Chiang Mai Ram Hospital Visit

admin — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 01:40:05 +0000

Originally posted on Travel Asia - Travel Europe| Bangkok to Krakow.com

Photo from Flickr by: jcestnik

We knew Chiang Mai Ram Hospital existed. Did not have any plans to visit it though. At the outset let me say everyone is doing just fine. Last Thursday afternoon our little angel came down with a tummy bug. It was just days ago that I was thinking “Wow she’s done really well, five weeks and not even a sniffle”… I guess it is thoughts like these that should have the alarm bells ringing.

Sophie came down with a slight fever in the afternoon. We attributed it to teething. When she went to bed early we thought we would keep an eye on her temperature while she slept it out. Her temperature kept rising and at after an hours sleep she woke feeling completely out of sorts. Then followed a major case of the collywobbles. We cleaned her up and headed off to the hospital. The security guard that hangs around our guest house must have been off on a snack run but luckily the local hairdresser was in. We were just going to use her phone when her friend, Moht (meaning Ant in English), said that she will take us to the Chiang Mai Ram Hospital. Not only did she drive us to the hospital, but she waited with us, interpreted for us and brought us home. Extremely kind.

Within an hour of us deciding to go to the doctor we were home safe and sound with our angel re-hydrated, medicated and sound asleep. Sophie was registered at the hospital, seen by nurses, prodded, weighed and measured by an English speaking doctor and found to have a stomach bug. All of which Sophie found highly amusing.

The last 3 days have been spent in our room. Now that Sophie is getting better we’re dealing with a slight case of sleep deprivation and cabin fever. Ho hum.

It has been another good experience within Thailand’s health care system. The whole experience set us back just under $30 AUD, including the medication, and at all times the hospital staff have all been highly helpful and professional. It just hammers home how important worldwide holiday insurance is, although most minor treatments are not too expensive it’s always good to know we can claim that money back. When we booked our insurance we found the best deal at InsureandGo and as long as we keep our receipts we wont be destroying our budget…

It has reinforced our decision to stick to the main tourist route while we travel with a baby.

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Zofia not refusing solids… will wonders ever cease! Her exotic tastes are making their appearance, and although she still picks her days, she has taken a great liking to mango, papaya, paw paw, croissant, eggs, noodles and rice! Oh and there is the humble cucumber and the new favourite, mango and yoghurt shake.

It has been such a blessing to be still breastfeeding. I can not imagine this journey with bottles, sterilising solution, formula and the rest of the laboratory. In addition to breastfeeding, we offer her a range of non-chokeable foods, albeit coughable, from the meals we order when we are out. All of our food haunts are especially helpful with providing us with extra cutlery, plates and the fall back banana. They are very understanding of the sticky mess left behind!

Zofia has become very mobile with her Star Wars AT-AT Walker styles and pulling herself up on chairs and beds and walls. She is a real danger junkie! We did not expect her to be moving around as much as she is at this stage in her short life, which is making our travels a bit rougher and tougher then we anticipated. The stroller is great but once we come to a standstill she wants to get out and explore. This proves difficult with the packs of dogs lurking, open sewers and general dirtiness associated with humidity and a city in the tropics. Don’t get me wrong, Chiang Mai is very clean considering. The street sweepers are out in full force all day long but so are all the stray dogs (or are they strays?). It is clean enough for shoes but unfortunately not for little hands and feet. Although she doesn’t get to explore the city as much as she would like she definitely rules the roost back in our room.

As expected our days are ruled by our little look sow. As long as we stick to her nap times then the whole of the family is happy. She is becoming well known among the neighbourhood and it has given us plenty of opportunities to mingle with the locals. ‘Sophia!, Sophia!’ they call. Then its holds and cuddles and, kisses and waves and, funny noises and ‘Bye Bye Mama!’. And there is plenty of advice too. Zofia has even made a little friend down the street, 9 month old Guan. They chat, hold hands and give each other a polite whack every other day. The mothers enjoy it too.

So far, so good. Apart from keeping Zofias hands clean and entertained in the pram shes slotted into our life in Chiang Mai quite well. Keep on smiling sweetheart!

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Chiang Mai Ram Hospital Visit