Thai International Hospital

The last place anyone wants to be in a developing country’s run down hospital. Fortunately thats not where I was. I had a sore left rib/lung when I woke up on the 28th, the day after I finished my dive course. I took it easy that day (even didnt shake my thang to hard at Full Moon) but woke up yesterday with the same persistant pain when I breathe and laugh (ouchy).

Was this lung over-expansion injury? I didn’t think I ever held my breath when diving? (diving 101: Dont hold your breath, breathe continuously. At 10m for example air density is 2x that at the surface and air volume is 1/2. So if taking a breath, holding it and ascending from 10m this air in your lungs expands to 2x the volume.) I contacted the dive school who put me on to DR M (real name lol) at the Thai International Hospital (TIH) who specialises in dive injuries.

The upside of all this rampant development on Samui is this new hospital that could give any healthcare provider in NZ a run for its money. Diagnosis from DR M: Traumor to left lung tissue wall caused by over exersion in my breathing. That would’ve been the 2 dives and hour long snorklel from that day before. A consultation, X-rays, and medication only came to $1500bht – about NZ$55. So Im taking Ibruprofen for pain and muscle inflamation and Tolperison as a muscle relaxant. Obviously I’m taking it easy and this’ll probably affect my climbing in Krabi (next stop). For all this good med care its still a bit disconcerting being away from home with an injury. Im off to lie on the beach… I know, its tough

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 29th, 2004 at 9:32 am and is filed under Thailand. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.