We've had another tough week of bike touring in SE Asia. There's actually been very little actual bike touring as Ginny's stomach bug has turned into a viral infection that has landed her in the hospital. We thought she was better after a few days of rest and a round of antibiotics and other miscellaneous drugs in Hua Hin so we decided to start riding again. Last Sunday our day started off great as we rode out of Hua Hin at 5:00am with runners doing the Hua Hin marathon (the race started at 3am to avoid the heat!). It was cool to have the runners as our companions and we cheered them on for about 15km until our routes diverged. Rather than endure a busy day of riding on SH 4 with all the trucks, we decided to take the backroads and we were rewarded with one of our best days of riding! We spent nearly 60km riding the 4020 which was a chill two lane road that cut through a national park and along an amazing stretch of Thai coast. On a couple occasions, we rode past a family of monkeys hanging out on the road which was good fun! Unfortunately Ginny's energy levels were very low throughout the day and it was a struggle for her to keep riding.
Upon arriving in Prachuapkhirikhan, Ginny was totally worn out, feeling nauseous and her fever was returning. So we went to the ER that night and they tested her for malaria, dengue fever and influenza. Fortunately she didn't have any of those illnesses but they diagnosed her with a viral infection and gave her a bunch more drugs most of which she refused to take as she was feeling so nauseous. We spent the next couple days in the hotel hoping that Ginny was going to get better to no avail. So we went back to the hospital and this time they admitted her so that they could put her on a saline drip IV, antibiotic IV and monitor her condition more closely. With her safely being monitored in the hospital, I headed off the next day on the bike with the plan that we would meet up today after Ginny was discharged and hopped a train down to Surat Thani, a city about 360km south of here. What a bad plan that was in so many ways! First of all, I felt terrible for leaving Ginny behind so it just didn't feel like I was doing the right thing riding without her. I also had a pretty crappy day of riding as I got three flat tires and ended up replacing my rear tire. Meanwhile, Ginny was not recovering as quickly as we had hoped and needed my help as Thai nurses don't do as much for the patients as they do in the US. So I rode yesterday to the Chumphon train station and took the train back to Prachuapkhirikhan which took only two hours. One of the benefits of me being back at the hospital is that it enabled Ginny to get a private room which is way nicer than the ward she was in for the first two days. They don't allow patients into a private room unless they have a family member present 24/7.
Ginny's been in the hospital for three days now and she is feeling much better and her health has improved dramatically. Her fever is gone, her appetite has returned and her blood pressure is back to normal. The doctor still wants to keep her in the hospital for another couple days to monitor her blood work but it's starting to feel like they're keeping us hostage so we're thinking of making a break for it! It's quite the relief that Ginny is on the road to recovery and she says she can't wait to be back in the saddle cranking out 120km days again! Yeah, right. We do hope that we're nearly out of the woods and that we can get a couple more weeks of bike touring in before our trip ends in Singapore on June 10.
Upon arriving in Prachuapkhirikhan, Ginny was totally worn out, feeling nauseous and her fever was returning. So we went to the ER that night and they tested her for malaria, dengue fever and influenza. Fortunately she didn't have any of those illnesses but they diagnosed her with a viral infection and gave her a bunch more drugs most of which she refused to take as she was feeling so nauseous. We spent the next couple days in the hotel hoping that Ginny was going to get better to no avail. So we went back to the hospital and this time they admitted her so that they could put her on a saline drip IV, antibiotic IV and monitor her condition more closely. With her safely being monitored in the hospital, I headed off the next day on the bike with the plan that we would meet up today after Ginny was discharged and hopped a train down to Surat Thani, a city about 360km south of here. What a bad plan that was in so many ways! First of all, I felt terrible for leaving Ginny behind so it just didn't feel like I was doing the right thing riding without her. I also had a pretty crappy day of riding as I got three flat tires and ended up replacing my rear tire. Meanwhile, Ginny was not recovering as quickly as we had hoped and needed my help as Thai nurses don't do as much for the patients as they do in the US. So I rode yesterday to the Chumphon train station and took the train back to Prachuapkhirikhan which took only two hours. One of the benefits of me being back at the hospital is that it enabled Ginny to get a private room which is way nicer than the ward she was in for the first two days. They don't allow patients into a private room unless they have a family member present 24/7.
Ginny's been in the hospital for three days now and she is feeling much better and her health has improved dramatically. Her fever is gone, her appetite has returned and her blood pressure is back to normal. The doctor still wants to keep her in the hospital for another couple days to monitor her blood work but it's starting to feel like they're keeping us hostage so we're thinking of making a break for it! It's quite the relief that Ginny is on the road to recovery and she says she can't wait to be back in the saddle cranking out 120km days again! Yeah, right. We do hope that we're nearly out of the woods and that we can get a couple more weeks of bike touring in before our trip ends in Singapore on June 10.
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