Sick and Alone in Chiang Mai

No one likes to get sick.  It's really icky to get sick alone, in a foreign country when you're confident you've come down with Dengue fever since you just left your river bungalow in Laos, a breeding ground for mosquitoes in a country that had a Dengue Fever outbreak this past June.

It started when I got to the (thankfully really nice) hotel in Chiang Mai.  The lady at the front desk looked at me and said, "Fever?"  

"Ummm, I'm a little tired," I responded, "but I don't think I have a fever."  

Cut to: Two minutes later when I get to the hotel room.  I feel exhausted and suddenly achey, also as though I'm walking under water.  

I decide to go out into Chiang Mai, get dinner and explore.  When I got outside I felt icky and made a detour to the drug store to pick up Tylenol and a thermometer.  

I took my temperature, which came in at 101.8.  I was kind of shocked since I felt like I just got sick.  From there things got progressively worse - chills, well, actually I was freezing cold sitting under hot water trying to warm up.  I put the temperature in the room to like 80 degrees and basically that trip to the drug store was the last time I left the room for the next three days. 

The next day my temperature rose to 102.8.  My body hurt and I was still freezing.  I had to cancel my elephant trip, which was heartbreaking because I was so excited for that.  I cancelled the cooking class.  It was just me, CNN, Cipro (antibiotic prescribed by doctor at home), Tylenol and bottles and bottles of "drinking water" as it was labeled.  That water tasted so bad but there really was no other option.  I called room service to bring me the plainest food on the menu - French fries - and I left the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door.  Thank goodness I was in a nice hotel with no more bugs.  

Since I have a fear of needles, I was panicking that I would need to go to the hospital in Thailand.  Which hospital I didn't rightly know but the idea of strangers putting needles into my arms while battling with language barriers really scared me.  I decided I did not want to go to the doctor there and the only way to avoid that was to stay completely hydrated.  

Ugh, so I felt terrible and was not ready to continue traveling, feeling bad, not knowing what was wrong and risking getting sick yet again in the upcoming weeks.  I asked my mom to call the doctor at home and she said to come back if I still felt achey, which I did. I wound up flying to Bangkok as planned.  From there I flew to Japan and then home to JFK.  I am recovering, sleeping and just taking care of myself. What a crazy whirlwind of an ending.  It's disappointing but I'm trying to look on the bright side.