you are travelling to an area with a lot of dengue, malaria, cholera or other easily spreading diseases. Malaria and dengue spread by mosquitoes, there is no preventive medication for dengue and malaria meds are also pretty expensive and have bad side effects so long sleeves and bug spray are my number one! I buy my bug spray from a pharmacy and it is made to keep especially the tropical mosquitoes away! There are also some other natural ways of getting mosquitoes to stay away but I do recommend strong bug spray on the side.
• Get a good travel insurance! I cannot underline how important this is! And then if you have one and need some medical attention, contact your insurance company or check their websites for the hospitals around the world which work directly with your insurance company. They may even pay the expensive bills before you get out of the hospital
• Always keep someone up to date about your plans! This applies for all traveling, not just traveling while you are sick! Have an emergency contact and a person who knows where you are and what are your next plans. We always tell our parents when we switch countries so they know where we are if accidents happen. Parents are also good if you need some info about your medical history or just advice in general.
• Act wisely while travelling!
• This includes things like use a helmet, don't get bitten by a stray dog or any kind of wild animal, don't drink and scooter or do other stupid stuff like that. Don't take alcohol from strangers, leave your drinks behind your back or buy alcohol products from shady shops (can make you blind or kill). It is always good (but not necessary) sign if you see someone make your drinks (same applies for food).
• Don't take ice with your drinks (at least in the third world countries). I don't recommend drinking water from taps in all countries either. And when buying bottled water, check that the cap hasn't been opened. Some restaurants refill the bottles and melt the plastic of the cap so it looks like it has never been opened. And hey, drink enough water but not just water! In very hot places the liquids kind of just diffuse through your skin like during sweating, except that you don't feel it. I have fainted in Las Vegas because I had only water in my system. So have a coconut water, soda, juice, sport drink or smthg. And have some salt every now and then. We had a rule in Zimbabwe that if you haven't used the restroom for a few hours you haven't been drinking enough.
• Be careful with raw food like veggies, meats, fish (yes, sushi), eggs etc. Check where you buy food from, check the best befores, how long the food has stood in the warm air or sun etc.
• Wash hands or disinfect but don't go crazy. It's good to get used to the different bacteria abroad. My dad had also a rule for not touching your eyes, ears, nose or mouth too much during the days.
• If taking meds abroad, check the labels and side effect. We were once handed a medicine which label we checked at the hotel before using and the side effect started with "can cause seizures, strokes and death". You may guess we didn't use that medicine and looked for something more natural.
• If you start feeling weird and are travelling alone, write down some facts about your health: If you have a disease or allergy that is critical info for someone taking care of you, put it on a note. It's also good for you to keep some diary about when your fever started or when you had the first stomach cramps. I myself have been in a situation when I was too sick to really talk about my situation so it's also nice for you to have some info down if no one around you knows about your history, understands your speech or you are not able to answer questions. 
• Keep identification, passports, visa stamps and insurance card with you when going to a hospital or health care center. Some hospitals refuse to treat you without needed info, insurance card or some kind of evidence that you will be able to pay for the treatment. In Finland we get cheap healthcare but around the world it can be  v e r y  expensive if you have to pay for it by yourself.
• Pick out a good hospital. We tend to also check in witch country we go to in case of an emergency. Google knows a lot, so if you have time before you have to rush, check where you can get the best health care and where you have minimum risks for returning from the hospital with more infections!
• And remember! No matter how well you prepare, there is always the chance of getting sick or having an accident. So don't freak out. And don't be scared. There are good hospitals and well educated professionals around the world - even in "poor" countries.

Hope you made it down here! Be safe while traveling!

Hugs,
Linnea