We knew that it was bound to happen, that one of us would get sick and need to see a doctor. It might be for normal, run of the mill check up reasons, but it was just as likely to mean that one of us was really sick. We dodged it over Christmas, when Woo had a fever of 103 for three days that broke and stayed down as we were trying to arrange a doctor in Pudicherry. We dodged it when Woo finally stopped projectile vomiting after eight hours a couple of weeks ago, right after I said “we go to the hospital if he vomits one more time”. We weren’t so lucky tonight.
This is where it gets a little TMI. You can skip the next two paragraphs if you want.
Woo woke Willy up to poop early yesterday morning, then he pooped again and again. He said he wasn’t in any discomfort, and we thought nothing of it. At most we thought his body disagreed with something he ate, and it was just clearing everything out. He wasn’t sick, no fever, no other symptoms. Just poop. I sent him to school, and he was fine all day. He reported that he pooped a few more times and then pooped a few more before bed. I started to get worried, and made the “if he is not finished pooping now, we find a doctor first thing”. He was fine from then on, and went to school full of beans this morning. He had a great, poop-free day, and settled on to the back patio for snack when we got home.
Then his trips to the bathroom started. Each time he sat down, he was up again in minutes, or even seconds. He just kept going and going and… (you get the idea). I was starting to get really worried, but didn’t get a chance to voice my concern when Willy let me know that there was now blood in his stool. We didn’t need to think about it. Hospital time. The lil boy was clearly unhappy, and now he was bleeding.
That is mostly it for the bodily fluids talk, if you skipped ahead, you can resume here.
Luckily the close calls coupled with Woo’s and my food allergies and his asthma, have meant that we have thought about how we go about getting to a doctor/hospital if our driver, Subbu, has gone home for the night. A quick call to him, and a driver who lives in the area (and drives for another family on our street), was on the way. While we were waiting, Willy called the medical assistance hotline that we are able to use through membership from his work. They were able to tell us what hospital that we should go to, and called ahead and spoke to the ER to let them know that Woo was on his way, and what his symptoms were. Willy and Woo headed off.
At the hospital, they were directed to the area where foreigners check-in, and the desk was aware that they were coming, and knew what was going on. They were immediately moved into an observation area, and were thoroughly examined and diagnosed within 40 minutes of arriving. FORTY minutes. Willy had all of his questions answered and a prescription in hand. He was pleased with how smoothly it all went, and how well taken care of they were. There was a cost for this, of course, the consultation and the prescription. It amounted to less than $10.00 CAD. He filled the prescription right at the hospital then headed home. On the way he was called back by the emergency hotline to ensure that all his questions were answered, and got to speak to one of their doctors on the phone to make sure that he was comfortable.
The diagnosis? That intense vomitting from a few weeks ago was likely food poisoning, and it developped in to a bacterial infection. I really hoped they nailed it, because this was stressful enough and can end really, really soon. At least now we know what to do.
