There is one thing that most people who have traveled to Bali have in common: getting sick. This of course presents itslef in varying forms and degrees. Some are luckier than others, suffering a mere few hours or days of food poisining, while others (myself included) are of the not so-lucky variety. Being a less-developed country of southeast asia, there are visible differences in health and satitaion standards, particularly when coming from a sterile western country like Canada. Food is prepared differently, virusus are abundant and unique compared to home, and health codes may as well be non-existent, particularly when traveling on-the-cheap.
Like I mentioned, nearly everyone travelling to Bali will suffer an accute case of what's known as "Bali Belly;" a cutesy term for the not-so cutesy common symtoms of food posining from adjusting to local foods and health standards. About half of the travellers I met, in addition to dealing with Bali- belly, had a trip to the doctor or hospital for an abundance of reasons varying from heat stroke, to stray dog bites, to dengue fever.
The purpose of this blog post is to share with you what exactly went down with me personally health-wise while in Bali, what I did, and my advice for anyone else who finds themselves sick in Bali or beyond.
WHAT HAPPENED TO ME
My sickness started quite innocently with very mild food posining symptoms that seemingly went away after a couple of days. Following my recovery, I was hit hard one evening with a case of cold sweats, to the point of deleriousness and the alarming need to wear every layer of clothing I had brought with me. Everyone in my hostel looked at me like I was a crazy person, wearing a sweatshirt, long pants, and my sarong wrapped around me as a blanket in the 40 degree Bali heat. I spent an entire night up overheating and shivering, feeling absolutely delirious as the food poising symptoms continued. My appetite dropped and I was unable to keep any food down. What was happening to me mirrored the symptoms of a bad case of heat stroke, so I spent the following day cooped up alseep in my air conditioned dorm and waited for my body to ride it out. I felt better the following day, much better in fact. I continued my activities as usual, slowly realizing as night time rolled around that my body was not feeling it, at all. One sip of beer resulted in a violent night next to the toilet, and unstoppable tiredness and nausea for the next three days. Straight. I barely got out of bed, and the feelings of food poisinging made me feel as though I was going to die- I couldn't eat at all. I realized it was time to go to the doctor when I got out of bed in the late afternoon to go for a short stroll in to town and had to turn around because I didn't have the strength to keep moving my feet.
I had two trips to the doctor, both times to re-fuel my nutrients via and I.V. and to tun extensive blood tests. The doctors were convinced I had contracted Dengue fever- great. I would go to Bali alone and contract the semi-rare mosquito virus that can't be vaccinated against or cured. But the tests came up negative. The doctors told me to keep resting, and if my symptoms continued to worsen to go straight to the hospital. I'll be fine. I told myself. I just needed to rest and let my body recover. I'm extremely stubborn and was hell bent on not spending any of my precious Bali days in the emergency room.
The morning following my second doctors visit was when I realized that what was happening to my body was not a normal case of Bali- belly and I needed to get to the hospital. Like yesterday. I won't go into explicit detail on why I needed to go to the hospital, but I will say I felt absolutely delerious and could barely move.
MY HOSPITAL EXPERIENCE
I ended up staying in the hostpital for a period of four days following my check in to the emergency room at Siloam International Hospital Bali. Upon checking in they ran loads of tests- and found impressively quickly that I had contracted a parasite called amoebasis. As I dsicovered, it really takes ahold and wreaks havok on your entire body. Luckily, it is treatable with antibiotics, but as I was so weak and sick my doctor ordered me to stay for 4 days so that the majority of my treatment could be done intraveniously. The hospital was clean, the staff were kind and professional, and to be honest, my biggest gripe was the food. It was simply not the kind of food my upset stomach was ready to consume (re: fish ball soup for breakfast) so I found it very difficult to get calories in as my body healed. Because I was alone, it was harder (but not impossible) to get outside food from going downstairs where they had a few fast food venues and a convenience store, or ordering take away via Go-Jek. The only trouble was I was completely bed-ridden for the first couple days and did not have the strength to move whatsoever. Of course, if you are travelling with a friend or a partner, you will find it much easier to forage desirable food and be well on your way to recovery in no time!
WHAT TO DO IF YOU GET SICK
This varies completely based on your symptoms and severity. I'm not a doctor, but being someone who has had a more lengthly experience with the Bali healthcare system than most, this is my advice.
1. Ask people for help and opinions!
Even if you're travelling solo, chances are there are loads of people in your vicinity (hostel, homestay, hotel) whether they are staff or fellow travellers. Most people are more than willing to give you a hand or offer advise based on their personal knowledge or experience. It's also really important to make it known to at least one other person that you are feeling ill if you're solo, just incase something happens.
2. If your symptoms are getting worse, and lasting for more than two days, head to the clinic.
I know, going to the doctor at home is a huge bummer, let alone in beautiful Bali. But you know what sucks more while in beautiful Bali? Not being able to leave your room, while everyone else is enjoying the sunshine and poolside bevys. I can tell you that I WISH I had gone to the clinic sooner, as I may not have had to go to the hospital, or at least for not as long! But hey, I'm stubborn, and had fully convinced myself it was a little case of heatstroke.
3. Make sure you have travel insurance, as well as a higher limit available on your credit card.
Most travel insurance companies require you to pay for your treatment upfront and will reimburse you upon return to your home country. If you're unable to pay, and don't have anyone around willing to help you out, I'm sorry to say it but you're pretty much screwed. So be prepared!
4. Keep a copy of your insurance ON YOU.
When you get to the doctor or hospital, they will need this to comunicate with the company so that they can approve your treatment. This makes the entire process much, much easier (and trust me, when you're ill in a foreign country, you want it to be as simple as humanly possible.)
5. Get an indonesian SIM card for your phone, or sort out a roaming package with your cellular company at home.
Please, please, please. Learn from my mistakes! I chose to forgoe sorting out a SIM card or phone plan on my last trip, as I really saw it as unecessary to be constantly connected while abroad. I didn't have anyone I NEEDED to be calling regularly and figured wifi internet access would suffice- which it did! Until I got to the hospital. When I arrived, I needed to call the insurance company right away. I was delerious, tired, and terrified, not to mention there was a significant language barrier between myself and the hospital staff. I found the "toll free" number for my insurance company, and desperately dialed trusting that toll free meant free of charge, despite the fact I was calling from a canadian number. In Indonesia. Duh. Give me a break though, I was SO sick and out of it. Needless to say, my phone bill was not a pretty one that month. Lesson learned!
TIPS TO AVOID GETTING SICK
Once again, I'm not a doctor, however, these are a few tips I picked up along the way that I wish I had been told before my trip to Bali.
1. Do not drink tap water.
In restaurants, if water is served to you in a glass (not bottle), chances are it is from the tap. Be sure to ask whether the water is filtered, or just order a bottle of water. It is quite cheap, about $1 for a bottle in restaurants.
2. Be careful with uncooked food.
This one is really up for debate and reliant on your personal discretion. Bacteria tends to be cooked off in the heating process, so eating anything raw from the wrong place at the wrong time could in theory get you sick. My advice would be, if you're craving a big deicious salad or fruit smoothie, save those meals for the swankier restaurants and be willing to pay a bit more for them. Trust me- it is worth the couple of extra dollars. If you're craving fruit, go ahead and buy it at a fruit stand- just peel it yourself!
3. Wipe of the rims of cans and bottles before you drink out of them.
This is just one extra measure of satefy to prevent bacteria and disease spread. It's also easy enough to do, so why not?
4. Use insect repellent.
There are viruses and diseases carried by mosquitos that can get you very sick.
5. Be careful in the sun.
Heat stroke is real and can make you feel like absolute garbag. If you're out in the sun for a few hours, make sure you're drinking loads of water, wearing sunscreen, and giving yourself breaks in air conditioning.
6. Choose the appropriate vaccinations before you go.
Your local health care authorities will be able to advise you on current vaccine reccomendations for Indonesia before you go.
I hope these tips help you babes out if you're planning to venture out in the world any time soon. Learn from my experiences (and mistakes!)
XO. Chels
You may also LOVE:
Pin me!!
Comments