Diarrhoea On My Honeymoon

I've been meaning to write about this, but I've been lazy he he he...Anyway, as you all know, my hubby and I got married in my hometown, Bandung, Indonesia. Since my closest friends were spread around the globe (one in Holland, one in USA, one in Germany, one in Kalimantan, one in Jakarta, one in Bandung), I tried to arrange my wedding date to be close to my Dutch friend's, so I could go to her wedding party with my hubby. Everything went well and we set up our wedding dates two weeks apart (mine ahead of hers). I was SO looking forward to going to her wedding with my hubby. However, things didn't work out that well in reality.

I should start from the beginning, then. We got married on a Friday, then on Saturday and Sunday we spent 2 nights in a hotel (to have some privacy), then the next morning we flew to Bali to have our honeymoon there. The following Sunday we flew back to Bandung and stayed at my parents' place. I decided to spend our last two days in a hotel again so that we would get some privacy 'coz I knew we'd cry our eyes out before we parted again.

Friday afternoon we checked into the hotel I'd booked. We felt lazy, so we ordered some food to be delivered to our room from the hotel resto. I had brought my nice gown and party shoes to the hotel 'coz my Dutch friend's wedding was due on Saturday. However, not long after having lunch in our hotel room, Arttu started going to the bathroom. Again. And again. And again. After a few times going back and forth, I knew something was wrong. His face was contorting in pain. He felt weak, so I ran to the nearest pharmacy to buy some medicine for diarrhoea. The diarrhoea got worse and worse and he started to get a fever. I panicked, so I called my doctor friend (who'd just arrived in Bandung from Kalimantan to attend our Dutch friend's wedding). My friend told me to buy some more medicine. Then I also ran to a food court to buy some food for us both.

I gave him some medicine and spoonfed him. After that, he began shivering constantly. I began to be more panic!!! His temperature got higher and higher and he felt so cold. It scared me 'coz usually he loved having AC in the hotel room and I was the one who usually felt cold in that cool hotel room, not him! I had some balm in my bag, so I rubbed his feet and hands with that balm to warm him up. He was still shivering. I called my doctor friend again to ask for advice. She told me to give Arttu two Panadol tablets 'coz probably one wasn't enough. I followed her advice. She also said she's drop by to the hotel to check him up later on.

After a while, he felt his body burning and he started to get rid of his blanket. I knew I had to try to get his temperature down. What to do? What to do? My mind began racing. Then I grabbed my shorts and tank top and wet them with some water from the tap to get his temperature down. I kept on going back and forth to the bathroom to wet my shorts and tank top. I spread them on his arms and forehead. His eyes began to look reddish and I was scared!!! I was scared 'coz he was bound to fly back home on Sunday evening and we couldn't change the departure date or anything else. He either had to fly then or buy a new ticket and I knew he couldn't afford to buy a new ticket, so I was just so freaked out.

After what seemed to be forever, my friend came over with her doctor husband. They brought some medicine just in case and told me what to do in case his fever stayed high. Then we prayed together for his health. I think it was the first time I felt like a wife. Even during the honeymoon in Bali, I didn't really "feel" like a wife yet despite the ring on my finger and the fact that we could do "anything" then.

That night I kept on going back and forth to the bathroom with my shorts and tank top to try to get his fever down. Finally at around 8.30 pm he felt slightly better. He stopped feeling hot all over after sweating his shirt. I helped him take it off and get him a new one. After that, he was finally able to sleep.

The next morning he could get out of bed to have breakfast in the hotel resto. My doctor friend had suggested eating only bread. She thought that other types of food could be dangerous since they might not be cooked well or thoroughly or something. She told me to avoid fresh veggies or anything uncooked. So he had some croissants and coffee, then we got back to the hotel room.

That day he still went to the toilet a few times, but it wasn't as bad as Friday. I think on Friday he went to the toilet more than 10 times. I was then wondering if I should go to my friend's wedding ceremony and skip the wedding party. The wedding ceremony started at 2 pm (I figured it'd take only 2 hours top), whereas the wedding party started at 6 pm (and I knew it'd last until around 9 pm). However, in the end I decided to skip both events. Arttu told me to leave him and go to the wedding ceremony, but I couldn't do it. Besides, if I had gone there, I wouldn't have been able to concentrate, anyway.

So I called my friend and apologized to her about not being able to come and explained the whole situation. She understood. That day I bought more food for us from outside the hotel resto and then we just spent the whole day in the room. I wanted to make sure he was strong enough to fly back home on Sunday. The thing is, we had to drive around 3 hours to Jakarta before he flew back home. Yeah, such a long trip still.

I was glad that Arttu looked stronger after midday. Then my brother came by with his girlfriend to give us some bread he he he he...So we didn't manage to go to my friend's wedding, but I didn't regret my decision at all, because turned out that the wedding ceremony at her church lasted for 2 full hours. That meant that if I had gone there, I'd have left Arttu alone for around 3 full hours ('coz of Bandung traffic and all that, the trip back and forth would have taken about an hour).

One funny thing is that during the two days in the hotel, we hung the sign "Don't Disturb" outside our door, so the cleaners couldn't go inside. On Sunday morning, the hotel receptionist called me and asked me if I had had breakfast he he he he...I guess he must've been wondering whether we had been murdered or something HA HA HA HA...

Oh well...one tip for everybody: if you go to Indonesia, make sure you bring lots of medicine for diarrhoea HE HE HE HE HE HE...