My loose plan for travelling this time around was to get to Asia in November, give myself a couple of months to acclimatise and then spend a couple of weeks teaching english to school kids in Thailand from the 6th of February and then further travel after. With the TEFL (Teach English as a Foreign Language) course completed before I left the U.K and ACRO police check paid for, received and submitted to the organising company along with my flight details from Bangkok to Koh Samui for airport pick up, I was all set to go. Total cost incurred was around 700 gbp (not including flights in and out of Asia) and everything was on track.....until....well..,you know.
In the days after I rolled over on my ankle in Myanmar the bruising had come out quite nicely, the usual hues of reds, purples and blues along the outside base of the foot leading around to and below the joints of toes was in keeping with a grade 2 sprain according to the information I could source online. The swelling had swelled as expected and was now starting to unswell, but each day that the size decreased the more pain became apparent, even with no movement or weight bearing on it. With 2 days to go until the teaching trip began, I started to wonder whether my sprain was actually something a little bit more sinister than I had initially diagnosed. A week to the day after the initial damage was done, it was time for my first hospital trip on foreign soil.
The 2 hospitals nearest the hotel in Bangkok were Sukhumvit and Bumrungrad, both shown as being 1.1 miles away from our location. This meant that it was no longer the simple case as just going to the one closest to us, but now other factors would have to be considered for me to be able to make the required choice. At the most basic of levels it had now come down to which ones name tickled me the most, and the bum just about squeezed it.
A short ride in a taxi later and we walked into a foyer more in keeping with a luxury hotel than what I have come to expect from a hospital. The staff directed us towards an adjoining building where we were instructed to take the elevator to the 10th floor for registration where, on arrival, a man in a grey Dr Evil style collarless suit, sat me down to complete a form in need of some basic personal information and my passport as proof of my ID. I was then affixed with the universal style hospital wrist tag and sent on my way to the 20th floor to see the Dr for my initial consultation.
The Doctor was out at lunch when we arrived and this information was provided immediately on arrival along with what time he was due to be back. Somehow this was reassuring that Doctors here seem to be allowed to have lunch breaks. 30 minutes later I was taken to a small room and given a quick check over by the nurse. The usual things were confirmed
weight (heavy)
height (tall(ish))
blood pressure (higher than it should be).
With no new revelations to shout about, I was then taken straight in to see the young doctor.
I explained what I had done, sharply rolling my wrist in the motion that my ankle had taken 7 days before.
"Ahhhhh like this?" he replied back while holding my foot in his (thankfully) non moving hand and rolling the other.
"Yup" I replied back again motioning arm, "But with a CRACK" at the point where my wrist reached the desired rotation.
"CRACK, like the sound?" he said suddenly seeming more excited, "Yup" I replied.
"And it hurts here?" he said, gently pressing exactly where it did.
"Yup, right there", I acknowledged the press both vocally and involuntary movement away.
His entire face lit up.
"Yes, I think we will send you for an X-Ray".
There's something warming about making others happy isn't there?
I followed the nurse the short distance down the well lit hall to the X-ray room, an all too familiar sight. Not for the first time in my life I found myself on a table wearing the not too comforting led lined protective matt over clothes containing my essential bits, held my ankle in the 2 positions required for and then quickly re-shoed. I was escorted back to the waiting room for the results to be analysed expecting the usual prolonged wait that we would have back at home. The wait instead lasted around a minute.
Back in the Dr's room the X-ray was already pinned against the light board, the image confirming that somehow or how other, that roll with no impact as such had managed to cause a fracture of the bone. It wasn't the worst break, and certainly not by my standards and I was advised there was a good chance it could heal on it's own as long as it is rested properly and given the time to recover. This did mean however that the English Teaching trip that had been the pivot point of the journey was now off, but as I have mentioned before somethings are just not worth the risk when the possible consequences are considered. Sometimes as they say, shit happens, and thats all there is to it.
Other than the outcome, there's really not much to fault the trip to the hospital here. There was very little waiting between everything, the hospital itself seemed very modern and clean and the staff were courteous and friendly. Everything is efficient and exactly how you would want a hospital to be, even the total cost of the consultation wasn't too eye watering, coming in at 2545 baht (around 50 gbp).
So now I have to think about what next. I have ruled out returning to the U.K in the hope that the foot continues to recover and I have a few other destinations I would like to get to before I ultimately have to return. This just gives me something else to consider before setting off again.
Best foot forward and all that
No comments:
Post a Comment