There has been a reason I’ve not posted anything in the past several days…I had an accident in Ho Chi Minh City and spent a couple of days in the hospital. I’ve returned home and will be here at least for the next couple of months.
The details
On Sunday, February 16, I left my apartment to head out to dinner. While walking towards the outdoor stairs, I turned to put something in my bag and didn’t realize how close I was to the steps. I missed the step and fell nose first down 4-5 steps to the sidewalk below. I landed on my face and left shoulder. I knew my shoulder was dislocated and as people came to check on me, I asked that an ambulance be called.
I was fortunate that one of the of the people who stopped to check on me was a lovely young man from Bellevue, WA who was visiting family in Vietnam. He stepped in to translate to and stayed with me on the side walk waiting 45 minutes for the ambulance to arrive. After getting good pain meds, I was transferred to a local hospital that took international patients. I was taken to the ER where they put me out and reset my shoulder. After an Xray and CT, I was admitted to the hospital. The tests showed a small fracture as well. Side note: The 30 minute ambulance ride cost $31 USD. I was surprised to actually be admitted to the hospital for a dislocated shoulder as I’ve broken two ankles without being admitted to the hospital. Even had a double mastectomy years ago where the doctor had to fight the insurance company to let me even spend the night in the hospital. However, I was grateful to be admitted because I wasn’t sure what would need to happen, and at least the doctors spoke English, albeit somewhat sketchy.
Vietnam hospital stay
The tricky part was that my Vietnam Visa would expire on Wednesday, Feb 19, so I only had 3 days left before I would have to leave the country or face immigration issues. I told this to several different doctors and nurses and they all nodded their heads like they understood and would take that into consideration.
The next morning, one of the nurses came in and told me that an MRI had been scheduled for the following day at 4:30pm. That would make it Tuesday, the day before I had to leave the country. After trying again to explain that I still had to leave the hospital in time to get back to the apartment, pack everything and get to the airport the next day, I realized that no one was understanding my situation so I ended up having a bit of a meltdown. The doctor came in and I explained, again, that I had to leave on the 19th. I asked him if I could travel before the MRI. He said yes, but book a business class ticket so that I didn’t have to worry about my shoulder being knocked about. Then, I was to get an MRI in the states as quickly as possible. Whew! I left the hospital with a bag of prescriptions that took me 2 hours to sort through when I got back to the apartment.
Home again!
I booked the flight, packed my bags and left for the airport the next day. I was able to get a wheelchair at the airport (mainly because my left foot had also gotten strained and I was limping as well), I made it to Taipei and then on to Seattle. I don’t recommend getting hurt as a method to make your way through the airport (customs and security) quite efficiently, but it was a bonus.
It was a tough time of travel, but I made it home. I went to the restroom at the airport and realized, “Oh, wait. I don’t have to put toilet paper in the trash can, I can flush it!” I should have been heading to Cambodia, but it’s good to be home, even if it’s because I have to be.
I will update my prognosis once I get all of the test results in the US…heal…and back on the road again soon.