Apollo Hospital and Surgery

Ok, so apparently whenever you travel your body decides to freak out on you. I've heard countless stories about people who discover heart conditions or various other ailments from traveling. Example, my friend Cameron from Jerusalem last year developed a condition that was hereditary and incurable-but treatable- and it decided to manifest itself while he was there.

My problem was my gallbladder decided to spaz on me while here in India. What started out as throwing up and inability to retain food/liquids transferred into major weight loss along with these symptoms, fever, and pain.

After coming back from my trip to Chatti to see the Koya people (more on them in the next post) I continued to decline in health. It was time to finally go to the hospital.

So I went to Apollo Hospital in Secunderabad. If you ever get sick in India, go there. They are a FANTASTIC healthcare system across India. Seriously, that hospital was nicer than some I've seen in the states.

So I go through the preliminary testings, pokings, prodings, urine samples, blood samples and an ultrasound. We find that I have a 1.1 cm long gallstone (it's huge...trust me) and that I'm symptomatic of it blocking my bile duct.

So I wait for the analysis, and wait for insurance and I get the news that I'll need my gallbladder removed. Woohoo! This means 6 months AT LEAST of a limited diet, ity bity amounts of fat, and goodbye to a lot of my favorite foods. Oh yeah, and I can't have spicy food for 3 months... in INDIA.

So I get ready for surgery and have my last meal with Julie, and Melanie. We ordered Domino's and got a bbq chicken pizza and a veggie pizza with coke. So. SO good.


Mmm.... pizza!

So I get to the hospital and do a lot of waiting before finally getting admitted.


The bed (the first one I was in actually, they moved me to a different room almost immediately after taking this pic so that I could be closer to the nurse's station)

I was so excited to finally be getting a solution to my sickness. I wasn't going crazy or inventing my symptoms, I had a real problem.


Yay! I'm checked in!

I always had one of my wonderful country directors with me.


Seth waiting with me the first day.

So we wait, and chill and then they stick me with an IV. That was one of the worst parts. Even a week later it's still tender where I had the IV in for multiple days.


Eew

So I went through and the surgery went perfectly. It wasn't too pleasant waking up because fasting + pain + anesthesia + pain meds = throwing up. That was not a fun experience just after surgery.

But then things started getting better as my body calmed down and I was able to relax and eventually I was moved back to my room.

Over the next two days I had various visitors and people who brightened my day. Thank you Sirisha, Brandon, Melanie, Julie, Seth, Melissa, Mindy, and Ashlee for visiting me in the hospital. It made the experience better.

So I was friendly with the nurses and even got one of them to pose for a picture.


Her name is Sirisha

I also had some lovely red an yellow roses that Seth brought along with love notes from Julie and Melanie.



I also was hungry for the first time in month! Or so it seems! I was so happy with my food too. It was SO yummy. I even got a picture of it.


So bland but yummy! The watermelon and the mashed potatoes were absolutely amazing!

I finally got released and was able to go back home, drugged, but for the most part better. Although I will forever leave a part of me in India. Gallbladder, you will not be missed.

So remember: When traveling, even if you get a clean bill of health beforehand make sure to have good health insurance because something WILL come up.

Cheers!