A sore throat, sore back and overweight, Isaan Thailand.

Life is a funny thing. Last week I was a little under the weather for the entire week due to a cold. My throat got worse and worse as the week progressed even though I had bought plenty of medicine.

My runny nose had gone by the weekend but the sore throat with lots of mucus being coughed up and an itch in my throat that made me want to tear my throat apart at times.

I taught a few private classes on Saturday but it was Sunday that bit me on the butt. On Sunday, midmorning I was getting a shirt from my cupboard when a t-shirt fell off a coat hanger. I bent down and picked it up; when I straightened I felt a twinge in my lower back. That twinge continued when I moved and I thought I had strained a muscle picking up a bloody shirt.

I ended up icing my back and this did help but it started to ache as the day wore on. I went to teach at a school about 8 kilometres from my house. Riding my motorbike there wasn’t too bad, but walking to the class and up the stairs my back really hurt.

By mid evening I couldn’t stand up straight. I laid flat on my back which hurt like hell and tried to gently stretch my back muscles. After 20 odd minutes is did fell a lot better but again not for long.

So today being Monday I woke at 6am to get ready for school. The problem was getting out of bed. I managed to get out of bed but was so bent over and in a lot of pain. I struggled to the bathroom and had a really hot shower and this relieved the pain, momentarily.

After my shower I rubbed a really hot balm into my lower back and this did seem to make my back feel better but I still couldn’t stand up straight and when I walked a pain would often shoot down my right leg. I messaged a fellow teacher that I wouldn’t make it to school today.

I went back to bed and laid flat for a few hours, then I got up and showered again and made my way to my local hospital about 600 metres away. I hobbled in and explained to the nurse what the problem was and I was whisked off to the waiting room.

The waiting room was pretty full; this was a little misleading I soon realized as it was mostly families with a patient. One elderly lady who was on a hospital bed must have had 15 people with her and another man at least 6 or 7 people with him. It wasn’t long and I was shown in to see a doctor.

The doctor did her thing. After a brief check I had to very awkwardly lie on the examination bed. I laid on my back, front and side while she prodded and tapped asking if it hurt. She then informed me I needed an x-ray to see if I had a herniated or compression of the disks. “How could that be?” I thought as I hadn’t felt pain like this before.

So I was off to x-ray. I had to lie on the freezing cold table and the x-rays were taken. The man was really nice and was a little scared at the start as he spoke no English but I could understand most of what he said to me. He said that I spoke Thai really well, but if you can say just a few words Thais say this anyway.

I went back to the waiting room and the x-rays arrived. I was ushered back to my doctor and she and a new lady went over them. I didn’t have a herniated disk but there was swelling and muscle spasm in my lower right back. Also I was told that the “s” shape your spine should be, isn’t like this but straight.

Then it was reality time. Why was my spine straight? Very simply, because I am carrying way too much weight. I already knew this and the doctor reinforced it. I weighed in at 105 kgs, I was actually shocked at this and it was a really good reality check to see.

I had to go and see the physiotherapist, she was going to show me some stretches and other things good for my back. I arrived and the lady was tiny. I was again prodded and poked and then laid on a therapy bed. Some incredibly hot, very hot packs were placed on my back. This lasted about 10 minutes, and then it was stretch time. Some were painless; others had me about to jump off the bed. A special heat lamp was then shone on my back where the spasms were the problem for 15 or so minutes.

I was then told I had to stretch a few times a day. I had to also lose some weight, again. I dressed and went back upstairs to wait for the bill to be tallied. The total bill for consultation, x-rays, physiotherapy and of course drugs came to 1,730 Baht. 850 Baht was for the drugs, 500 for the x-rays, 250 for the physio and 130 Baht for the consultation.

What a fat, lazy bastard I have become. I was 83 kgs when I first came out to Thailand, and in the past 3 or so years my weight has gone up and down like a yo-yo. I go to the local park everyday and walk 6 to 10 kilometres. The problem is my intake of food. I eat well, too well and I also like sweets. There are too many sweet things in Thailand. Also I drink Coke, Pepsi or anything else fizzy and sweet.

I used to run every night at least 10 laps of the park or 8 kilometres, 2 nights a week I would run 20 laps with some of my Thai friends. After picking up some small injuries I stopped running and started to just walk. I could eat pretty well what I wanted back then but I didn’t adjust after I stopped running, I am a fool.

So, I am going to have to get back on the healthy train again. I am not going to set any stupid goals, but I have worked out a plan as I had plenty of time while lying flat on my back most of the day.

We have a long holiday coming up in March, for about 9 weeks. I am going to start building my fitness level up from now until then. When we return to school in May about 17 weeks away, I am hoping to have lost that many kilogrammes.

I have 8 weeks to start to build a platform and then I have 9 weeks to unleash pain. It will be like returning to preseason football training. I know my body will hurt but my health is much more important.

My lovely other half, Miss Noot is going to be my motivator, she is in charge of not buying or letting me buy anything with sugar in it, no sweets, soda and so forth. She is also going to throw me out of the bed at 5.30am each day for me to go and exercise. It will be twice a day as soon as I can walk straight again, hopefully by Thursday or Friday.

So that is the plan, a plan that needs to be put into action. I will update my progress from time to time so that you can see if I am attaining my goal or falling off the wagon.

Brunty