We arrive in Hanoi at 5am after a fitful night on the sleeper from Sapa. The city is beginning to wake and dawn is breaking as we take refuge in the station waiting room. There is nowhere else to go at this time in the morning and we are able to catch the tail end of the Barcelona football match – always a bonus as far as Andy is concerned. At about 6am we say goodbye to Daniel and Fiona and make are way to Vega Travel to see if we can take a room for the day since the bus to Hue doesn’t leave until 6pm and we are both feeling exhausted. We’ve also decided to take the opportunity to go to the hospital to get some alternative anti-malarials. Andy’s feeling a lot better although the stiffness in his calves is still making it difficult to walk. Vega aren’t open so we find a little coffee shop nearby – one of the few open at this hour – and supplement our drinks with breakfast bought from a street seller. It turns out that there are no rooms at Vega – the owners family have had to relocate here due to the recent flooding. The Amex travel helpline had recommended the Hanoi French Hospital about 3km to the west of the Old Quarter so we make our way to the Accident and Emergency and are quickly seen by a doctor. To our surprise he thinks Andy has Dengue Fever and after blood tests strongly recommends that he is admitted for emergency treatment.
The reception staff at the Hanoi French Hospital speak English, thankfully and Andy is seen by an English-speaking doctor almost immediately. The doctor isn’t convinced that Andy’s symptoms are an adverse reaction to the doxycyline and thinks he may have Dengue Fever! This comes as a bit of a shock to say the least – there isn’t supposed be any dengue fever in north Vietnam and it never crossed our minds that it could be a possibility. The doctor wants to do some blood tests (a mere $214). We are to come back in two hours for the results. So we take a stroll round the immediate area. But a street consisting almost entirely of medical supply shops doesn’t make for particularly interesting browsing. A bit further away we come across a street lined with internet cafes (hard to find in the Old Quarter) and we spend the time catching up on e-mails and looking up details of Dengue Fever.
The hospital is spotlessly clean, the staff helpful, friendly and efficient. This is no manic accident and emergency department here. All is calm and sedate. There appear to be only two reception beds and one doctor on duty. Two other foreigners are brought in while we are here – a Swedish lady who has fallen as a result of tripping over one of the small stools that are common in cafes in Hanoi and a Russian man who has been knocked down by a motor bike and has two broken legs and a broken arm as a result.
The blood tests confirm that Andy hasn’t got malaria which is a relief, but his white blood cell and platelet counts are dangerously low. The doctor wants to admit him straightaway; this is a dangerous situation and we should put off our plans to travel to Hue tonight. If this is Dengue Fever then 24 hours after the fever subsides is the most dangerous; apparently you can go into shock or coma. We can hardly believe what is happening and the doctor can’t believe that Andy isn’t feeling ill and we are still proposing to travel today. We agree that Andy’s should accept treatment and – once we’ve paid $1500 deposit – is immediately put on a saline drip. I leave him in Accident and Emergency looking rather forlorn in his white gown, drip by his side.
Armed with a sheaf of medical reports and blood test results I take a taxi to Vega to cancel tonight’s travel arrangements, organise a hotel and fax all the medical documents to AMEX. Vega, as anticipated, are extremely helpful; no problem to postpone the bus travel to Hue; they send my fax; let me telephone the hotel we stayed at previously and get me and all our luggage into a taxi. The hotel staff are also very sympathetic when I explain the situation and even discount the room rate! After a telephone call to the insurers and the hotel in Hue I have a quick bite to eat and return to the hospital about 530pm to find Andy looking quite perky but bored. He has a double room to himself for a mere $385 per day including food (we think) and English television.