This morning’s tour was to the pagoda of Wat Phnom. Although I was feeling stronger I felt that another morning relaxing aboard and out of the heat and humidity would do me no harm.
At midday the AmaLotus sailed for the traditional silk weaving village of Chong Koh, about 5 miles up river from Phnom Penh. By the time we arrived I was feeling unwell again. I struggled for an hour before I decided to consult Tour Manager who thought it best to get me to hospital in Phnom Penh. The Hotel Manager quickly arranged for a private car otherwise it would have been necessary to use a motorbike rickshaw – not a good idea the way I felt!
The car arrived within an hour and together with one of the group guides I set-off for the private emergency hospital in Phnom Penh. The first stage was to cross the river by ferry and then wind our way through a myriad of dirt streets to the main road into the capital. I do remember being quite concerned at the point where we met the main road since this seemed to require a straight drop of about 3 feet but the driver found a way.
It was dark by the time we arrived at the hospital and I suppose one advantage was that I had seen a little more of Phnom Penh and by night.
Formalities over I was seen by a charming Cambodian Lady Doctor who conducted a series of tests and concluded that it wasn’t amoebic dysentery – thank goodness; that the bug had largely cleared my system and that it had not entered my blood stream – well not yet anyway!!! So she gave me a short course of antibiotics and some probiotic to help revive my gut bacteria.
I was feeling heaps better by the time we left after a couple of hours. By this time it was 10.00pm and the ferry had long stopped but the crew live in the wheelhouse so after a shout and the offer of a $20 tip they were very happy to start up the motor and chug back across the river in pitch darkness! It was then only a short walk back to the ship and thankfully a good night’s rest.
Over the next few days I continued to regain my strength and there was no reoccurrence of the problem although I noticed other guests were also have similar symptoms but not as severe as mine. So was that the end of the story – sadly not!!
A month after my return – 15th June 2014 to be precise – I began to feel ill with a ache down my right abdomen so I took some pain killers and went to bed. By the middle of the next morning I was feeling very drowsy and to cut a long story short I phoned my younger son who drove down and got me into hospital.
I had the foresight to tell the medics I had been to Cambodia and of the tummy problem so they immediately put me on intravenous antibiotics and arranged a series of tests that showed that my liver function was a cause of concern.
I was admitted on the Sunday evening and by Tuesday morning I was feeling better but then had a relapse and was feeling pretty rotten when the Senior Doctor in charge of may case turned up closely followed by the Senior Microbiologist to tell that my liver function was improving and that I could go home. “Oh no he can’t” (Reminiscent of a pantomime!) says the Microbiologist, he has a “Gamma Rod infection (Probably ecoli) and needs to be in isolation until we do more tests!!” So I was duly whipped off to the isolation ward but suffice it to say I only spent 24 hours here before the Microbiologist confirmed the diagnosis and because the antibiotics were working well, I could be discharged with a massive dose of antibiotics and I mean massive of ‘Gob Stopper’ proportions!! All I could do for the next two weeks was sit on my veranda in the sunshine directing operations to my friendly landscapers who were undertaking a massive makeover of my garden but that is another story.
An unfortunate incident and I have no way of knowing how, where or when I picked up this infection. It hasn’t put me off travel but not sure I will be returning to this part of the world for a while!
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