Hi, King!

So..  Christmas 2012..  one to remember..

I left Africa at 8:00 AM on the 22nd.  I arrived in Thailand around 11 PM on the 23rd.  Completely frazzled from a combination of delayed flights, not being able to get cash out and not seeing Mel's face when I arrived in CM about did me in.  My card wouldn't work as I tried to use a pay-phone to call her.  I'm trying to keep it together so I asked some nice non-Thai people if they lived in Thailand and if so, do they have a phone I could use...  they didn't have a phone but gave me some coins to use the pay-phone.  Mel was at the airport, just at the other end as she was told all domestic flights were finished for the day (clearly, not true).  Anyhow, I met up with Mel and kept telling myself that it would all be worth it.  

Next morning, we go to a restaurant at around 10 AM.  It was fantastic.  I love Thailand already.  Next stop - Thai massage.  For $20.  How in the world could you not love this place!?  We're walking around the mall afterwards and I'm getting really tired.  Jet-lag, I think.  Into the grocery store to buy some stuff for Christmas meal and the smells are making me nauseous.  We decide it's best to go home and rest for a few hours before we head back out that night for the night-safari.

Well, I'll spare the gross details..  but we'll just say that I got really sick.  My fever sky-rocketed and I was completely dehydrated.  About 8 PM, when I couldn't walk, had sharp pain in my abdomen and started losing feeling in my arms, Mel called the ambulance and they came and brought us to the hospital.

I'm in a state of delirium.  At one point in the ambulance I told Melanie I thought I was having a heart attack because my arms hurt.  I also thought I might die of hypothermia because I've never been so cold in my life.

We get to the ER - questions and then they gave me an IV which I certainly did not appreciate at that moment in time.  In Mel's words, "You would think they were cutting your hand off."

At first, as they are talking in the ER, they start throwing around words appendicitis and possibly surgery.  This clearly calmed me down.  They roll me away to get a CT scan and an X-ray.  We are rolling by this huge picture and I say, "Hi, King" and gave the people rolling me a laugh while Mel is freaking out at my disrespect.

They finally put me in a room.  I'm like a broken record asking for water or ice.  The answer is always the same - they're waiting on my test results.  I ask every person that comes through hoping to get a different answer.  Finally, the results are negative and I get some water and that was about the best Christmas Eve present I could have ever received.

So, Malaria and Typhoid were all negative.  They say it's some kind of bacterial infection.  Bottle after bottle of antibiotics have flowed through my veins.  The first 24 hours in the hospital were pretty brutal.  However, the Thai people are great!  And on Christmas day - Mel's friend Sue brought some movies, little crafts and a can of Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup.. mmmmm :)    

Now, I'm feeling a lot better and they say they'll let me out if my fever stays gone.  Chiang Mai looks great from the window.  I'm starting to go a little stir-crazy!