Although those seven words do spring quite a tune in my head from Kelly Clarkson, at this point I find more truth than anything out of such a simple chorus. Four days prior to start of my trip one afternoon I had quite a queasy stomach which I too much did not think of. After the same feeling of discomfort continued for a few days I began to think it was from just the excitement, overwhelming and thoughts how I can't wait to just release from my parents at the airport and truly begin my journey.
Now let's skip forward three days into my first week in Bangkok and at that time I still had the same uneasy, queasy feeling burrowing deep down in the depths of my iron tummy (or what I thought was an Iron tummy). At this Point I knew something wasn't right. Essentially it had been over week of the same stomach ache and this was not any just run of the mill sickness. I took Action. After asking my informative hostel owner he pointed me in the direction of a close and new hospital to get looked myself. at. After checking in at the Digestive Discomfort Center (that's literally what it translated to from Thai to English) and going through the process it turns out I had bad stomach inflammation. In laments terms essentially it's when your stomach puffs up like a sprained ankle and during that it constantly releases acid into your belly. I'm no doctor but I don't think excess amounts of acid is suppose to just hangout in your stomach 24/7. The doctor told me it wasn't anything from what I ate or came across in Thailand but a simple meal that I could have had in the States with some bad ingredients (since it started four days before my trip) and my body just reacted poorly to it. With that being said my first 3(ish) days I was still trying to convince myself it was still "nerves" or "excitement" so I was really getting after it. As a man who LOVES spicy food and will try anything at least once I kept that same mindset. I was loading my pallet with all sorts of stuff. Bottles upon bottles of Chang Beer with fellow hostel mates (Thailand's version Budweiser or Europe's Amstel/Heineken), plates of Pad Thai, sushi flavored potato chips, fried beetles, various curry's, and even a grilled scorpion. Combine all that and you got a seriously pissed off digestive system. After taking a breathing test which informed me of the stomach inflammation I really toned things down, doctor's orders. No spicy food, coffee, tea, carbonated beverages, only small amounts of a fruit at a time, dairy products or alcohol. Yeah, read that one correctly. No alcohol. Not saying I'm an alcoholic but that seriously sucks as a backpacker as its one of the better socializing aspects of the whole experience. Let's not forget the fact that most Thai food is spicy so that I have to put that one on the back-burner till I feel healthy. Aside from the Thai people, the food was one of the things I was MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO. She also went on to say this type of thing isn't something that the human body can cure on its own so I'm definitely glad I got it checked out; and she prescribed me with three different medications. I wont go into detail but in short they're helping to slowly limit the acid released into my stomach and make for a much happier Woody (<<< sex pun? I think so). I Feel like I'm a walking pharmacy with all the goodies I'm lugging around.
Let's take a little jog back to those seven words and why they actually hold some truth right now. Sure a stomach sickness isn't the end of the world but I will tell you one thing; it has thrown quite a wrench in The first few weeks of my trip. Not to be too melodramatic but this pain over the last two weeks has been haunting me as I haven't been able to be at full strength. Sometimes my normal outspoken self has been laid back and somewhat more irritable which I do feel isn't out of the ordinary. As I'm starting to feel a tad better every day it makes me think internally I actually have become a stronger person. I'm not trying to get too high on myself as I get healthier or too low on myself when things take a step back. The real clincher of the situation that genuinely got me a little down was the diet and what little I can actually eat that doesn't counteract the medicine. Anyway, once I swallowed that pill that of disappointment, among all the others, I'd like to think things can only go up from here. Regardless of it all I'm still having the time of my life and it makes me think what kind of upside the trip has once I can start eating ridiculously spicy food, munching down on bugs and tossing back some more Chang Beers. For now, I just need to sit back, relax and enjoy my porridge rice for another week or so and think I'm still in SE Asia chasing my dream.
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