What a Pain!
Day 780-784
Our next five days were not anything to write home about. I am ill again. What's happening? It changed our plans, keeping us in Bangkok. What a pain!
The day I went to Chatuchak, I’d noticed that my bowel movements were acting weirdly. I’m a one-movement-a-day girl usually, so after the sixth movement, I was wondering what was up. Yes, we had eaten loads the day before – but really, six times?
When we returned from our market trip, I suddenly had constant sharp pain in my belly. And it hasn’t gone away.
Day 780: Tim and I had a massage booked in. Shall I go, I wondered; perhaps it would relax me. What was I thinking! Thai massages are not exactly relaxing. I was pulled and pummelled, stretched and squeezed. I felt like a piece of dough being prepared for baking. Luckily I asked for just an hour’s massage instead of the 90-minute booked session.
The rest of the day I rested while George and Laura were by the pool and Tim popped out to meet Chris from San Francisco who we met in a Temple in Chengdu. They found a nice restaurant and their conversation flowed smoothly about work, stories of friends, education and relationships. It’s lovely meeting up with people and clicking immediately, something that we both value.
After their meal, Tim and Chris wandered around Lumphini Park; I had read that huge Monitor Lizards often are spotted there. They didn't see any, in fact, they didn't see a lot as they were deep in conversation!
Gratefully, our lovely Airbnb host allowed us to stay until 7 pm; we could take our time packing and take advantage of its glorious views Afterwards, George and Laura were going to head out for dinner and then get their flight home, while we were going to get the night bus to Kalasin for our two-week volunteering. I was in two minds. Our Workaway at the Eco-village sounded rewarding and fun, but the 11 hours on a bus and then sleeping in a hut on a mat next to a mosquito-infested lake with this agony in my belly didn’t. We decided to delay our trip. I felt gutted (no pun intended).
Quickly I found an Airbnb for the next few days. I settled in while Tim joined George and Laura for a meal, and enjoyed a few rounds Rummy. Once back, it was hugs all round, farewell and looking forward to seeing them in June. What a very special time we had with them. Such good fun zooming around Bangkok seeing the sites, our trip to Ayutthaya and our fabulous cooking experience. Yes, a very special time indeed.
I did feel awful being such a wet drip at the end of George and Laura’s holiday with us. It was a bit like déjà vu as the same thing happened last year just before they left Brazil. Coincidence? My body trying to give me a message?
The rest of the time isn’t much to write home about. My sister encouraged me to see the Doctor, reminding me that her nephew nearly died with stomach problems in SE Asia. So, on Tuesday, we got in touch with our Travel Insurance – True Travellers – and they recommended going to Bangkok Hospital. What a slick service. By the time we reached there, our insurers had already contacted them, despite the time difference, it was still the early hours of the morning in the UK. We were led to the GI & Liver Department, my height, weight, temperature and blood pressure were taken – all good plus I have lost half a stone, and then in to see the Doctor.
Antibiotics, tablets to reduce stomach spasms and Probiotics all prescribed and picked up inside the Hospital while a band played smooth jazz, we returned to our sweet, quiet Airbnb and rested.
My time was spent reading two books, watching a daft film and several Ted talks, and eating plain boiled rice. I also sorted out a spate of things that had gone wrong; Groupon, Microsoft and my web domain plus much frustration that Facebook had forsaken me. Had I unconsciously got in a state about these? The time slowly ticked by. We did venture out a couple of times and found some weird looking fruit called Sala Pondoh, otherwise known as Snake Fruit. We bought a couple; "the taste is usually sweet and acidic with a strong astringent edge" we read. Not to my taste, Tim's undecided.
Suddenly I kept seeing the quick scurrying of tiny spiders out of the corner of my eye. There was another one. Where were they coming from? I then realised that the spiders weren't on the ground but on my eye. I've got floaters! I've never had them before. What a weird sensation. I got no sympathy from Tim, he has had them for years.
We had to leave our very nice Airbnb as it was fully booked. I found another place nearer to the Hospital and could see it was by a major road, but then our current one was as well and didn’t cause any problems. Oh dear, Even though the apartment was on the 16th floor, the noise was constant – a bit like my stomach-ache. Why have a flat so near busy roads with single glazing? And how come no other Airbnb guests mentioned the noise? What a pain!
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