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Phuket Diary
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Freeservers deleted this entire website, on the basis of violation of their acceptable use policy. So I've put it back up here. I don't know how long it will stay up, but it should last for more than the ~ 2 months it lasted at freeservers. Hopefully.
The passages that follow are based on my diary entries: they are not excerpts
from my diary, except in parts. My diary contains notes of events and my
impressions that I jotted down at the time, and they would be difficult to read in their raw form.
Sunday 23rd January, 2000.
My boyfriend (later to be my husband) drives me to the airport.
We are the first ones there. I go to the toilet to adjust my tuck, possibly for
the last time.When I come out, we meet up with Lorraine , G- (lorraines partner), A- (my huge nephew),
and Mum. Lorraine and I get in the que for departure baggage check.
There's these three english guys in front of us, going to bangkok for a
golfing holiday, and we get talking to them.
They're really funny guys, so I dub them "the three stooges".
After what seems like ages, we get served, and then go up to the departure lounge and have something to drink. R- (lorraine's ex) and M-J-(one of their sons) are there. In fact, most of my family is there. We all sit around chatting for a while. My mum puts a little teddy bear on my backpack. One of my friends (alas, no longer!) turns up with her family. A nice surprise.
Its time to go. There's hugs and kisses all around, and lorraine and I board the airplane. I get the window seat. The plane taxis, and then takes off. Wotabuzz. It climbs rapidly, and passes through the clouds. Perth looks like a toy city, slowly rotating on a turntable. The plane heads north along the West Australian coast. Nice scenery. When passing over Indonesia, you can see islands, and sea, and everywhere a colourful patchwork of fields. I find the flight interesting. I have three stiff bloody maries, and a good feed. I think to myself, " I probably shouldn't be boozing like this. I don't want to arrive in Phuket pissed". It's just an idle thought. Occasionally, there's a roar of laughter from around where the three stooges are sitting. They're clowns. The 6 hour flight passes quickly. The plane banks, and approaches Phuket Airport from the north.
The plane lands and we pass through the passport check and
customs easily. We change $AU for Baht, and go to the toilet. We catch our
prearranged "coach" to the Comfort Resort, where we are given room 123. Patong beach
is crowded, bustling and vibrant. I flake out in the afternoon (I was working saturday
night, and had had no sleep), and lorraine goes exploring. That evening, we go out for
tea. When we get back, Lorraine has a swim. We both sleep well.
Monday 24th January, 2000
We get up at 7:00. Have breakfast at 8:00. Send e-mails at 8:45. We pack up our stuff. Dr Sanguans driver turns up at 9:40. We check out. Off to hospital at 10:15. Arrive, and get admitted. Nice place. We are put in a small room while ours is being prepared. Dr Sanguan comes and sees us at 11:30. "May I examine you?" he asks. We discuss the details of the operation. He is very polite, but firm in his manner. My surgery is scheduled for tomorrow morning. After he leaves, nurses show up, give me an enema, and shave my genital area. We have lunch , and are then moved to a private room at 1:30. Pim turns up and says hello - I like Pim. I give Pim my documentation for Dr Sanguan to look at. This nice guy turns up and introduces himself as the "anaesthetic doctor", asks me a few questions, and explains what he does.We have tea. Lorraine goes and puts our valuables in the safe. We both go and explore the hospital, checking out all the floors. We go right to the top of the building. For some reason, the top floor is not being used.
Up at 6:00. I'm starving. I'm sitting on the edge of the bed, watching
Lorraine eat her breakfast. I have a shower and shit. At 9:30 they come and
get me. I'm wheeled off for a chest X-Ray, and then to the operating theatre.
It's about 10:10. I get transferred to a cross-shaped operating table.
For some reason, I find that amusing. Various monitors are attached to me.
The anesthetic doctor is busy doing his thing. The nurses are nice. They smile
and talk to me. Lorraine will be here later-she's getting scrubbed up. Then
I'm left alone for 20 minutes or so, apart from a few nurses. Dr Sanguan comes in.
He looks at me quizzically "Are you ready?" he asks. "Yes I'm ready", I say.
The anaesthetic doctor injects something into one of the tubes stuck in my arm.
It feels cold.
The plane arrives at Phuket airport. I stagger off the plane, banging into people.
I'm as pissed as a fart from all those bloody maries. I stagger through
the airport making a monster of myself, knocking things over, swearing at people. I
cause trouble at the customs desk. I do all sorts of embarrassing things.
I see Lorraine's face in the distance, as if at the the end of a dark tunnel.
She's smiling at me. Her face comes closer, surrounded by a brilliant corona.
She's saying my name. She's an angel.
I'm talking to Lorraine back in our room. She's telling me that as I was coming
out of the anaesthetic, I was saying "Fuck. FuckFuck..'n' fuck. Fuck. Fuck".
Apparently, I kept this up for some time. Once my eyes focused on her, I started
saying," I love you. I love you, Lorraine. I love you.". I kept this up for some
time, as well.
Wednesday 26th January, 2000
My Diary entry reads:
Sick as dog. Pain in hip and back. Very little pain in genital area.
Thursday 27th January, 2000
I have my dressing changed, and my wound inspected. The anaesthetic doctor gets
me ready at 11:15. I'm wheeled of to the operating theatre, and examined at 11:25.
Thumbs up - everything's AOK. The thumbs up gesture is a big deal in Phuket.
My legs are paralysed for 5 hours afterwards. We have made friends with two
lovely girls from the USA, Shannon, and Michelle.
Friday 28th January, 2000
I have no entries for this day. I don't know why.
Saturday 29th January, 2000
We have breakfast , but no lunch. Into the operating theatre at 1:00 for an examination
and change of dressing. The theatre nurses try to teach me to say "I love you" in
Thai, and say it to Dr Sanguan. I resist. I say "Dr Sanguan sawadii ka"
("hello Dr Sanguan") instead. I think all the nurses have the hots for
Dr Sanguan. They tend to giggle and act silly when he's around. I tell him what's
been going on. We both laugh.
Dr Sanguan says the skin graft will probably go in on monday. I talk with him about the problem I'm having
with constipation and haemorrhoids. He prescribes medication for these. The pain in my hip is kept under
control with mild pain killers. Before I can engage him in further conversation,
he's gone!. Shannon needs him more than me.
Later on, I get given suppositories and tablets, but these have no effect on the piles. I am paralysed
for 5 hours from the epidural. Pim comes to our room when Shannon and Michelle are there, and we all chat for a while.
Lorraine takes Michelle to the beach at patong, the first time in 40 odd years.
Michelle was thrilled. I talk to Shannon and Michelle in the evening.
Sunday 30th January, 2000
I slept until the afternoon. The haemorrhoids are giving me shit. Dr Sanguan
comes and sees me at 2:00pm and views my wound. He says the skin graft will go ahead on monday.
I'll keep my fingers crossed, and hope that the graft takes. I have my dressing
changed, and get an enema. This causes me to have a shit. Whoopie!
Monday 31st January, 2000
I'm up early, at 6:30 am and do my hair with spray on conditioner, and have a shit.
What a relief being able to do that!. I'm supposed to be taken to the operating theatre at 9:30 am, but they come and get me at 11:00 am. I
am conscious throughout the skin graft procedure. I get back to my room at about 1:30 pm.
Dr Sanguan says there's a 70%-80% chance the skin graft will take. It's all up to me now. I'm told
""Don't move!".
Lorraine goes to our hotel (part of the package we arranged for our trip ) to sleep.
The beds at the hotel are more comfortable.
Tuesday 1st February, 2000
Lorraine turns up at 1:00 pm. She goes with Shannon to OR to take photos of skin
graft, taken from the hip. The whole procedure takes 2 hours or so. Lorraine gets
some good pix. Dr Sanguan comes and sees me, and says that my wound looks good.
He will examine it thoroughly on thursday. Dr Sanguan says he's going to bangkok for
7 days, to see his family. I should know by thursday whether I'm going home on schedule or not.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed.Lorraine goes back to hotel. I talk to Shannon on the phone.
Her spirits are up. I hope and pray her skin graft takes. I watch a video ( red october),
and then talk to michelle. Then I go to sleep.
Wednesday 2nd of February, 2000
I wake up late.(8:00 am). I have the Phuket car wash ( the american girls call the sponge
baths we get this- it's caught on). Have breakfast. I like thai food ( yum!).
I watch MTV asia, which has all the same stuff on it you see in australia.
There's a station devoted to australian TV programs ( not channels) in thailand
- I don't know how that works. This nice middle aged lady comes in and gives me a
massage, a consequence of me whinging to Dr sanguan about being stiff and sore.
Dr Sanguan comes in While I'm receiving the massage. He says my wound looks good,
we'll know more tomorrow, when he examines me in OR. The massage feels real good.
My back still hurts though. Lorraine turns up around 12:00 noon, with trinkets for
the folks back home. She stays for lunch, then goes and visits Michelle and Shannon.
Lorraine eventualy goes back to the hotel, and I watch alien 3 on video.
Thursday 3rd February, 2000
Good news and bad news.
First the good news.
Dr Sanguan examines the wound
( but not in OR as expected!), and takes out the packing. Result: mostly healed,
except for a patch on the right side of the vaginal entrance. He says this will heal
naturally. I will stay in bed today, with the packing out, with just a pad. He says I
can walk a little tomorrow. He shows me how to dilate. It hurts!. The catheter will be
removed on saturday. I can go home on sunday.
Now the bad news.
Shannon's skin graft is infected. We had made plans to move into the same room together,
now that Michelle has gone home.( I said goodbye to her yesterday. I know we'll keep in touch).
This plan has been scuttled because of the risk of cross infection. Poor Shannon,
she doesn't need this shit. I hope she's OK. I'll be able to visit her tomorrow.
I talk to Shannon briefly on the phone. Lorraine goes and sees her. She needs our support.
I'll see her tomorrow, and I'll leave her alone till then.
Have shit! I don't think I've ever appreciated just how wonderful having a good
crap can be in my whole life. It takes some time to get my wound washed though.
I try to watch ""you've got mail". I can't concentrate though.
I think about how to explain my experiences to others.
Remark.
Dr Sanguan says he'll make a new rule:"no patients over 200 lb"
Friday 4th February, 2000
My breaky doesn't come!. So I get up, and do my hair. The Doctor Dr Sanguan left
in charge turns up. I ask for an enema since I'm constipated, and my haemorrhoids
really hurt. The enema is very unpleasant. My wound is cleaned up at 12:00 noon.
Really good news! Shannon's wound is healing! Whew!
Saturday 5th February, 2000
I have the catheter removed. It's unpleasant, but over quickly. I go into the
shower-toilet room. I have a good look at myself naked in the mirror. Wow!.
I get emotional, and tears roll down my face. It really is a big deal. After a
while, I get into the shower, and let the water run over me. Having a shower is
wonderful!. I stay in there a long time. And I WASH MY HAIR! Heavenly!
While I'm showering, the doctor turns up to take out the rest of my stitches
( a nurse had already done some, earlier), and to show me how to dilate, but he
goes away until I've finished. After the shower, I do my hair, put on make-up, and
put on a nice dress. Then I go and see Shannon. While I'm visiting Shannon,
the doctor turns up to do my stitches. so I go with him, and have them removed,
and I'm shown how to dilate. But afterwards, the dilators are taken away!.
I have to go and get them later.
Sunday 6th February, 2000
I get up early. Lorraine comes in. We get our stuff packed away. Pim keeps popping
in and out, in a last minute panic. Pim organizes everything! We say goodbye to Shannon,
and promise to keep in touch ( we've all kept this promise, by the way). We
leave at about 3:00 pm, and are taken to the airport by Dr Sanguan's driver.
We get to the airport at 3:30 pm. When I get out of Dr Sanguan's car, I step up
onto the curb, and my leg gives way. I'm heading for the pavement, and Dr Sanguan's driver,
and a security guard who was standing 10 feet away, grab me before I hit the ground. I'm
impressed. And thankful. We go into the airport, and I sit down. Lorraine goes
and organizes a wheelchair, and deals with the paperwork. Eventually, a wheel
chair turns up, and I get into it. Our flight is delayed, but soon enough, I'm
wheeled onto the airplane, ahead of all the other passengers ( Dr Sanguan gave us
a letter to wave at airport officials - we were treated like gold).
The flight is uncomfortable, but tolerable. I get cruisie on pain killers and a
couple of stiff bloody maries. When we arrive at Perth Airport,we are taken off the
plane last, with me in a wheelchair. Me and lorraine are pushed ahead of everybody
else. I resist the temptation to make rude signs at the other passengers, who look
distinctly annoyed when I get pushed past them. Que jumping means that we get through
customs fairly quickly. As I'm pushed out of customs into the terminal, I see my
boyfriend, S-, and lorraine's partner, G- - the two baldies!. I develop tunnel
vision, and can only see S- as I'm wheeled towards him. He has a tweety bird doll and
chocolates for me. He's so romantic. We kiss. I love him.
Home at last.