25/6/11 - 26/6/11
Tours over, flight back to China impending, with a couple of last days in Mongolia to relax and buy souvenirs. Tim and I decided we really should use some of the time to get my still swollen leg checked out.
Tours over, flight back to China impending, with a couple of last days in Mongolia to relax and buy souvenirs. Tim and I decided we really should use some of the time to get my still swollen leg checked out.
Since the horse incident my leg had been swelling up whenever i did anything active or even if I just sat for long periods without my foot elevated. Visually there didn't seem much wrong with it, just a couple of small wounds that seemed to heal ok, although one not completely. It didn't even hurt much. But we decided a month was long enough for it to heal and that i should probably get it checked and maybe get on some more antibiotics before China.
After waiting for an hour in the waiting room of a Korean owned hospital in UB, unsure whether we were waiting in the right place or not but not able to find anyone who spoke English, we were getting a bit restless. The conversation went something like this:
CB: This is getting ridiculous, its probably nothing anyway, it doesn't hurt so nothing serious can be wrong surely??
Tim: Yeah. The Dr will probably just say give it some more time... I'm sure nothing is really wrong.
CB: Yeah. So lets go.
Tim: Yeah... but we've waited so long.
CB: Yeah.
Tim: Probably should wait
CB: Yeah.
Tim: Yeah.
After a few more minutes we couldn't wait any longer and we busted into the door that most people seemed to be going through and, surprise surprise, were actually pointed into a seat to talk to a lady who spoke a smattering of English. Not sure WHO she was but she sent me to another room to actually see a doctor. He looked at my leg, poked it (ouch!) and said (in English, phew!) "Lots of fluid, probably need an operation now... First, bloods, xray, ultrasound."
So off i went for my tests (where i very nearly had a chest xray instead of a leg xray, not sure what was going on there) and then back to the Doc - "Yes, need an operation. We will cut leg open, take out fluid and put in drain. Very important, could get abscess very soon if no operation. Bad infection possible, must do it now." ACK! You can imagine my reaction, an operation, in a foreign country, with a flight booked for the next afternoon and 7 more weeks of backpacking in China and Borneo to come - I really didn't want to have to have an operation. But the doc was very convincing and pulled all sorts of strings to have the operation happen that day even though the hospital had technically closed for the weekend, so my first ever hospital experience was to be in Mongolia. He also promised i could make my flight the next day. He gave me one choice, local anaesthetic or a needle into the spine (epidural-ish) - local please, don't you touch my spine!
Before i knew it i was hospital-gowned up and lying on the operating table waiting to be cut open. The Doc was pretty good, he seemed to understand that i was shit scared and made some attempts at making me more comfortable. Although the technique, which seemed to be hospital wide i realised when the nurse later did the same thing, for warning me of an impending needle was "Needle, pain, pain, sorrysorrysorrysorrysorry". Still, at least he tried. The operation itself went to his satisfaction, because i just had a local I could feel pulling and cutting the whole time but only pain once, when the Doc touched my bone with the scalpel (ouch!). He showed me the fluid that came out of my leg, about 500ml of yellow gunk that i really didn't need to see!
After a night and morning of drips and needles (painkillers and IV antibiotics), a little bit of discomfort but nothing too horrendously painful and lots of Discovery channel it was time to clear out so we could get our flight to China. Apart from being swollen and looking disgusting with a drain hanging out of it my leg was ok, a bit sore but with it all covered up I could walk and that was the main thing!
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| View from my hospital room |
Before i knew it i was hospital-gowned up and lying on the operating table waiting to be cut open. The Doc was pretty good, he seemed to understand that i was shit scared and made some attempts at making me more comfortable. Although the technique, which seemed to be hospital wide i realised when the nurse later did the same thing, for warning me of an impending needle was "Needle, pain, pain, sorrysorrysorrysorrysorry". Still, at least he tried. The operation itself went to his satisfaction, because i just had a local I could feel pulling and cutting the whole time but only pain once, when the Doc touched my bone with the scalpel (ouch!). He showed me the fluid that came out of my leg, about 500ml of yellow gunk that i really didn't need to see!
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| Post Op |
So all finished and drain inserted i got wheeled back into a room - a totally surreal experience staring up at the ceiling having no idea where you're headed. Turns out it was quite a view from the window, right down into the heart of UB and into the hills behind. I had to stay the night but Tim kept me company for as long as he could, this turned out to be a bad choice because as he was heading back to our guesthouse for the night at around 9.30pm he got pickpocketed and it was bye-bye mobile phone. Guess it could have been worse, at least there was no violence!
After a night and morning of drips and needles (painkillers and IV antibiotics), a little bit of discomfort but nothing too horrendously painful and lots of Discovery channel it was time to clear out so we could get our flight to China. Apart from being swollen and looking disgusting with a drain hanging out of it my leg was ok, a bit sore but with it all covered up I could walk and that was the main thing!
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| Ewwwww |
Oh no! What a double blow - to have to go into surgery AND have Tim's phone stolen in the same day.
ReplyDeleteI hope your leg is healing well now! :-)