But the plans changed halfway through my trip when I became violently ill in Lampang! I stayed in bed all morning while the group went to an elephant conservation center, hoping I'd be feeling better after some rest and some Advil. The first few days of the tour had been intense and I was in desperate need of sleep. But by noon it was clear that this wasn't just lack of sleep - I could hardly stand up, couldn't eat anything, and could hardly bear to stand out in the heat while waiting for the driver to come back and pick me up. The plan was to at least get me to Chiang Mai where the facilities are much more modern, so that I could settle down, rest some more and see how I was feeling. A few people felt that I should rush off to the hospital, but I was convinced I just had the flu.
An hour by van (the longest hour of my life) and we were in Chiang Mai. Shortly after, my fellow travelers made me realize that I really needed to see a doctor. So off I went to the hospital. The gravity of the situation hit me when the doctor looked concerned and told me that I would need to be tested for Malaria and Dengue Fever! That's when I got scared!!!!
While waiting for the test results to come back, I had to be collected by a nurse and put into a bed because I was shaking so badly - they wrapped me in blankets and tried to keep me warm while I waited :) Thankfully, an hour later I got good news - not Malaria and not Dengue Fever. Whew! Just a nasty bacterial infection in my blood stream. Hey, after thinking about Malaria anything would have sounded better ;)
Unfortunately the doctor felt that I should be admitted, hooked up to an IV, and watched for a few days. Not sure if I would have had the same treatment in Canada, but I felt horrible and didn't put up a fight. They wheeled me up to my room and hooked me up (possibly the most painful thing EVER!). Of course, this whole time I had been calling Sean with updates. It was getting late by now and we were trying to work out what to do - he already had a non-refundable ticket booked for Friday. But thankfully, he managed to get on a plane at 6am to come and rescue me! I'd never even been in a Canadian hospital before, let alone all by myself in a Thai hospital!
Late the second day I really started to feel better and thankfully, they discharged me the following day. Two days and nights in a hospital with nothing to do and an IV to drag around everywhere was not fun. The good news was I was getting better and there were no major problems. The bad news? No elephant riding/mountain biking/river rafting adventure :(
Of course, in all the madness Sean still managed to find a photo opportunity! Here's me on the second day when I was feeling much better (the hospital was set up with wireless Internet everywhere! Yay for that!).
In the end it was a scary experience but all is well and good now. I still had a wonderful birthday and was happy to spend a few relaxing days in Chiang Mai :) More stories from our weekend to come...
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