Well…after my latest blog entry when I mentioned I had just got Delhi belly, I got rapidly worse. That was Sunday 4th February and today is Tuesday 20th and I am only just getting over it. I have basically had to write off two weeks and spend it in bed as I was really quite ill. On that Sunday night I had to sleep in the room with the ensuite as I went to the loo 15 times in those 24 hours. I had excruciating abdominal pain, a headache, felt sick and sometimes dizzy. I have never had anything like it so I just put up with it. Another 24 hours passed by and I was no better. By Tuesday lunchtime I had been to the loo nearly 40 times and eaten barely anything so decided to ring our project partner in Delhi for her advice. She said I should see a doctor and really should have done right from the start. I was taken to the emergency section of a hospital where the doctor wanted to take me in over night to give me antibiotics through an intravenous tube as I was quite bad. I was on my own, had no idea about the standard of the hospital, whether the needles were safe and I didn’t particularly want to stay there any longer so I asked for an alternative. She gave me three different types of drug to take for five days but told me I had to come back in the morning if I had another bad night. Well, I had a bad night so took myself back in the morning where I was immediately hooked up to a drip and given lots of tests. I was diagnosed with acute gastro-enteritis and mild dehydration. I realised I should have admitted myself earlier but I wanted to find out the standard of the hospital and take my own needles. Thankfully, it turned out to be a good private hospital and the needles were sterile. Yet even here were there ants crawling all over the floor in my toilet. I had to stay there for 28 hours and it was an ordeal. Luckily, I was allowed someone to stay with me so Fiona, bless her stayed by me the whole time, not sleeping to make sure I was ok. The main thing that made it so hard was the language barrier. The nurses who changed my drip and gave me different drugs didn’t speak English so I just didn’t know what they were doing or why. Nearly every two hours I was given something and unfortunately had allergic reactions to two different antibiotics. So it was my first night ever in a hospital, the first time I have ever been on a drip and the first time I have ever had a reaction to antibiotics…all in India with no one there to tell me what to do or what really was gong on! I got through the day and remained upbeat about it all and everyone came to visit me in the evening. It was during the night when it hit me how ill I was. My asthma came back – another side effect of the antibiotics but I didn’t have my inhaler as I was told by the doctor in England it was dormant. I tried to explain to the nurse who thought I said I was pregnant! That is how bad the communication was! I finally got the message across and they brought in a big scary machine with liquid. I got a bit worried, as I couldn’t remember my type of inhaler. I desperately wanted to ring home to ask but my mobile wasn’t working and the hospital didn’t make international calls. It was then that I felt completely on my own and I had to just make thee decision myself to not have the treatment. Thankfully, I was ok by the morning. At 5am a nurse came in to change my drip so I stuck out my hand, only to get the shock of my life when she inserted a huge syringe into me! That was the first time I cried but it was from the shock and anger at her not telling me what she was doing, especially when I was dazed at 5 in the morning. I had just got over it when she came back and did it again because there was a bubble in the tube. I cried again. From then on, I just clock-watched until 1pm when I was discharged. I felt worse than when I came in and had an awful headache but I think it was from lack of sleep from the past few nights. I also had the strain of getting all the doctors to sign my medical insurance and making sure I was completely covered. What an experience!

I was given three drugs – ciplox, emerset and pantium DSR and told to eat only plain food like rice, bread and porridge. I spent from Thursday until Monday in bed, concentrating on resting and eating more. I had my first trip outside the hostel on the Monday and gradually started to go out for longer. The following Thursday (15th) I had a check-up where I was told I was still not right as I was going to the loo about five times a day and was getting frequent headaches. I was put on redotil, pantocid and crocin and have just finished them today. I was told it would take me a long time to get over it as my system has really been jumbled about. I feel like it has – at one point I could see my stomach physically moving up and down. I am a lot better now so there is no need to worry but it has taken a full two weeks to be able to even write about it, as it has been a difficult time. I missed two weeks of school, many day trips and could only stay in bed and watch the hours go by. But I went t school today, which was great and although my tummy still has its ups and downs, I am at least up and about. Let’s hope that is my lot for my time here!

I made the weekend trip to Jaipur which had been my aim and I‘ll write about it next time. I have even managed to put up some photos! They are only a small collection but I hope you like them.

Lots of love xxx