India is a wonderful place and I would never hesitate to recommend travelling there. I really hope that I have the opportunity to go back.
However, the one thing that everyone hopes to avoid is using the medical system. We fill our prescriptions at home and take all the food and water precautions and take Malaria pills in an effort to avoid being sick and needing medical attention.
Best laid plans and all that.
We arrived in Mumbia on November 18th after 3 days of travel and no sleep so everyone took a sleeping pill and went to bed early. Me too but I had to get up during the night as usual. I also hadn't left the bathroom light on, not wanting to disturb anyone. Big mistake. After doing the necessities, I was totally disoriented in the dark and tripped over the lip into the shower and hit my head. I seemed ok but had a cut on my forehead which bled like crazy. The shower stall looked the shower scene from the movie Psycho. One of my travel companions is a nurse so she took care of patching me up and we went onto to the Guide Centre in Pune as planned.
The cut, however, was pretty deep and it was obvious that stiches were required. There was no choice but to go to the local hospital. Again luck was on my side. Pune is a major centre for medical tourism and has an excellent private hospital. The first aider from the Guide Centre (Sangham) is very well known there as they have guests from all over the world and she is a regular visitor. Hope and Debbie came along with me for moral support and, in Debbie's case, medical supervision. During my hour or so visit, I had the immediate attention of 3 doctors and 5 nurses in emergency. (I remember the doctors cell phone going off while he was stitching me up but he didn't answer it). I had a tetanus shot, shots for pain (there wasn't any) and got a prescription for antibiotics (we checked them out on line) and for pain (never took them). I paid the bills on the way out and the total bill came to about $38.00. A real bargain.
The stitches had to come out a few days later when we didn't have hospital access so Debbie did her magic with scissors and tweezers (well boiled of course) and all was well. Everyone should travel with a nurse.
I wouldn't even mention it but I do have a rather dramatic scar which, as the doctor said, makes me look like Harry Potter. Its fading and I consider it a souvenir of India.
However, the one thing that everyone hopes to avoid is using the medical system. We fill our prescriptions at home and take all the food and water precautions and take Malaria pills in an effort to avoid being sick and needing medical attention.
Best laid plans and all that.
We arrived in Mumbia on November 18th after 3 days of travel and no sleep so everyone took a sleeping pill and went to bed early. Me too but I had to get up during the night as usual. I also hadn't left the bathroom light on, not wanting to disturb anyone. Big mistake. After doing the necessities, I was totally disoriented in the dark and tripped over the lip into the shower and hit my head. I seemed ok but had a cut on my forehead which bled like crazy. The shower stall looked the shower scene from the movie Psycho. One of my travel companions is a nurse so she took care of patching me up and we went onto to the Guide Centre in Pune as planned.
The cut, however, was pretty deep and it was obvious that stiches were required. There was no choice but to go to the local hospital. Again luck was on my side. Pune is a major centre for medical tourism and has an excellent private hospital. The first aider from the Guide Centre (Sangham) is very well known there as they have guests from all over the world and she is a regular visitor. Hope and Debbie came along with me for moral support and, in Debbie's case, medical supervision. During my hour or so visit, I had the immediate attention of 3 doctors and 5 nurses in emergency. (I remember the doctors cell phone going off while he was stitching me up but he didn't answer it). I had a tetanus shot, shots for pain (there wasn't any) and got a prescription for antibiotics (we checked them out on line) and for pain (never took them). I paid the bills on the way out and the total bill came to about $38.00. A real bargain.
The stitches had to come out a few days later when we didn't have hospital access so Debbie did her magic with scissors and tweezers (well boiled of course) and all was well. Everyone should travel with a nurse.
I wouldn't even mention it but I do have a rather dramatic scar which, as the doctor said, makes me look like Harry Potter. Its fading and I consider it a souvenir of India.
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