Christmas in the Hospital (Part 2)

I wanted to write a follow-up post regarding my hospitalization. In my previous blog post titled “Christmas in the Hospital” I had been in the hospital for 3 nights and I experienced a quite pathetic Christmas. I was also starting to get pretty bored and a little depressed. The doctors suggested I go outside in the garden but it seemed like too much effort. The doctors were also not quite sure what was wrong with me but the two choices of illnesses seemed to be Acute Bacterial Diarrhea or Typhoid.

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I spent way too much time coloring in “Merry”

The day after Christmas, I decided to take a walk in the hallway and I heard my name. I looked up expecting to see one of my nurses or doctors and I saw Maria! Maria is a woman from Spain and I had been volunteering with her in Saping. She shared with me that she had been admitted the night before and was being treated for Typhoid. She also told me that she had spoken to Cecil (another volunteer) and Cecil was on her way to the hospital! After speaking to Maria, I walked downstairs and Saw Cecil waiting in the waiting room and looking very unhappy.

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Cecil, Maria and I (I left the next day)

Typhoid is very hard to officially diagnose. Even at the best hospitals and research centers in the world, there is only about a 60% chance of official diagnosis. Because the three of clearly caught something in Saping, Acute Bacterial Diarrhea seemed to be off the table and Typhoid was on. I continued to be treated for Typhoid and received daily intravenous antibiotics. The doctors wanted me to be fever free for at least 24 hours before I was allowed to leave. After 6 nights, this was finally the case.

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My favorite nurse! Thank you to all my friends and family members who are nurses! You are all amazing!

I was discharged from the hospital but had a follow-up appointment three days later. I was feeling very mixed about leaving. Of course,  I wanted to be better, but I was feeling exhausted and did not feel like dealing with all that goes into traveling in Nepal. I needed heat, hot water, and people to bring me food! I decided to book myself a nice hotel, one with all my specifications.

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My lovely hotel room! Each room comes with stuffed animals and if you want, you can request additional animals.

Over the next three days, the only times I left my hotel room were to go to the sauna. I spent my days ordering room service, getting a massage, going to the sauna and taking many hot baths and showers. I also spent some of this time on the phone with my travel insurance company World Nomads. I had to put my $5000 hospital bill on my credit card and then file my claim. I know I will get reimbursed, but it is still a lot of work to make sure that it happens. It is also scary because $5000 is my budget for the rest of my trip. World Nomads is supposed to be one of the top travel insurance companies. Part of my insurance covers property insurance and World Nomads was great when my purse was stolen in Vietnam. I was reimbursed the entire $200 for my stolen iPod. I am staying calm and having faith that I will get completely reimbursed.

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Leaving the hospital with $5000 worth of hospital receipts!

After I found out that Cecil and Maria were also admitted and being treated for Typhoid, I called Uttam regarding the situation. I felt so bad even sharing this news with him because he, along with everyone is Saping are so kind. However, it is a pretty big deal that the three of us got Typhoid! Emma who helps coordinate volunteers took immediate action. The volunteer program was shut down for three weeks and current and past volunteers were contacted. Luckily, no other volunteers were sick. Emma also did quite a lot of research and learned that many of the villages that were affected by the earthquake are now experiencing problems with Typhoid. This could be due to the fact that the sanitation systems were messed up. Staff, student and volunteer guidelines have been developed at the school. There is also now education taking place surrounding proper hygiene, including handwashing. Although getting Typhoid and being hospitalized was not something I enjoyed, at least, some good has come of it.

 

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2 Responses to Christmas in the Hospital (Part 2)

  1. Janine says:

    So happy you’re feeling better Mel! What a crazy story about finding out what you had!

    • melanietaj@gmail.com says:

      Thanks! Yes, it was quite crazy! I am so happy to better and out pf the hospital. My plan is to stay healthy in India! I can’t wait to meet that sweet baby of yours. xo

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