We are back on the road, actually in a place we don't particularly want to be - near Delhi airport in transit en route to West Bengal. It has been a rough week and our trip to the far south of India has been much disrupted of course and several of those sorely won train bookings lost and replaced with internal flights.
I posed a challenge to the urology guys at Lakeshore, how to solve my immediate problem and get me back on the road without an extended stay in Kochi. So far they seemed to have found a solution but obviously we will be keeping a close eye on health issues. It was a hospital that most of us in the UK would recognise, I would guess not far below the standards of Addenbrooks and I certainly had no worries as I went into theatre, the whole team had visited from big boss down and they had bags of confidence. Unlike in the UK we had a private ac room with tv etc which cost us (or rather the insurance company all of 20 pounds per night), my whole treatment cost just over 500 pounds. We had the usual stream of visits each day from nurses, from dieticians, for laundry and for food delivery. These rose to a crescendo the evening prior to going into theatre and we were particularly puzzled by the guy with the large wash bag - he had no English so got a nurse who explained he had come to shave me. He hussled Tess and the nurse out, carefully locked the door, got me stripped and lay a sheet of newspaper under my trunk. He marked out with water the area to be shaved - just below my nipples to my upper thighs with nothing missed out inbetween!
And then out came the cut-throat razor. I immediately thought of the slogan we saw on a barber shop in Jordan 'Show your wife how brave you are' encouraging men to come in and have their beard shaved - nothing compared to the bravery I was about to demonstrate! As the scraping began and he got to delicate tissues I needed some distraction so peered around him at the tv - which was showing the Coen Brothers' film 'Fargo' and had just got to the woodchipper scene!
The hospital at Kumily could hardly have been in greater contrast, a very simple country hospital with a smiling Nun as Matron, the day began with a small bell rung for prayers, then the dawn chorus of birds started up and as daylight came the hospital was shrouded in mountain mists. Gradually these drew back to reveal the jack fruit trees and coffee bushes on the hillside opposite. Not quite Shangri La but a better view than anything Addenbrookes has to offer! But the beds were hard - you had to be ill to want to lie on them and poor Tessa had an even harder one.
Brian
I just want to tell you all about the Hospital Canteen at Kumily. When I returned to the hospital with night things after Brian had been admitted I suddenly though 'oh, here we are miles from anywhere, what are we going to eat' but was reassured by the Matron, who said 'We have a canteen, its over there' (pointing to a single story building to the right of the hospital building) . I didnt get a chance to check it out till after dark (remember there was a power cut) and was amazed when I went in to find first a counter and cash desk and small shop area, sweets and stuff like soap called 'Dr Wash', then a small room with tables and on the right of this the kitchen. The kitchen was lit with a lamp and the light of the open fire over which the fierce looking male cooks had their cooking pots hung. For 18 rupees I was given more rice than I could eat, a portion of potato curry in a plastic bag and four small portions of sambals (sort of accompanyments) and no cutlery. When I got back to our room I had to eat out on the balcony, sort of hanging over my food, so that I could get at least some of it into my mouth and not all down my front!
Sometimes they took pity on me and delivered my meal, it would arrive wrapped up in a sheet of news paper to protect it from the elements. Tea was dispensed in glsses and carried over in a metal glass holder with a 1/2 sheet of news paper over the top of the glasses. The food was really good and because the kitchen was so dark it was impossible to judge the hygiene standards, but it was a hospital so presumably they didnt finish off too many people (Heston Blumenthal please note). Also no concessions to bland food for invalids, it was hot, like it or not.
Tess
I posed a challenge to the urology guys at Lakeshore, how to solve my immediate problem and get me back on the road without an extended stay in Kochi. So far they seemed to have found a solution but obviously we will be keeping a close eye on health issues. It was a hospital that most of us in the UK would recognise, I would guess not far below the standards of Addenbrooks and I certainly had no worries as I went into theatre, the whole team had visited from big boss down and they had bags of confidence. Unlike in the UK we had a private ac room with tv etc which cost us (or rather the insurance company all of 20 pounds per night), my whole treatment cost just over 500 pounds. We had the usual stream of visits each day from nurses, from dieticians, for laundry and for food delivery. These rose to a crescendo the evening prior to going into theatre and we were particularly puzzled by the guy with the large wash bag - he had no English so got a nurse who explained he had come to shave me. He hussled Tess and the nurse out, carefully locked the door, got me stripped and lay a sheet of newspaper under my trunk. He marked out with water the area to be shaved - just below my nipples to my upper thighs with nothing missed out inbetween!
And then out came the cut-throat razor. I immediately thought of the slogan we saw on a barber shop in Jordan 'Show your wife how brave you are' encouraging men to come in and have their beard shaved - nothing compared to the bravery I was about to demonstrate! As the scraping began and he got to delicate tissues I needed some distraction so peered around him at the tv - which was showing the Coen Brothers' film 'Fargo' and had just got to the woodchipper scene!
The hospital at Kumily could hardly have been in greater contrast, a very simple country hospital with a smiling Nun as Matron, the day began with a small bell rung for prayers, then the dawn chorus of birds started up and as daylight came the hospital was shrouded in mountain mists. Gradually these drew back to reveal the jack fruit trees and coffee bushes on the hillside opposite. Not quite Shangri La but a better view than anything Addenbrookes has to offer! But the beds were hard - you had to be ill to want to lie on them and poor Tessa had an even harder one.
Brian
I just want to tell you all about the Hospital Canteen at Kumily. When I returned to the hospital with night things after Brian had been admitted I suddenly though 'oh, here we are miles from anywhere, what are we going to eat' but was reassured by the Matron, who said 'We have a canteen, its over there' (pointing to a single story building to the right of the hospital building) . I didnt get a chance to check it out till after dark (remember there was a power cut) and was amazed when I went in to find first a counter and cash desk and small shop area, sweets and stuff like soap called 'Dr Wash', then a small room with tables and on the right of this the kitchen. The kitchen was lit with a lamp and the light of the open fire over which the fierce looking male cooks had their cooking pots hung. For 18 rupees I was given more rice than I could eat, a portion of potato curry in a plastic bag and four small portions of sambals (sort of accompanyments) and no cutlery. When I got back to our room I had to eat out on the balcony, sort of hanging over my food, so that I could get at least some of it into my mouth and not all down my front!
Sometimes they took pity on me and delivered my meal, it would arrive wrapped up in a sheet of news paper to protect it from the elements. Tea was dispensed in glsses and carried over in a metal glass holder with a 1/2 sheet of news paper over the top of the glasses. The food was really good and because the kitchen was so dark it was impossible to judge the hygiene standards, but it was a hospital so presumably they didnt finish off too many people (Heston Blumenthal please note). Also no concessions to bland food for invalids, it was hot, like it or not.
Tess
2 comments:
Well, from your usual rollicking descriptions, you're obviously back on form Brian!
Oh, one question.... did you manage to get a video of the whole experience? Mobile phone pics? Well, we look forward to jolly evenings gathered around the slideshow. :)
And, Tess? what's all this about spilling food down your front? Surely not! I can't ever remember that sort of thing EVER happening with you!
...
Well, obviously, except the occasional BBQ.
And maybe a evening dinner or two.
Oh, and the odd meal out at a restaurant or wherever.
Mmm...
Still, good to see you back on form as well.
Enjoy the next stage of the trip. :)
(Oh, and Carol's finished White Tiger and wants me to read it now so that we can 'discuss it'. Sounds ominous!)
Mental note: pack Immac for next world tour. You never know when your body hair is going to be a liability. Glad you're back on the road. Have fun!
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