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Thailand Newsletter #6 - March 11, 2001 Current Events in Tedious Detail Our language class is going well. We feel more confident. Even our free time is more enjoyable, so neither of us expected the Monday morning body slam I received. By the morning coffee break, I had a headache and muscle pain. At noon, I rested at the hotel-PC headquarters with a 99o temp. By 2 p.m. my fever was 101o. By 5 p.m. it was 102 o. Someone called Nurse Malee who was busy in Bangkok medivac-ing sick tourists out of the country…her second full-time job. She sent me to bed for the night…drink lots, eat a little, take 1000 mg of Tylenol every 4 hours. Even with the Tylenol my fever hovered at 101o until 4 a.m. when it dropped to just under 100o where it stayed for the next 24 hours. Headache gone, muscle pain gone, only a little start of diarrhea, I was feeling much better, but, believing I could have a virus, Nurse Malee recommended I go to the hospital where I could rest better and where my meals would be provided for the day. Sounded like a nice vacation!
A nurse walked me to the lab where I was stuck for a blood sample and again for an IV. Despite the fact that I had dutifully consumed liters of 7-Up and nearly a box of crackers, I was glucosed-up for the next 6 hours. I decided they had to take some action to justify my hospitalization with a temp of 99o. Life in the hospital hasn’t been bad, now that the IV is out. A fast run to the john is a tall order when you also have to negotiate climbing out of a hospital bed, un-knotting an inevitably knotted drawstring on turquoise pajama pants, opening and shutting a rather stubborn bathroom door, all while carrying a glucose bottle high enough above your hand that there isn’t a backwash of blood into the line. (No, I didn’t always make it but they provide extra PJs.) Oh, the joys of recovery! My run record on Monday was 10. By Tuesday, I was down to 9, so of course I had to improve my score on Wednesday with a high of 13 trots to visit johnny. Monday afternoon, I was paid a visit by my melt-your-heart -smiling doctor, who asked “You better?” “Yes! I feel much better, thank you.” “You pain?” “Nit noy (a little),” I answered, not wanting to press my luck in English. “You diarrhea?” “Chai, ka, diarrhea gao…mah. (Yes, diarrhea 9..much!) I answered. She seemed to understand, smiled and walked out. A nurse came in half an hour later with two vials. “You make stool sample,” she instructed. “OK.” I wonder why the lizards at home are tan and the ones on in my hospital room are gray. At first, they believed I had a viral infection; then it became acute infectious diarrhea. Third, I had both a bacterial and a viral infection…maybe. Wednesday, my fever completely gone, it was back to the beginning…viral. My last poop test will be back from Bangkok tomorrow. Maybe there will be a final diagnosis. If all is well, I’ll be released. For a while it was difficult to know exactly which person was my doctor. On Tuesday evening, just as Norbert and I were settling down for a quiet evening of TV… …Yes, the hospital has satellite that receives HBO, Cinemax, CNN, BBC, CNBC, Animal Planet, National Geographic, MTV, the Fashion Channel, and something called AXN that carries US sitcoms and re-runs of Charlie’s Angels, Suddenly Susan, etc. ALL IN ENGLISH. And yes, Norbert has been staying with me at the hospital on the fold out couch, a custom fairly typical here.) Sorry for the digression!… As I was saying, we were just settling down after visits from the country director, Roger Harmon, Thai teachers and other PCTs when there was yet another knock on the door. This time, it was the county health administrator, the one who authorized our village to be fogged against Dengue Fever carrying mosquitoes. He arrived with my chart in hand and with his wife, 17 year old son and two of his son’s friends who wanted to practice English. He asked me about my symptoms, told me to stop eating all solid foods and put me on Infanolyte, a nasty tasting electrolyte solution for babies. (I was already taking Sea-Lyte). The wife spoke very good English, the doctor…not so great. It seems that the boys had just finished school for the year but start extra college prep classes in one week…in English. They needed the practice. The doctor’s brother (also a doc) is in Florida working on neonatal specialization and the family is flying over in May to tour the east coast. They stayed until 9:45 p.m. The following evening, the Medical Director of the hospital, who speaks terrific English, came to visit with my chart and to perform a re-run of the previous evening, at least regarding my treatment. Now, I’m pretty sure they were both just consulting with my primary doc. …Then there’s the bed. Sleeping on a metal gurney topped with what feels like a 2-inch pad of horsehair is not my idea of comfortable but after napping on a wooden table “back at the moo-bahn (village),” it will do. Actually, I sleep fine and feeling good…now if I could only eat! On the other hand, its not like I don’t have a few pounds to spare! Norbert has been fighting a cold but is on the mend. He led a workshop on classroom management that I signed us up to facilitate. Everyday rides his bike back to U-Thong, has dinner at a restaurant, and comes here, keeping me up to date on language lessons and gossip. He says he’d be bored back in the village without me to talk to…so sweet. I think he really likes the air-conditioning too. Coming Up Saturday, the group is going on an outing (probably without me) to a nearby temple that is supposed to be remarkably beautiful. Next week, we do not make our usual Monday morning trip into U-Thong but remain in our villages until Wednesday morning. After morning training, we head for the northern- providences-bound train station in Bangkok. Norbert and I (if the gods permit) will take a night train to a town very near Chiang Mai. There we will visit for several days with a current volunteer. After that, we will head back about 150 miles southeast of Chiang Mai to the site of our future placement, Uttaradit. New Stories about Our Village Norbert showed up today with new tales to tell. 15 trainees and trainers were at our village with the task of exploring the environment…much like we may need to do once we reach our site. Tagging along with the group were some fifth grade students assigned by their teachers. Half the group interviewed a village elder, a rice farmer, and a fish farmer along with their families and friends at the local temple. The other half (Norbert’s group) went on a one-hour walking tour and made some discoveries: The tour group also saw a procession with music and dancing to celebrate the ordination of a family to become a monk. And they visited a huge house warming and blessing ceremony with lots of music and food as owners take possession of their new home. The school principal gestured to Norbert to sit in one area where a Heineken beer had already been set-aside for him. (Word spreads fast that Norbert likes his beer.) Our Placement!Uttaradit is a city with lots of amenities…including a Pizza Hut. It is a provincial capitol. The woman we will work with has been very active in promoting quality education and in bring NGOs (that is non-governmental organizations) to the area. Her husband is the ex-governor. They are excited to have teachers trained in student-centered teaching. We understand that on our 3500 bahd per month housing allowance, we can afford a fairly nice house. We think it is true (and not just urban legend) that one couple from an earlier group waited six weeks in order to move into a brand new home designed to their specifications. We will know more after our visit.WeatherFor those of you who miss the daily Weather Channel Asian report, a typhoon building off the China coast has given us our first rain since we arrived. One of the Thai teachers who dropped by the hospital told me Norbert showed up at class drenched! (Hey! I suggested he accept the offer of a van pick up!)
Just a Reminder: We gave each family member several phone numbers. Two were for emergencies only. Two were in case you have questions or concerns. We also gave each family member a bunch of address labels. You can use them any time! Even after we have gone to site, the main office will forward our mail. Love to each of you! Norbert & Carol P.S. Carol was released from the hospital yesterday after some arm
twisting. The Peace Corps . After practically living at the hospital (sleeping on the couch) most of the week I miss the air-conditioning, the warm showers and the satellite TV. It’s back to the real Thai world. One good thing, a Typhoon off China has forced lots of rain and cooler temperatures into this area – and I don’t have to bike every day from the village to the hospital and back. We are including some of the pictures we took. We had trouble with one of the camera chips. Pictures from the hospital still need to be downloaded.
Norbert
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After being weighed, BP’ed, temp’ed,
and questioned about symptoms by the hospital nurse, I was taken to my doctor. This lovely young woman with an absolutely radiant smile pointed me to the chair, inviting me to sit. Then, in
somewhat broken English, she asked “You have abdominal pain?” “Only before diarrhea,” I responded. She smiled. “You have nausea?” “No, not
really.” “How many time you have diarrhea?” “Four times since 4 a.m.”
She smiled again. “And how many time you have diarrhea today?” “Four times.” “You have diarrhea many times?” I was beginning to worry. I
stood up to the clock and pointed to the 4, swept my finger around to the 10, then held up 4 fingers.” “Wahnee, see diarrhea!” (Today 4 diarrhea) I tried
again. This time she shook her head in understanding. 
First, there is a huge area we hadn’t known about where sticky rice (a
dessert of coconut milk and rice in a bamboo tube) is cooked in mass quantities for sale at the U-Thong market. Second, in another area of the village, caramel candy with sesame
seeds is produced. Also, one family runs a frog farm and exports to other countries. The owner was interested in prices for frogs in the U.S. because he’d like to expand his
business. (Maybe Mom could ask if Bubba Gump’s would like to ad a new item to their menu!) Finally, the group discovered a huge termite mound on the tour and asked the 5th graders if
they knew what it was. They said they thought it was a place created by spirits!
Along the same lines, Norbert got an unintended but much welcomed buzz
-cut…almost. He looks so cute and has to admit it is cooler. No more sweaty string hair! 
nurse in Bangkok wanted her to stay three more
days just to rest. The doctor, on the other hand, told us it would be OK. We are both staying at the Siam hotel in U-Thong for the next few days until she can go on a regular
Thai diet. Yesterday we went with our group to the famous interesting Wat Pai Rong Wua about 50 km away. The Abbott and some of the monks met us and talked about Buddhism. After that we toured the huge Wat
area for a couple of hours.