Monday, December 26, 2022
Minor drama after Christmas

Before the story starts, most importantly I AM FINE. So here’s the story:

Christmas was a non-yoga, non-workout day. I made it a low-key day, spending some time catching up on my blog after having coffee with John (husband of Rose, the owner of Wild Rose Yoga). In the early evening, craving the black bean soup from Miguel’s, I went there only to find it closed on Mondays. While walking south along the outer moat road a very loud motorcycle came close to me and accelerated loudly right by me, startling me. I kind of jumped over to the right, almost involuntarily, and smacked the right side of my forehead into a metal traffic sign.

Almost immediately, I felt completely stupid for over-reacting, while a large knot was forming on my forehead. Walked down to a restaurant I know, Mad Dog, and the server who recognized me quickly got me some ice. My thinking was that with the ice to reduce the swelling, I would be good to go. Ordered a very Western, comfort-food dinner, small salad, cheeseburger, and fries, and ate while keeping the ice on the knot on my forehead. (Mad Dog makes one of the best burgers in Chiang Mai.) One of the servers put a bandaid on the cut. The servers all told me I should go to the hospital to get it checked. I still waffled. Basically I felt fine, maybe energized a little by the adrenaline rush. So I walked down to Aman’s Singing Bowl shop, and the assistant, Bowan, took one look at me and practically ordered me to go to the hospital. The decision point was that the bleeding, while not profuse, was not stopping. What was I thinking – it is a bleeding head injury; of course it needs to be checked.

Walked back to The 3-Sis to get my passport, and Boom took one look at me and also said that I need to get that looked at. I told him I was on my way, just stopped in to get my passport. At 9:30 PM, I got a Grab ride to Chiang Mai Ram, and was apprehensive of a possible long wait. Got to Ram, went into the Emergency department, gave them my passport, and they immediately took me to a treatment room. One nurse was asking what happened and other questions, like “did you lose consciousness? did to fall over? did you become dizzy? did you become nauseous?” The other two nurses removed the bandaid and started cleaning the bump and wound. Fast service. Within about 15 minutes from the time I arrived, the doctor came in, asked many of the same questions again (probably to make sure I give the same answers to veryify my thinking is clear), inspected the wound and told me it would need stitches to heal properly. So I have five stitches in my head now. (Not the first time, my head has experienced a few cuts and bruises along the way.) And they want me to return every day to have the wound cleaned and the dressing changed. And they want me to take an antibiotic to ensure no infection comes. They also gave a medication with codeine for the pain. (Pain not too bad, I did take one of the pain pills the first night.) Stitches come out in a week. Got a Grab ride back to The 3-Sis, and was there before 11:00 PM. Overall less than 90 minutes.

And the medical costs. I do have good travel insurance, so this will all be covered. Chiang Mai Ram is an expensive private hospital in Chiang Mai, second only to Bangkok Hospital. And both are as good as or better than any hospital in the USA. I like Ram better because I can walk to it in 20-25 minutes from where I stay. I could probably walk to Bangkok Hospital, but it is 5-6 kilometers and would take well more than an hour. Nevertheless, the total cost in the emergency room the first night was 4700 baht, or less than $150 US. Each of the wound cleaning and redressing visits is 450 baht or less than $14 US. In the USA, that emergency room visit might have been $4700 (or more) instead of 4700 baht.

No question going to get the problem checked was the right thing to do. For a few days I’ll back off from the gym, yoga practice, and long walks or hikes. The doctor said to rest at least one day, then I could start normal exercise. With some yoga poses having the head low (standing forward bend, downward-facing dog, all inversions), I’ll back off for a few days. The look is not my best, but not so bad, either:

Bandage on my right forehead, skin below my right eyebrow has the “black-eye” look.

What did I learn from this little adversity? Number one, a bleeding head wound should be checked, probably right away. Number two, Chiang Mai Ram is very efficient. Number three, be very careful of those signs. Life is unpredictable. This was, overall, a very good experience. The people at the restaurant, at the singing bowl shop, at 3-Sis, and at the hospital were very caring and concerned. This all worked out well, and I am touched at and grateful for the caring people here.

Next: More Kamphaengdin exploration