I think many people understate the phrase 'Thank God It's Friday'. Yeah, Fridays are good. They signal the end of a week, the advent of a long sleep-in, the beginning of the proverbial 'night to remember'. But for me particularly, this particular Friday has to be the most relieving TGIF I've ever had the fortune to say out loud.
Now when I began writing this blog, I intended to provide future students who were going abroad (specifically to Indonesia) information which will keep them alive and sane. A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy of sorts. So after I recount this very horrifying experience, I shall attempt to provide as much advice as possible so that YOU, YES YOU, travellers and students alike will keep an alert eye out to prevent such events from ever happening to you. These things happen to everybody, so you must always, ALWAYS be prepared for the unexpected.
Firstly, I must say that I'm not particularly an unhealthy person. I'm a little on the skinny side, and my immune system isn't exactly Fort Knox impenetrable - but I usually have quick recoveries from viruses and bacteria and what have you. The only weakness I have is a long-running gastrointestinal one. This is a highly uncomfortable subject which I rather not broach. But really, tummy problems are mostly easily treated with a tiny tablet called Lomotil. Therefore I allowed myself to become overcomplacent with regards to my health, resulting in a series of unfortunate events this week. Actually when I think back, I didn't actually consume anything out of the ordinary or do anything odd, and it's a mystery as to what could have caused these events, but cause doesn't matter when the effect is the one crying out (successfully) for attention.
It was Monday around 11.30 pm when everything from my tummy upwards began doing a tap dance. Among all ailments I have a particular hate for nausea. Who doesn't? It's kind of like an itch you can't scratch, it doesn't do anything other than sit there and annoy. I tried to rid myself of it. Nothing doing. I lied down and tried to get some rest but nooo, it just wouldn't stop. And then it finally happened. I threw up everything and started having diarrhea around midnight. Like I have mentioned before, GI weaknesses are common fare for me, so I reached into my bag of tricks and pulled out a Lomotil. Diarrhea gone. However I continued to puke up fluid every hour till 8am the next morning. I couldn't eat a single thing as it would make a reappearance about 30 minutes later.
It was probably one of the most horrible nights of my life. I have to say though, no matter whether you're a devout person or a hardcore atheist, all your beliefs are flushed out the window when you're sprawled on a bathroom floor worshiping the porcelain throne at 1am. Oh yes, vomiting really feels like it requires divine intervention, doesn't it? I opine that people tend to invoke the name of Allah, Buddha, Jesus and the Devil himself when there's a serious case of diarrhea or vomiting. Pretty much anyone who's free. Hah tell me I'm wrong. Whatever it is I emerged from my battle all sweaty and burning of fever the next day. And when I decided that I needed medical help (or at this point, euthanasia), turns out another one of my friends had been suffering from the same thing just after me (we live in different rooms in our hostel and I was dead to the world, so don't judge me for not knowing) and she followed me to the hospital.
A trip to the doctor revealed that we both had low blood pressures and high fevers. Actually that's all I heard from the doc, fever really gets you tripping balls and I was pretty dehydrated. All I cared about was collecting my meds and emergency medical leave letter. The cab ride to the hospital and back took a lot out of me and well. I didn't make it back to my room without my stomach contents making a reappearance (surprise!). So in a nutshell, I spent about 4 days with nausea, recurring headaches and a general shitty feeling. I've been trying to find out what's wrong with me but after Google diagnosed me with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (seriously?) I decided that I rather just wait for the bad luck to run its course. My friend (who generally has a weaker constitution than I do) recovered, but I'm still sitting here, feeling awful and saying with all the relief I can muster ; THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY.
So. I know at this point you must be cussing me out for being disgustingly graphic. Truth is, I was not graphic enough. You must understand that getting sick in a foreign country with nobody to help you, especially if you're not fluent in the language and unfamiliar with your surroundings, can turn sour very fast. I'm going to do you a favour and give you some advice. Ignore it at your peril. LITERALLY.
- DO get yourself vaccinated. Please do. If you're not sure what vaccine to take, Google it.
- ALWAYS drink clean bottled water. All sorts of pathogenic bacteria and viruses could be lurking in tap water.
- Here's a tip that I take very seriously ; always stock up on Lomotil or Imodium. Turbo diarrhea may sound funny when you're recounting it to family and friends, but it is absolutely no laughing matter when you're stuck on the toilet wishing there was a seatbelt to save you from being propelled to Mars.
- If the country you're headed to does not speak your native language, at least know what simple symptoms such as cough and headache are called in that particular country. Trust me it wasn't fun trying to explain things to a doctor who looked at me like I was speaking Swahili.
- Maybe you might wanna indulge in medical insurance? Just sayin'.
- And it wouldn't be such a bad idea to leave the house with a mini medical kit. Just a few paracetamol, oral rehydration salts, Benadryl. Better safe than sorry.
- If you can't handle it, don't try street food. I swear I've seen mutant rats the size of full grown cats freaking GALLOPING around food stalls and people behave like these are cute little pets. Disgusting vermin.
I'm sure there are many other precautions, but these are my personal top few. Being sick is the worst, and if there's nobody around, it could very well turn into a nightmare.
Oh yeah, a special shout-out to my Irish readers! I just found out that I have quite a number of you guys, and I really love Ireland, especially the awesome accent. I hear that we Indians are quite exotic over there. I would love to visit sometime :)
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