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The little spider that could...totally change my trip!
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Seth Familian
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Apr 27, 2002 19:34 PDT
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Hey again. Sorry about that little fragment of a last note; the
internet place I'm using is a bit finicky. Anyway, on with the note...
Well, I never thought I'd be saying this, but I have a little spider to
thank for a massive change in my travel plans. About a week ago I was
bitten by a spider on the top of my forearm while sleeping in my
bungalow in Pai, a small town in the Northern Thai hills. At first I
thought not to make much of the bite, as I'd had many spider bites
before and this one just seemed like the rest. Unfortunately for me,
the spider's venom packed a bit more of a punch than I was used to, and
so over the next few days the bite site began to swell. The hundred
plus degree days in Pai didn't help the swelling, and though I was doing
my best to treat the bite, by day four or so the pain was so unbearable
that I actually had to sling my arm and immobilize it.
(This part gets a bit gross, so read with caution...)
I thought things were improving on day five when I had consulted some
doctors back home and began to apply ice and increase my meds, but
things turned from painful to downright disgusting when the swollen bite
site burst in the afternoon, oozing more pus than imaginable. Though I
was a bit freaked out at first, I still had to consider the situation (I
was in a town that was four hours away from the nearest big city and had
access to a small though somewhat questionable hospital; I had just
managed to expose a large abcess in my arm and I had to drain the thing
to have a chance of avoiding massive infection), and so I quickly took
to action.
Armed with all the sterile gauze from my first aid kit, I did my best to
drain the bite site and then went to the hospital, where the doctor told
me that there was still some material in the abcess (which was at this
point about 5cm in diameter and swollen 2cm high), and they'd need to
make an incision and remove the rest. This was decision time. I sat in
the ER of the only hospital in Pai, the only reasonable medical facility
closeby, and had to decide whether I should let them cut into my arm. I
knew I had to do it, but the ER was still like something out of the 50s
and fear still predominated. While on the phone with a doctor back home
the situation became even more surreal as a team of nurses wheeled in a
convulsing man and attempted to stabilize him right in front of me. At
first totally surprised and shocked by what was going on, I eventually
decided to use their treatment as a gauge of the quality of care in the
hospital.
The staff did a fantastic job stabilizing the man; I wish I could have
said the same for my arm. Though they did adequately incise and drain
everything, they didn't quite anesthetize (sp?!) me properly, and so
*dug* into the abcess with a blunt tool with total disregard to what I
was feeling. Honestly, I've never experienced so much pain in my life.
They placed a gauze 'wick' in the open wound to keep it open and allow
it to fully drain, and I left the hospital reeling and dazed, wondering
just exactly what had happened.
That night I started antibiotics and thought I was on my way to full
recovery. My initial plan was to remain in Pai for seven days, since
the wick had to be changed twice daily and I had to have it done by the
hospital staff. Staying in Pai for a few more days would be great, I
thought, as it was a beautiful, tranquil town with enough to keep me
busy and still rest my arm. However, when I had the wick changed the
following day, my plans immediately changed. I looked at my arm,
realized I had a 0.5cm HOLE in it which opened into a much larger
abcess, and thought better about staying around Pai; I had to get to a
big hospital in a big city.
I caught the next bus to Chiang Mai and arrived in the early evening.
The plan was to settle down there and continue outpatient treatment for
about seven days. But plans changed once again when I revealed my now
drained wound to the ER Doc in Chiang Mai, who diagnosed me with a
developing staph infection and recommended intravenous antibiotics for
at least three days. Again I was faced with a big decision, and again I
really didn't know what to do. I looked around the hospital, noticed
how clean and brand new the waiting room was but how dingy the ER was,
how the faucets were rusting and the ceiling was spotted with stains
from leaky pipes, how the nurses couldn't really communicate with me and
even the doctor had less than perfect english. This was not a place I
felt comfortable staying for three days.
After a number of phone calls and some strategizing, I had the doctor
prescribe stronger antibiotics and arranged a flight to Hong Kong, where
I feel I can receive the best medical care possible.
I'm now in Bangkok, en route to Hong Kong, and believe it or not I think
I'll be in the hospital for five to seven days there. It's been a wild
and ultimately exhausting few days (both physically and emotionally),
but I'm happy to say that I am still in very good spirits and am looking
forward to recovering and having this all behind me. Such an incident
does mean that I probably won't be able to continue on to all of the
places I wanted to go to in SE asia and the Indian subcontinent (I
actually had a ticket from Bangkok to Calcutta and had planned to spend
a month in India before flying home), but fear not! I have total faith
that I'll find something equally interesting and amazing to finish off
my trip with!
In the interim, I'll be in Hong Kong staying either at the hospital or
with friends. If you'd like to reach me, you can write e-mail but
please don't be surprised if I can't respond immediately, since I'm not
sure if the hospital has e-mail access (but never underestimate Hong
Kong!). Otherwise, if you really want to reach me more quickly, you can
call me on my cell phone (646.220.0114) which is a U.S. number but has
global roaming. I'll set up my voicemail later today so you can leave
messages if I'm not available.
Alrighty. Well, despite everything I'd like to emphasize that I'm
feeling fine and really positive, and I promise to write once things
progress and I'm out of the hospital. Until then, I wish you all the
best and thanks for stomaching my most recent travel saga!
tons of love from thailand,
Seth
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