A Night at the Hospital

The previous journal entry on Sunday afternoon noted Coleman's ongoing cramps -- those worsened through Sunday night. Monday morning the school jeep/ambulance drove us up to the school gate at 8am, and Barb took Coleman to the health center. They kept him through the day, tried to get him to drink fluids, and even injected some anti-nausea medication. Nothing helped.

At 3pm, while I was in the classroom waiting to teach my last class of the day, one of my colleagues came in to relieve me, with a note saying that I needed to escort Coleman to the hospital.

I hurried down to the health center, to find them getting paperwork for Coleman's move. One of the employees carried Coleman pick-a-back to the (small) parking lot and put him in the school ambulance ( a white jeep with a red cross painted on the side, and a bench seat in the back). I carried his school bag and accompanied them, for our first visit to nearby (2km) Landour Community Hospital:
http://www.eha-health.org/hospitals_landour.htm

As the LCH website notes, it was built in 1938. The website does not note that it has not substantially changed since 1938. The staff is very friendly, rooms are vaguely clean, and the important instruments are sterile. We at first were placed into a small private room with shared vaguely-clean toilet. The nurse immediately put Coleman on an IV drip to rehydrate him. Coleman was groggy, but most worried about getting another shot -- those previous attempts had evidently been painful, and it still hurt to sit down! We assured him that all medication would go through the IV in his hand. Dr.KarenWilson ordered some anti-nausea and antibiotic (Cipro?), which took effect surprisingly quickly (The pain eased within an hour; and the cramps subsided within 3 hours.). Doctors' rounds came soon, with several medical students watching, Dr.Sam Thomas inspected Coleman, pronounced him reasonably healthy -- that is, nothing besides bacterial dysentery. Agreed that he could likely go home after 24 hours.
Fortunately, Dr.Wilson found that the official guest room (intended for visiting medical students) was vacant, so she transferred us there: a private room with two beds, and its own actually-clean toilet.
Barbara took a taxi up to the hospital, carrying some food for my dinner, and a change of clothes for us.

An Amazing Coincidence
Walking Barbara to the front door of the hospital, to call a taxi, the one phone rang (only one phone at night, when the office is closed). It was an old colleague of mine from the States! He had received some email notice of my new address, then tracked down the school's phone number and called there -- the receptionist had heard that I was staying at the hospital, so he transferred the call, which happened just as I was walking by the phone.

The guest room was actually rather nice and clean, though the mattresses were typically hard. The nurses came in every couple of hours to check temperature and blood pressure, etc., so our sleep was interrupted. Coleman felt much better in the morning, though still weak. Dr.Wilson pronounced him fit to return home after he had eaten some lunch successfully and demonstrated that his kidneys and lower-intestine were functioning fine. [Stool samples at the hospital are collected in small clay bowls--reasonably sterile!]
The school ambulance came back to collect us, walked Coleman to the health center for the rest of the day, and I could teach my usual 2 classes, back to normal!

Lesson learned? Don't be fooled by temporary relief of symptoms: after any severe cramps or diarrhea, go to the health center!
Doctor Wilson noted that her standard practice had changed recently: she now attacks this sort of dysentery quickly with antibiotics, rather than the previously-usual practice of waiting 24 hours.

We're glad to have seen the hospital first-hand, in a relatively good experience.
Another newbie colleague, a young frail single woman, had to go there alone, when all the private rooms were occupied, so she spent the night with several Garhwali women in various states of illness -- a completely foreign experience. Her own illnesses and allergies did not abate, so she quit and returned to Missouri in mid-August.