We took the overnight bus from Hanoi to Dong Hoi because we wanted to take a tour to the Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park. In 2011 the National Park opened to tourists because a series of amazing caves were found there. Our day tour took us to two of the caves. The first was Phong Nha cave, which is the cave with the longest underground river in the world. It was so amazing - we got to take a boat into the first kilometer of the cave. After lunch we went to Paradise Cave - the largest dry cave in Asia. Again, it was so spectacular to see the stalagmites and stalactites and all the different colours.
Not many colours in this picture, but we like it
By the end of the day I started feeling sick and had a fever that night. I woke up in the middle of the night with a rash on parts of my body. I figured it was a heat rash from being outside most of the day and then having a fever, so I took a cold shower, some Tylenol and went back to bed. The next day the rash was still there and it was getting a bit worse so I tried an OTC antihistamine with no real luck and still had a fever on our trip from Dong Hoi to Hue. That night the rash got even worse and I was starting to get really stressed out so the next morning when I was covered in red I decided I may want to go to the hospital. The OTC meds weren't doing anything and I was still feverish and lightheaded, so off we went to the hospital in Hue. Can you say terrifying! No one spoke English and no one was willing to help us find where we needed to go. We tried asking a nurse where the emergency department was and she said something in Vietnamese and just laughed at us, as did all the men sitting around us at the time. Dave eventually left me in a chair because I was feeling very faint and found the emerg dept. Once in emerg it was a better experience. They had a good doctor who spoke pretty good English and everyone was nice. Plus it was inside and air conditioned, unlike the rest of the hospital, which had open shutters and fans everywhere. It wasn't the cleanest of environments. I actually watched someone get off the bed that they then asked me to sit on, without changing the sheet or cleaning it. And I did not see one person wash their hands the whole day we were there. They did open instruments from packages and wear gloves, so I guess that is good. We spent about 8 hours there, while they gave me an IV and some stronger meds. They did some blood work and an abdominal ultrasound, which didn't show much. So, I was diagnosed with a reaction...to what? Who knows. The more research we did on the internet, the more I think it was a post viral rash, but it could have been an allergic reaction for all I know.
I felt pretty good leaving the hospital - the rash was almost gone and they had given me some meds to take for the next 5 days. Unfortunately, by the next morning the rash had returned and was way more itchy than before. I took the meds they prescribed, but they didn't do anything. Luckily, the doctor I had at the hospital had given me his email in case I needed anything. I emailed him immediately and he got back to me pretty quick with some other drugs I could try. That is one good thing about Vietnam - you can walk into any pharmacy and ask for any medication and they will hand it over to you. So, Dave went to the pharmacy to pick up the rest of the meds, while I tried to relax and stay calm. Then Dave went on a crazy hunt around Hue to find aloe or baking soda, oatmeal or calamine lotion - anything to try and reduce the itching. He was awesome and managed to find some aloe vera gel. That, cold showers, ice and about 6 different pills finally calmed the rash down again.
By the next day I was still breaking out in hives, but not as much. Dave went on a tour of the Citadel and other Vietnam war memorials around Hue while I spent the day in the hotel. Heat seemed to increase the hives, so I didn't dare go out in the 40 degree weather. But, Dave really liked the tour and learned a lot about the war, and about Vietnam. We ended up spending 5 days in Hue, when we were only going to spend 2. It took almost 10 days of meds before the rash went away completely. I am still not sure what happened, but I am happy it has stopped!
A pagoda in Hue
We were eager to leave Hue and continue our way down to Hoi An. I really liked this town the last time I was in Vietnam, so I knew we would have a good time there.
Thanks for reading
xo
No comments:
Post a Comment