A Day in the Hospital

On Wednesday the 11^th I started having the runs. Normally not one with a squeamish stomach, it lasted all night without getting better. In the morning I noticed that I was passing blood, and decided that I should go for a hospital visit to be on the safe side. Luckily enough, the VTCL school is affiliated with two rural hospitals that cater for tribal people in nearby villages, so I only had to take a 20-minute drive. The bus was extremely late that day, so I ended up taking a jeep (over-packed jeeps ply the routes between towns and villages as an addition to the government-run bus). On the last two kilometers, the conductor packed 6 women into the backload, so me and the other guy had to hang onto the outside of the jeeps. I normally wouldn’t have minded, in fact I would probably have found it rather exciting, but just not on a sick day... Ah well, there’s always a first. 

Although unknown at the time of arrival, I had Amoebic Dysentery. The nasty little critters had made me pass water over a dozen times since it started, so I was really weak from dehydration. The doctors immediately put me on a ward in the nursing station where they could keep an easy eye on me (“since [I] was alone”), and hooked me up to an Intravenous drip. I tried wriggling out of it by asking for Oral Rehydration Salt because, well, I really don’t like needles, but they wouldn’t hear of it. I have to admit that the three bottles of liquid they ‘pumped’ into my veins really helped and I felt way better that same afternoon. I also got started on a couple of bottles of antibiotics. 

I have never been hooked up to an IV drip, and I really wished I had brought my camera. I would have taken a picture of myself with the IV Drip, a thumbs-up and a broad grin across my face – that would have captured the irony of me looking way more sick than I actually was. 

I was very bored that day and swore that I would bring a book next time I went to a hospital. In the evening I went looking for the two Cornell volunteers I had met at the school, and found them in one of the doctors’ house. I had a good talk with Dr. Mohan while the girls made fried rasgulla with his wife, Dr. Arundhati. The next day I (finally!) got discharged around lunch time, and got a ride back to the school by the Deputy Director of SVYM who was headed out to watch Karen & Abbie’s leaving presentation – still tired, but with a supply of antibiotic pills.