Tbilisi hospital...

The Palace Hotel, 1am. Still experiencing bad stomach pains, I ask Becky if she would like to see a doctor. No, she thinks she’ll be OK.

4am - On goes the bedroom light. “ I need to see a Doctor.... now!”


We make our way back to reception and ask the receptionist how we can arrange a doctor call. They set about calling an ambulance, definitely better to be safe than sorry. Bex takes a seat and I pick up a copy of the “Georgia Times”.
“BLAST IN TBILISI:
Civil Georgia: An explosive device went off at about 1am on Wednesday in a suburb of Tbilisi, about 100 Metres from the U.S Embassy building, police said. No one was injured. police destroyed with water canon a second explosive device found in the same site…….Police declined to reveal the type of explosive used, or any other details relating to the incident”

Feeling even more uneasy, I read on....Another article has some really interesting facts on Georgias economy:
 “In august 2010, the average wage of a two person family was defined as $103 USD” I knew the country was poor, but that came as quite a shock to me.  Anyway, back to Becky.

The reception doors open and in step two female paramedics. After much poking and prodding, they decide to take her back to see a doctor. They proceed to put an I.V fluid shunt in her arm and walk her outside to the waiting ambulance. The next scene was straight out of a comedy film, but at the time it didn’t do much to quell our growing anxiety… !

Becky lays down on the stretcher in the back of the ambulance, the nurse plumbs in a bottle of I.V saline solution. I slam the sliding door, and we’re off…..Or not. The driver turns the key, a sluggish turn over and then a clicking noise. The battery is flat.

Embarrassed looking nurses call for a second vehicle, meanwhile I walk over to the driver and gesture that we bump start it. Both nurses plus me and the driver push the ambulance like crazy, the driver jumps in and the ageing Mercedes rattles into life with a cloud of black smoke.

The Docs surgery is in a bad way, rusting metal gates hang loosely from their hinges and the whole facility looks shot. After more proding, a sleepy Russian doctor pronounces “Stomak infecty” he speaks no other English . We jump back in the ambulance and proceed to Tbilisi general hospital.

Not quite so bad as the first place but definitely bad enough…Hard to summarise but I guess it was reminiscent of a 1950’s Russian hospital on a bad day. An elderly Russian doctor completes the necessary paperwork, confirms the diagnosis and we make our way to the blood test room. You can probably guess what it was like. A bucket of a strange looking. stale purple fluid sits in the corner of the room... The pungent smell of stale bleach lingers in the air.

Upstairs and to bed. I spend the following two days and nights shuttling between the hospital and our hotel. The hospital provides no food or water, and incredibly no soap or loo roll. So I head out in the day time to collect provisions and clothes from our $140 a night empty hotel room, then spend the night in the bed next to Becky.

But the beds are comfortable and one of the nurses supplies me with a course Russian army blanket, it actually proves to be quite a comfortable stay. If only they cleaned the two hospital toilets more than once a week….Especially considering we were in the “Infectious Disease Research Hospital” or CRAP for short.

The horror of those loos, I was convinced I would emerge from my two night stay in a worse state than Becky!
But all things considered Becky continues to make good progress. Two days, six bags of saline solution a two bags of 5% Glucose Infusion later and she’s up and about. Unfortunately nobody in the hospital speaks any English so it’s a constant battle to gleam any  information from the staff. I decide to call CEGA air ambulance, our medical insurance company. A very professional sounding chap answers the phone and they’re straight on the case. An outstanding firm!

Meanwhile, I’ve made a new friend in town. George the cab driver .He speaks a little English and seems to be a good egg, with genuine concern for Beckys welfare. I take down his mobile number, anytime I need a cab ride to the shops or hotel he’s there in 15 minutes flat. It sounds ridiculous, but when nobody speaks any English and even the alphabet is different, this sort of help is invaluable.

Having access to a translator of sorts I decide to use some of the downtime to investigate the suspension problem with the car. I explain the problem to George who immediately shouts “Autoservis!”. Back at the hospital, we’re now friends with our Russian Doctor and one of the nurses, they’re taking good care of Becky who after 3 days is now keen to leave. A lasting memory of the hospital will be the constant smell of cigarette smoke, visitors and Doctors alike all smoke constantly inside the building.

The Doc prescribes a bag of pills, we pay our hospital bill (Less than £100 all in) and we’re off. I must say that despite the state of the hospital itself, the staff were all really friendly and helpful. Our Doctor was a great guy and went out of his way to keep an extra eye on Becky. Doc, if you’re reading this, cut back on the smoking !

I drop Bex back at the hotel and head off with George to the Autoservis centre. I expected a pretty ropey back street garage, but instead we arrive at a superb and very large 15 bay car service facility - A spotlessly clean and very professional “Tageta Motors”.

As soon as we pull up most of the mechanics down tools and walk over to check out the car. They love it and it’s the usual thumbs up from everybody. The manager comes over and we chat. He explains that they’re already a MAN truck and OPEL main agent, and that Porsche Stuttgart had been over to inspect the facility with a view to making it a Porsche approved garage in 2011. Great choice George!

I explain the problem to the mechanics using George as translator. I already know the problem is down to a spacer in the shock absorber strut, and set about showing the guys what to do. They machine a spacer from a piece of steel, fit it to the shocker housing and we’re all done. The manager brings over two large Tageta Motors stickers which now sit proudly on the bonnet.

Meanwhile CEGA medical call me from the U.K. They’ve spoken to our Russian Doctor, he explains that the problem was due to a bacterial infection of the stomach and that the drugs should cure the problem. Very kindly he offered to call the hospital again next week to get the last of the test results, then call me with the info. Superb service, thanks Felix!
I make my way back to the hotel in a ‘clonk free’ 912, and bid farewell to George. Bex is looking great so we head out for dinner at a local restaurant. Fortunately they have a micro brewery in site, I feel duty bound to try out the special dark ale….Great stuff! J