Peace Corps Medevac to Bangkok
Here are my photos and notes from my medevac trip to Bangkok.
I've given up posting photos to Blogger. It just sucks.
Keep reading this post for more details about my medevac experience. But all photos are at the link above.
__________________________________________________________
I didn't leave Bangkok because I had to go to the hospital every day for one reason or another But I did get out and see a fair amount of Bangkok. Easily the big highlight for me was the food. The highlight was a bicycle tour of the city.
Here's what medevac looks like.
Once the PCMO (Peace Corps Medical Officer, or doctor) orders one, the PC office makes flight arrangements, a hotel reservation, and handles everything. The volunteer just needs to collect any paperwork, listen to the rules, sign some stuff, collect a per diem, and show up for the plane.
I had only come to Port Vila with the clothes I was wearing (shorts, underwear, polo shirt, flip-flops), my laptop, phone and toiletry kit. I didn't have time to get back to my site before leaving, so I went to Streit Price (a used clothing store) and found one shirt that fit me. I'd be traveling light.
The PC office instructs everyone to always have their passport on-hand. Well, I didn't. But I called someone in my village who was coming to Vila that night, and had them bring my bag with my passport. Good to go!
Dr. Koch walked me through everything. It was unnerving that much of what we discussed revolved around medical separation, which is when you are kicked out of the Peace Corps for medical reasons. For example, if the doctors in Bangkok found I had some serious problem that would disqualify me from PC service, I would be sent back to the US directly from Bangkok. No goodbyes, you just are sent home. I'd also have to count on someone else taking care of packing up all of my belongings and sending them to me, no small task.
All paperwork, e-tickets, passport and per-diem money in hand I was ready. Dr. Koch picked me up and took me to the airport at 5am. He didn't have to do this, but said it was his job so he did. I'll praise Dr. Koch here. I think he is competent and committed, and I've always enjoyed talking with him.
The plane took me to Sydney, Oz, and after a five hour layover another one took me to Bangkok. The flight to Sydney is about three hours, and the flight to Bangkok another nine. The flights were pleasantly uneventful and on-time. Maybe it was because I had a scruffy beard, or maybe because I was a lone male traveling with only a carry-on, but I was scrutinized like never before by airport security.
A car was waiting to pick me up at the airport. I'd never been anywhere in Asia before and didn't know anything about Thailand, so I appreciated the car.
Driving from the airport to the hotel I was surprised at how big Bangkok was, and how many gigantic billboards lined the highway. I later Googled it and learned the Bangkok is a little larger than NYC, at about 9 million people. It looks it.
At the hotel (the Peace Corps pays for the hotel and hospital; I never saw a bill) a package was waiting. It contained a cell phone and instructions--how Mission: Impossible--to call the RMO (Regional Medical Officer) immediately when I arrived. After I checked in, I called my RMO. The call was short. He said he would meet me in the hotel lobby in the morning and we'd go to the hospital, which was conveniently right across the street. I considered going out for a beer, but noticing how late it was I just went to bed.
In the morning I met Dr. Sasha in the hotel lobby and we went to the hospital. (There are two RMOs in Bangkok, and he was assigned to me.) We met with the first doctor of three, an infectious disease specialist. He wanted me to be an inpatient so we could get through all the tests and evaluations more quickly. I wasn't crazy about this because being in a hospital sucks and my hotel was literally cross the street.
I'm glad he pushed for it. Bumrungrand hospital aims to be a world-class medical destination and I think they're succeeding. Checking in was more like checking into a luxury hotel. The rooms are like those of a hotel, and the food was even good. I had a far nicer setup in the hospital than in my hotel across the street, with a 40" tv with a hundred channels, a breakfast nook with a microwave, and meals covered. Plus, since they never put in an IV, I could go out at night to have a beer and look around Bangkok a little.
I won't go into the medical stuff in too much detail, but I saw three specialists. The first one, after my examination and some blood tests, quickly determined I didn't have an infection. I liked that because it meant no IV or pill antibiotics.
The second one, a vascular surgeon, quickly determined I had CRPS (Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome). Funny enough, I'd found this on my own on Dr. Google, but dismissed it because it sounded like one of those catch-all diagnoses. CRPS could send me home because it can be serious and debilitating. For a while I was worried. But Dr. Sasha didn't and doesn't think this diagnosis was correct, and I came around to agree with him.
The third doctor an orthopedist, quickly determined I was still suffering from the centipede bite. (Note: later, when I recalled the bite to people in my village, they all said it couldn't have been a centipede bite because based on my description, it just didn't hurt enough.)
Like Dr. Koch of Vanuatu, Dr. Sasha is very good. He has been with me at all appointments, which really helps because even though they supposedly speak English at the hospital, the accent is often so heavy that I can't understand. But Sasha can, and knows some Thai, so there's no problem. He is really working to get my foot back to normal so I can go back to site.
That isn't to say everything here is perfect. I told Sasha how a guy my village in Vanuatu gave me a foot massage, and how much that reduced the swelling and felt good. Sasha then tried to find a place in Bangkok where I could get a foot massage. He couldn't find a suitable one, that is one that the PC office in D.C. found medically acceptable.
The PC couldn't find a massage in Bangkok. If you've been here you know that is like not being able to find your butt with both hands. There are massage places everywhere here. And "massage" places. On the other hand, I'd like to see the PC try to justify to the GAO paying for Thai massages for volunteers. I get it, they can't pay for me to get a foot massage at one of the million places that offer them. But it is kind of funny. I went out on my own and got two foot massages. They felt good but didn't help much.
I had hospital appointments every day. This meant I never left Bangkok to go out exploring Thailand, but I did look around Bangkok. I saw some temples (once you've seen one, you've seen them all), walked around, and went on a bike tour.
The most troubling part of all this was how completely out of my control the situation was. Dr. Sasha reported everything back to DC, and ultimately the decision was theirs. I couldn't believe they were thinking about sending me home over a mildly swollen ankle that had been steadily improving, yet there I was.
Leaving Bangkok and going back to site was also handled well by the office. A car collected me at the hotel and took me to the airport.
Here are some photos I took in Thailand.
I've given up posting photos to Blogger. It just sucks.
Keep reading this post for more details about my medevac experience. But all photos are at the link above.
__________________________________________________________
I didn't leave Bangkok because I had to go to the hospital every day for one reason or another But I did get out and see a fair amount of Bangkok. Easily the big highlight for me was the food. The highlight was a bicycle tour of the city.
Here's what medevac looks like.
Once the PCMO (Peace Corps Medical Officer, or doctor) orders one, the PC office makes flight arrangements, a hotel reservation, and handles everything. The volunteer just needs to collect any paperwork, listen to the rules, sign some stuff, collect a per diem, and show up for the plane.
I had only come to Port Vila with the clothes I was wearing (shorts, underwear, polo shirt, flip-flops), my laptop, phone and toiletry kit. I didn't have time to get back to my site before leaving, so I went to Streit Price (a used clothing store) and found one shirt that fit me. I'd be traveling light.
The PC office instructs everyone to always have their passport on-hand. Well, I didn't. But I called someone in my village who was coming to Vila that night, and had them bring my bag with my passport. Good to go!
Dr. Koch walked me through everything. It was unnerving that much of what we discussed revolved around medical separation, which is when you are kicked out of the Peace Corps for medical reasons. For example, if the doctors in Bangkok found I had some serious problem that would disqualify me from PC service, I would be sent back to the US directly from Bangkok. No goodbyes, you just are sent home. I'd also have to count on someone else taking care of packing up all of my belongings and sending them to me, no small task.
All paperwork, e-tickets, passport and per-diem money in hand I was ready. Dr. Koch picked me up and took me to the airport at 5am. He didn't have to do this, but said it was his job so he did. I'll praise Dr. Koch here. I think he is competent and committed, and I've always enjoyed talking with him.
The plane took me to Sydney, Oz, and after a five hour layover another one took me to Bangkok. The flight to Sydney is about three hours, and the flight to Bangkok another nine. The flights were pleasantly uneventful and on-time. Maybe it was because I had a scruffy beard, or maybe because I was a lone male traveling with only a carry-on, but I was scrutinized like never before by airport security.
A car was waiting to pick me up at the airport. I'd never been anywhere in Asia before and didn't know anything about Thailand, so I appreciated the car.
Driving from the airport to the hotel I was surprised at how big Bangkok was, and how many gigantic billboards lined the highway. I later Googled it and learned the Bangkok is a little larger than NYC, at about 9 million people. It looks it.
At the hotel (the Peace Corps pays for the hotel and hospital; I never saw a bill) a package was waiting. It contained a cell phone and instructions--how Mission: Impossible--to call the RMO (Regional Medical Officer) immediately when I arrived. After I checked in, I called my RMO. The call was short. He said he would meet me in the hotel lobby in the morning and we'd go to the hospital, which was conveniently right across the street. I considered going out for a beer, but noticing how late it was I just went to bed.
In the morning I met Dr. Sasha in the hotel lobby and we went to the hospital. (There are two RMOs in Bangkok, and he was assigned to me.) We met with the first doctor of three, an infectious disease specialist. He wanted me to be an inpatient so we could get through all the tests and evaluations more quickly. I wasn't crazy about this because being in a hospital sucks and my hotel was literally cross the street.
I'm glad he pushed for it. Bumrungrand hospital aims to be a world-class medical destination and I think they're succeeding. Checking in was more like checking into a luxury hotel. The rooms are like those of a hotel, and the food was even good. I had a far nicer setup in the hospital than in my hotel across the street, with a 40" tv with a hundred channels, a breakfast nook with a microwave, and meals covered. Plus, since they never put in an IV, I could go out at night to have a beer and look around Bangkok a little.
I won't go into the medical stuff in too much detail, but I saw three specialists. The first one, after my examination and some blood tests, quickly determined I didn't have an infection. I liked that because it meant no IV or pill antibiotics.
The second one, a vascular surgeon, quickly determined I had CRPS (Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome). Funny enough, I'd found this on my own on Dr. Google, but dismissed it because it sounded like one of those catch-all diagnoses. CRPS could send me home because it can be serious and debilitating. For a while I was worried. But Dr. Sasha didn't and doesn't think this diagnosis was correct, and I came around to agree with him.
The third doctor an orthopedist, quickly determined I was still suffering from the centipede bite. (Note: later, when I recalled the bite to people in my village, they all said it couldn't have been a centipede bite because based on my description, it just didn't hurt enough.)
Like Dr. Koch of Vanuatu, Dr. Sasha is very good. He has been with me at all appointments, which really helps because even though they supposedly speak English at the hospital, the accent is often so heavy that I can't understand. But Sasha can, and knows some Thai, so there's no problem. He is really working to get my foot back to normal so I can go back to site.
That isn't to say everything here is perfect. I told Sasha how a guy my village in Vanuatu gave me a foot massage, and how much that reduced the swelling and felt good. Sasha then tried to find a place in Bangkok where I could get a foot massage. He couldn't find a suitable one, that is one that the PC office in D.C. found medically acceptable.
The PC couldn't find a massage in Bangkok. If you've been here you know that is like not being able to find your butt with both hands. There are massage places everywhere here. And "massage" places. On the other hand, I'd like to see the PC try to justify to the GAO paying for Thai massages for volunteers. I get it, they can't pay for me to get a foot massage at one of the million places that offer them. But it is kind of funny. I went out on my own and got two foot massages. They felt good but didn't help much.
I had hospital appointments every day. This meant I never left Bangkok to go out exploring Thailand, but I did look around Bangkok. I saw some temples (once you've seen one, you've seen them all), walked around, and went on a bike tour.
The most troubling part of all this was how completely out of my control the situation was. Dr. Sasha reported everything back to DC, and ultimately the decision was theirs. I couldn't believe they were thinking about sending me home over a mildly swollen ankle that had been steadily improving, yet there I was.
Leaving Bangkok and going back to site was also handled well by the office. A car collected me at the hotel and took me to the airport.
Here are some photos I took in Thailand.
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