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Being Ill in the Countryside

Being Ill in the Countryside

A lump has been growing on my back for the last week or two. I haven’t paid it much attention because it didn’t hurt and I have had a non-malignant lymphoma removed before. The surgeon who did that in the UK twelve years ago, said that I could get another one there again or somewhere else in the future, so I put it down to that.

However, this one burst last night, so I suppose it is some kind of boil instead. My wife suggested going to hospital to get it sorted out and I agreed. So, I asked when she wanted to take me to the local hospital and she said they couldn’t deal with something like this there, we’d have to go seventy-five kilometres to a big city hospital instead.

That has got me thinking about being ill in the countryside, if they can’t handle a boil, what about a stroke or a heart attack?

Five or six years ago, my wife bought fifty mapang saplings, which grow into trees, or big bushes, I suppose. Anyway, we’re had a few fruit from them over the years, but they were a little bitter and, so, rather disappointing. However, this year, she has bucketfuls of mapang and they are the best I’ve ever tasted.

Perhaps they just needed to grow up a bit – like children. I’m not certain, but I think mapang are called plum mangoes in English. The name certainly suits their size, colour, shape and taste. They look like large, yellow duck eggs with a big, flat, central stone.

This is Thailand’s summer, so you can expect it to be hot, late thirties to early forties centigrade, but it is also overcast, which is unusual… that doesn’t usually come until May when the Big Monsoon traditionally arrives. However, the old weather patterns are becoming less predictable, as in most places in the world.

Regards,

by +Owen Jones

Podcast: Being Ill in the Countryside