Can I die from this???

Today was an adventure, to put it mildly. John woke up still in pain from his heat stroke. I was surprised because normally rest and hydration is all that’s needed.

We were up at 8 am and needed to pick up our bikes and gear from the transition zone. I was going to get John’s friend Tom to help me, but John felt he was well enough to get his bike. That was a mistake.

The bus ride to the zone was hot, and then we had trouble finding all of John’s gear. Because he collapsed and was rushed to the medical tent, his bike shoes and helmet were not in his transition bag. Rather than John hanging around to find where they were, I told him to get on the next bus back to the hotel and I’ll stay to track down his stuff.

There are a lot of good things about China and some frustrating things about China. Communication and organization is one of the frustrations. They ended up telling me that the doctors in the tent would have taken John’s things and kept them. “What?” I told the guy, to me, that is the equivalent to stealing.

At this point, I rode my bike back to the hotel and was going to talk to the race director. John’s shoes and helmet are worth at least $300 - $400 and they should be obligated to reimburse him. Before I tried to find the race director, I went up to the room to drop off my bike and see how John was feeling. No John.

I went back downstairs and saw his bike leaning against a pillar, with all his bags, including the helmet and shoes. Still No John. I checked the lobby and the race building. No John. Finally, I went to the front desk, pointed at John’s bike and asked if they knew where John was and they said “hotel doctor”.

They took me to him and he was in rough shape. He was in a chair hunched over and they were taking his temperature with a thermometer under his arm. The doctor hadn’t yet arrived. When he did, he was the “official Ironman Race doctor”, from North America, and was fairly dismissive. He didn’t appear to be too concerned about John’s condition. His bedside manner was terrible.

I asked what could be done, did they have any IV’s. They didn’t, and he explained that as of last night, he no longer has medical authority or responsibility for Ironman participants. I asked what we should do and he said, “Get a cab and take him to the hospital”. Then he left.

John was getting worse, and all the nurses wanted to do was take his temperature as he sat in pain. I had enough and asked them to let him lie down on a bed in the room. He could barely get up from the chair to walk 10 feet to the bed. He then started to feel nauseous.

By this time the doctor returned and was much more helpful. He had called the hospital and found an English-speaking doctor who was prepared to see John right away.

Last night John asked me to Google if he could die from heat stroke, it said “no”, just hydration and rest is required. He asked the doctor the same question and got another “no”, but the doctor did to some pushing and prodding on his stomach, which was enough to get him to “throw up”, big time.

It just kept coming and coming. He had at least 4 big ones, maybe more. It was tough to watch. Tom had to leave the room, I thought he was going to get sick himself. It was quite a sight, puke everywhere. It was on the bed, on the floor, on his shirt. Amazingly, the purging helped. He started to look much better and felt well enough to walk to the cab outside.

It was a good thing he could walk, I had asked for a wheel chair, and they came with a stretcher that was about 5 feet long and 2 feet wide. There was no way John could have fit on that thing without hanging over the edges.

It was a bit of a zoo in the medical room. Lots of Chinese chatter and they all had a “deer in the headlight” look about them. It was like the blind leading the blind. No one seemed to know what to do. It was the hotel medical center and it seemed like they’ve never had to deal with sick people before.

We took the cab to the hospital and we found out later the cab driver took us the long route. The direct route was about half as long of a drive. Instead, she took us through the city and pointed out areas for us to “sight see” and take pictures of.

The car was in rough shape and I’m not sure if she didn’t like to drive fast or if the car couldn’t drive fast. We were “putting” along and on some slight uphills the car would back fire. Comedy at it’s finest. It was a good thing that John was a feeling a little better after throwing up. By the time we got to the hospital, he was starting to fade again.

John was treated like royalty. The cab driver called into the hospital and a nurse met us at the door and took John, Tom and I in to see the doctor. The doctor was great. She spoke perfect English and asked all the right questions. John asked again, “Can I die from this”. She said “no”.

Based on his symptoms, she didn’t appear to be too concerned and felt a few IV’s with sodium and glucose would help. He also needed to start eating something. Before they treated John, we had to settle the bill. I went with the nurse to pay for the glucose and hospital fees. In total it came out to 46 RYB. Which is around $7 USD. The cab fare to get to the hospital cost more.

The medical attention was superb. Even the director of the hospital came down to meet and introduce himself to John. When I went to pay, the lines were long and the nurse took me right up to the front of every line. It was VIP treatment.

The only thing I don’t understand about China is the paperwork. They have computers and input data into them, then they hand write out paper work. Even at the hotel when we’d exchange money, they would do the same and they would even right down the serial numbers of every dollar bill we gave them. Their paper work process is time consuming and frustrating.

Finally, we got the IV’s and John was set up in an observation room and was hooked up to the drip. The nurse figured he’d be there for a few hours, maybe more, depending on how quickly his body absorbed the fluids. Tom and I went into town to get John some food from KFC.

The one thing I like about China is the lack of rules. It’s kind of like the Wild West. Motor scooters everywhere, going in all directions and it doesn’t appear they have driving rules. It’s common to see motorbikes and small vehicles drive on the wrong side of the road in the opposite direction. You can also drink beer on the street, just like Vegas.

Tom and I picked up a cold six-pack of Anchor beer and sat on the sidewalk curb and had one. That first beer tasted so good, it had been over 2.5 months since my last beer. It was fun. Sitting, drinking and watching the never-ending “hustle and bustle” of the street. Endless people, motor traffic and horn honking. It was hot, we were in the shade, it was a new experience and I loved it.

Eventually, we picked up John his KFC and headed back to the hospital. He was wondering where we were. He still hadn’t gone through the first IV bottle. Then he had the KFC and the fluids started pouring into him. John was quite the sight. Lying upright, eating chicken, with grease everywhere and vomit on his shirt. I don’t think anything was left on those bones when he was finished.

We finally got out of there and returned to the hotel using the “fast” route. John looked much better and Tom and I kept making fun of him and teasing, “Can I die from this? Am I going to die? Have other people died from this?” He took it in good humor.

We got back and hooked up with Simon. He came up to the room and we all sat around chatting and having beers. John seemed to be back to his old self, telling police stories. From there, it got a little hazy for me.

I do know we went down stairs to the restaurant for dinner. I got a message from Simon today and he said for the last hour I was vegged out and didn’t say anything. I guess I had one to many beers.

During our evening, I asked Simon, “was I the same as what you expected from reading my blog?” He said “100 percent”, except I looked younger in person than in my photos”. He then asked me, “was I the same as you expected?” and I said “no, you’re better looking in your avatar picture”. He got a big laugh.

I had more to add, but couldn’t articulate my thoughts. He was bugging me and telling me “I’m speaking to slow, get it out”. I was having “beer pause moments”. I’d stop to expand on my answer and then forget what the question was.

What I meant to add to Simon’s question, “was I the same as you expected?” The serious answer is “yes” and “no”. What I didn’t expect was how interesting and knowledgeable Simon is about so many subjects.

He’s a great conversationalist with a unique and fresh perspective. Whether we were talking about triathlons or geographic world cultures, I learnt a lot in a very short order. To Simon’s question, “was I the same as you expected?” My answer is “no, you exceeded my expectations”.

Rest and Recovery Day.
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