A conversation we had in Canada before we started traveling:

Kelly: I wonder what crazy tropical diseases we will get while we're traveling.
Nora:You're joking right?
Kelly:No really. It could be fun.

This conversation was entirely in jest. But apparently somebody with a lot of universal power and no sense of humour was listening.

No sooner than we wrapped up our astronomical project to save a few lives in Burma and booked a train ticket to Malaysia, did another catastrophe hit. Except this one hit a little closer to home (so to speak).

In the middle of the night, I awoke to Kelly pacing the room, turning the fan on, then off again. Then on again. Then he got some water, and came back to bed.

"What's up?" I groggily asked, wondering what this unprecedented evening activity was all about.

"I have a really big fever," Kelly said. "Really big. I mean - Really big".
Sure enough, his entire body was extremely hot to the touch, despite his almost uncontrollable shivering.

The pharmacy situation here in Thailand is fantastic. You walk in, they diagnose, prescribe, and send you on your way having spent no more than the equivalent of a few dollars. So we figured that the pharmacy could save us today too when we woke up and the fever was no better.
But on the recommendation of some Thai friends, we instead went to the hospital clinic, where a diagnosis has a little more science to it, tests can be easily performed, and the cost still isn't through the roof.

Neither of us were trying to give it much thought, but we knew of more than one person at our guest house who had contracted Dengue Fever; a scary sounding tropical disease that is transmitted via mosquito and which landed one of our friends in the hospital for four days so far and counting.

But like I said, we were trying not to give it much thought. We were rooting for a nasty bacterial infection that a healthy dose of antibiotics could kill. We did, after all, have a train to catch at 6pm.

Sadly, this is not how our day played out. Blood was taken, inconclusive results gained, and a promise to have the results as to whether it was Dengue or not at 5pm. So much for the train.

After racing to the train station to change our tickets to the latest day we can leave before our visas expire (entailing a departure date four days from now), back to the guest house we raced so Kelly could pass out (literally).

The call came at 5:30pm. Dengue Fever.
Shit.

We just can't seem to get out of this town of Chiang Mai! As much as we love it, it doesn't seem to love us to the same degree.

We are to return to the hospital tomorrow (Saturday), after battling it out here at the guest house for a night. It is recommended that we check into the hospital and stay there.
I guess it works out for the best: the guest house we are staying at has no room for us tomorrow anyway.

In fact, apparently the accomodations at the hospital (privately owned, very clean, efficient, and riddled with foreigners) are quite lush, according to our Dengue-suffering friend. She has a tv and dvd player, a huge room, and a couch for her traveling companion to sleep on and keep her company.
I've seen the couch in question...it will do me just fine.

For those who aren't acquainted with Dengue Fever, it is a virus that has no vaccine and no treatment. You have to keep a close eye on it (with regular blood tests - yick), to ensure that certain crime-fighting virus-punching elements of the blood count don't sink too low. Other than that - you just have to ride it out. Fever, headaches, body ache, nausea, GI distress, and rash are the typical symptoms. It's basically a flu on crack.
It typically lasts 3-7 days, 7 days being the most common period of suffering.

And with our visas expiring in less than 7 days and a train to catch in 4, we truly hope Kelly's crime-fighting virus-punching blood platelets can handle the job quickly.

So off to the hopital we go. After numerous hospital visits all over Canada, and one in Hawaii, we can now add Thailand to the list of hospitals we've seen in our travels. I'm all for getting a unique perspective on the world, but I have to say I never figured hospitals would be how we would do it. We seem to be conquering the world...one hospital at a time.

This was originally posted on the blog Life Happens.