sick

Yesterday I went out around 11, picked up a ticket for War of the Worlds, went over to the MBK shopping centre for some pork-leg-'n-egg for lunch, and then saw the movie. The theatre that I try to go to for big epics like WotW is the Scala. It's a real old-time place, probably as big as the Uptown (used to be) but without the balcony. They have hand-painted posters outside, and funky non-ironic 70s decor in the lobby. There are red velvet curtains at the entrance to the theatre, and uniformed fellows who guide you to your seat - and they're quite important as the seats are arranged with even numbers on one side of the theatre and odd numbers on the other.

I thought the movie was aiiight...it reminded me alot of that movie Signs, what with all the hiding-in-the-basement business. At least the plot stepped along nicely. My big beef (and don't worry, I won't give anything away) is the costuming in the final scene. Watch it and write back to me: what the hell was THAT all about? (In other movie-related ponderings, quite liked A Love Song for Bobby Long. It was novelish but all the 'nawlins footage was cool, and Gabriel Macht was smokin').

After the show I headed down Sukhumvit, enjoying the pulsingly hot and smoggy air after the chill of the theatre. Did some non-essential shopping at the Big C and then went home. When I got back to the apartment, I felt kind of headachey, which - for all of y'all who know me - is very unusual. I puttered away on the computer for a few hours, backlogging some old entries (take a look in the Laos and On The Road sections). When Phet said it was time to go out for dinner I stood up and went to brush my teeth, and instead immediately sacked out on the couch. Achey, sicky, un-wellness made me unable to go change my clothes and get out the door. So Phet took Ji out to eat and while he was gone I got the shakes from a fever for 15 minutes. I was SOOOO cold. I stumbled into the warmest spot in the house (the bathroom) and tried to stop my teeth from chattering, but to no avail. My leg bones were ch-ch-ch-ch chattering too. I got out a hooded sweatshirt and put that on but was still shaking. I went into the guestroom, and busted out the emergency supplies: our fuzzy warm blankie from Vietnam which has been sitting wrapped up in drycleaning plastic for a year.

Trying to open that plastic was a bugger. Like a smoker getting off a 17 hour flight and trying to rip into a pack of cigarettes, or a made-for-tv-movie alcoholic fumbling with the cap of a gallon of fortified wine, I couldn't get my hands to work on my behalf. It took me about six tries before I finally wrenched the plastic apart, and could then fling the cozy blanket over me, cover it with our regular blanket, and curl up into a fetal ball and wish that Phet would hurry the hell up and get home to warm my feet. That's one thing I DON'T miss about Canada: cold feet.

Phet and Ji didn't get home for ages. When they finally did waltz through the door I'd gotten past the freezing stage and was all sweaty and hot underneath the massive pile of blanketry. During the night I had one more chill-session, but since then no more. Still, when I was still in bed at 10 am this morning and still feeling achey and miserable I bit the bullet and agreed to go to the clinic at Bumrungrad Hospital. As I expected, the diagnosis was: throat infection, take penicilin, watch if the fever comes back in case it's dengue. Exactly what I'd figured would happen.

It has to be said, though, that although I've gotten sick here a few times, the good news is that the hospital is awesome. It's all set up so it looks a lot more like a hotel than a hospital. The lobby is nicely carpeted, quiet, and well-serviced by employees in fancy suits who speak softly in the language of your choice. Upstairs, the waiting areas are clean, well-lit, pleasantly decorated, and feature TVs, free newspapers, and free tea and juice served from little carts by tidily dressed attendants. Best of all, you get seen by the doctor real soon.

All the doctors' offices and nurses' stations have computers that are inter-linked so that they can immediately call up your file and instantly print out information they require. One thing that is interesting about going to the doctor here - at least in my experience, at big hospitals - is that there is usually a nurse in the examination room along with the doctor. I found this kind of weird the first time I went to a Thai hospital back when I was planning to get knocked up and was in for a PAP. Not much chance the doctor's going to get up to any funny business with the nurse overseeing things, is the idea I suppose. Anyways, back to the current hospital: after you see the doctor, you go to the handy-dandy check out where they call you promptly to pay your bill, after which you immediately get to go to the next-table counter where the pharmacist has all your medicine ready to go.

Now, the really "funny" part of the day's events came next when we went to a German restaurant for lunch. I dragged myself down the street so I could eat with Phet and Ji and then take my after-food pills. We'd ordered and were sitting around discussing how lately Ji is a DEVIL CHILD and a freak, when Ji bit down on a hard candy and had one half of it chonked down his throat whole. He was able to breathe and his air passage was fine, but the sharp and big candy must've hurt like hell going down. He started gorgling and bawling really loudly. Like, in a no-one's-getting-lunch kind of way. He settled down for a minute and I shovelled some food in, but he couldn't calm down and kept crying and retching. So Phet took Ji and went back to the hospital to the ear, nose and throat clinic while I got the food packed up. Exactly as we'd expected, the doctor confirmed that the candy had been swallowed in a chunk; it was not lodged in Ji's lungs; his throat would hurt a bit, but he would be fine.

On the up-side, the enforced visit to the hospital encouraged Phet to make a couple of appointments. He's scheduled for knee physio and wisdom teeth removal after our holiday. Bring on the Tylenol 3! Ji will be back in Canada for a few weeks and Phet and I can just lie around and watch the clouds go by. Yes! [Bangkok-3-July-2005]