Wounded in Koh Lanta
November in Thailand was supposed to be sunny and awesome and then December back in Hereford bleak and shit, but here I am three weeks in I'm on the verge of spunking £500 to get me the fuck outa here early!
SF4 was OK, although Bangkok was just too much for me so I legged it Koh Lanta a couple of days early to escape.
Arriving on Saturday, I noticed that no one walks anywhere on this island, it's all mopeds, so I promptly hired one, got on it, and sped the damn thing straight into a bush, which decided to take a rather large chunk out of one of my shins.
Being in an optimistic mood I cleaned the wound, doused it in iodine, and then shoved the dice-sized pieced flesh that had popped out, hanging on by a shred of skin, back into the hole, strapped it up and hoped for the best.
By last Wednesday my foot was swelling, and a trip to the medical centre resulted in 30 minutes of scraping out of dead and infected flesh. It's the closest I've come to the scene in Season Seven of Game of Thrones where Sam Tarly de-scales Jorah Mormont, it was sort of like that, but limited to my calf region, and no rum or stick.
Given that this isn't 1200, or just whatever year in some fictional universe, this was followed by antibiotic injections and a few other meds, and then two days of the same - turns out that infected wounds don't like to heal in a tropical climate.
Eight days on from the initial scraping.
Eight days on and the wound is just about scabbing over, but it only heals further if I stay in my apartment with my foot up: as soon as I get up and go and actually do anything (which means I have to cover it up) it gets a bit grim, so I'm kind of wondering what the point of me staying here is.
The place I'm based at: Kohub, a co-working space on Koh Lanta is just great, but it's all a bit frustrating not being able to really be a part of what's occurrin' - there's a fantastic looking island boat trip on Sunday for example, but with my wound I can't exactly swim, so what's the point?
I think I'm left with no option other than to get an early flight back. Probably Sunday.
Thankfully I've managed not to think about how detrimental this is going to be my running form - that genie's kept firmly in the box for now. Hopefully I'll be able to get out for a short run next week sometime, without compromising the healing process. Fingers crossed.
NB it's not all bad - Given that I was born lucky I think what's going on here is as follows:
- Had I actually got that moped out on the roads I probably would have died, or worse. Me and motorised vehicles don't mix.
- Given that I've had a bit of a shit time the last couple of weeks: December back in Hereford will now be a relief.
- I've been saved from an insanely attractive woman I've met here - had I not been wounded I would have been all over her, so I've either been saved a knock-back or some serious emotional withdrawal, or both.
So I guess there's some light in the coming December dark after all!
Careful what you wish for.
You should have took some regular vitamin C tablets to make it heal faster @revisesociology :D
Cheers, plenty of smoothies around here, lots of natural vitamin C!
Get some Aloe Vera plant on it!
Memories flooding back though - just be glad it wasn't your head taking the brunt of the impact!
Personally i would sit it out if you can, should only be a week or so til this is much better and there's not much chance you'll be back in the short term?
Also, can we get some photos/details on this place in Koh Lanta, cheers!
Aloe Vera? I had no idea that was a curative, I thought it was just for sunburn.
I'm not 100% about heading back early, but there's a very tempting 16 hour flight for £500 heading straight out of the local airport on Sunday. It's a lot of money to blow but atm it's worth it just to end this.
Early leave feels right now, but gonna see how I feel tomo. Maybe this third 'snap decision' this holiday will be the right one?! The first two (leaving SF4 early and jumping on that moped) weren't!
Yeah it's great for cuts and scabs and there should be a plant < 100 yards away?
https://advancedtissue.com/2016/08/aloe-vera-effective-wound-care/
Well I can't get inside your head but I'm pretty sure I would sit it out. Sunshine and rest are what injuries need - grind some posts and a bit of work out, it's fucking miserable here!
Oh i quite like miserable England in Autumn/ Winter!
I agree with the situation it out and wait.. Sheesh man that's gruesome!
Posted using Partiko Android
OMG... That must be really really really painful... Speedy recovery to you... Please take good care of yourself.
Posted using Partiko Android
Cheers! It's not actually painful, rather just annoying.
Ouch. That looks really nasty. Hope it heals well.
It's irritating is the word! Not painful, just stopping me doing anything!
To listen to the audio version of this article click on the play image.
Brought to you by @tts. If you find it useful please consider upvoting this reply.
Hope your arm heels up! Was a pleasure meeting you at steemfest! And thanks again for the sim card!
Posted using Partiko Android
Cheers! Great to meet you too! Hopefully catch you at the next one - hopefully it'll be somewhere where i don't have to escape early. I'd kind of like it to be back in Lisbon again TBH!
So sorry about the wound. Hope it heals quickly as soon as possible. No
Posted using Partiko Android
So sorry about the wound. Hope it heals quickly as soon as possible.
Posted using Partiko Android
Ouch man! Get home, sit and do nothing until it's completely better!
Cheers! I think that's what I'm gonna do!
Won't sea water (salt) help? I've no idea what I'm talking about mind you.
it will probably disinfect but the salt water would feel like torture I think
Another guy here had a tiny scratch from another moped injury, he was told no swimming for three days, so apparently not.
The main thing is the scab would probably go soft, fall off, and then I'm back to an open wound again.
Wow... The wound looks deep, take care and speedy recovery
Posted using Partiko Android
Horrible! Glad it's healing, although I can understand the frustration. Take it easy.
Cheers!
I was wondering how you were getting on, I'd asked Ian whether you had enjoyed Steemfest. I hadn't realised you were in the wars. Tricky things those mopeds!
I was wondering how the extreme retirement was going? Were you thinking of doing an update some time - it helps me think about my own plans, although mine vere more towards sometime-never retirement hehe :)
Hi - I missed your reply here soz! Just realised it.
SF4 was OK just the locale was too much for me to settle, as the ERE thing I've got a few decisions to make what my next steps are! I'm about 70% I won't be in the UK by mid 2020, but I'm still undecided.
I'm kind of reluctant to reflect on my wealth ATM as I think it's taken a bit of a hit recently. I'd rather bury my head in the sand and just work!
Having said that maybe i'll do an update next week.
I've got my eye on the steem eco-village project, now getting involved with that from summer next year is EXACTLY what i'm in the mood for, but I dunno how open the invites are going to be.
The wound feels a bit better - I can run etc, and it feels OK, but there's one little slice that's really deep and still feels a bit open so it still needs 'managing', Defo glad I'm back in the uK: TCP is so much more comforting than iodine.
Pathetic
Posted using Partiko Android
Ouch! I guess people don't go for proper safety equipment there, but then the heat may make that unattractive. Even UK summers in full leathers could be grim.
Get well soon. It's a real shame you won't get to make the most of your trip, but health has to be the priority. Don't rush to run before you are ready.
Cheers!
I think of it as 'feet first'! Same as health first in this case.
And cheers, I won't rush, I know starting too early just retards recovery!
Oh my Gosh! Get well soon with that hole!
At least it's an impressive wound!
Haha, true!
Hi @revisesociology!
Your post was upvoted by @steem-ua, new Steem dApp, using UserAuthority for algorithmic post curation!
Your UA account score is currently 4.804 which ranks you at #1452 across all Steem accounts.
Your rank has not changed in the last three days.
In our last Algorithmic Curation Round, consisting of 94 contributions, your post is ranked at #17.
Evaluation of your UA score:
Feel free to join our @steem-ua Discord server
Hi, @revisesociology!
You just got a 1.37% upvote from SteemPlus!
To get higher upvotes, earn more SteemPlus Points (SPP). On your Steemit wallet, check your SPP balance and click on "How to earn SPP?" to find out all the ways to earn.
If you're not using SteemPlus yet, please check our last posts in here to see the many ways in which SteemPlus can improve your Steem experience on Steemit and Busy.
This made me laugh so much.
I got a moped when I was in koh lanta and nearly ended up in a ditch straight out of the shop 🤣 I just about managed to pull it onto the road seconds before disaster and that taught me to be much more cautious with the throttle.
Sorry to hear you had a 'Game of thrones' wounding Karl. That must have been so frustrating! I'd have gone mad if I hadn't been able to go snorkeling and scuba diving, and generally sea related stuff, when on the islands.
Safe journeys and fast healing buddy 😎
I've heard so many tales from people who've experienced moped disasters since i've been here, everything from scrapes of the knee to five people dying in a pile-up!
Seen more than one westerner on crutches too. I'm guessing mopeds are the culprit there too.
I imagine that's something that's changed massively since you were here, or there (I'm back in the UK already).... mopeds, mopeds, so many fucking mopeds.
I was wondering where you had gone! So now I know. That wound looks nasty, I hope it's better now. Yeah, those scooters are dangerous. Everywhere, not just in Thailand, but Thailand is known for the scooter and tuk-tuk accidents.
I'm glad you're still all in one piece, minus some flesh and skin.
Hey cheers, it is now healing. Great to have met you and sorry not to say farewell Bangkok was just too much!
Great to have met you too. Even though we've met before, but the number of people actually gave us all the chance to actually talk properly this time around. Oh, I totally understand. I've always had a love/hate relationship with Bangkok. There are many things that I love, and there are many things that I hate. I think being older this time around didn't help that situation. I hated the thought having to stay an extra 2 days when my friend came to visit, but in the end I had a great time. But I was still very happy to get to Koh Chang after the city. The islands are just a bit more easy going, with less people and less rules. Nevertheless, this trip made me remember how much I had missed the place and why. I'm on a new mission!