October 17, 2024 • 24 mins
Everyone always asks me...what is your worst travel story? You ask, I deliver.
Look at all of the pictures in the show notes 👉 here.
🩺Join me on a wild ride through Vietnam, where a picture-perfect vacation in Hoi An turned into a medical nightmare.
👂You'll hear how a diving mishap dislodged my still-healing helix piercing, leading to a dramatic hospital visit abroad. Trust me, this is one travel tale you won't forget.
🤣Despite the chaos, I found humor and resilience, and I have some hard-learned lessons and lighthearted anecdotes to share.
Tune in to hear about this unforgettable experience and get some cautionary advice for your own adventures....
Let's Go Adventuring:
https://thebucketlistmermaid.com/
Follow the Tail:
@TheBucketListMermaid (YouTube)
@thebucketlistmermaid (Instagram)
@TheBucketListMermaid (Pinterest)
Get in Touch:
alexandra@thebucketlistmermaid.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Alexandra (00:00):
my ears said come here, I'm gonna just absorb you.
That's so gross.
This is the grossest podcastever.
I am so sorry, but this storyneeds to be told.
I need to be heard.
Hey there, adventurers, welcometo Take it Before you Kick at
the podcast where we talk aboutall of the amazing adventures
that you can add to your bucketlist, and then also some
adventure travel stories.
(00:21):
On this week's episode, we aregoing to be talking about one of
my more dramatic travel stories, and by dramatic I mean it's
probably the weirdest thing thathas ever happened to me while
traveling.
In fact, it was so weird that Iwould just kind of wake up in
the middle of the night after ithappened and be like did that
happen, or was that a nightmareof that happening?
(00:43):
So this is definitely going tobe a travel story that is not
super great.
However, we need to talk aboutit and it is quite entertaining.
So let's get started and let'stalk about the time that I had
ear surgery in Vietnam.
So I'm gonna start out thisstory.
I was traveling in Vietnam, Iwent to college in the UK and
(01:03):
then I ended up doing abackpacking trip after I
graduated college or university,and one of my stops was Vietnam
and, honestly, surprisingly, Iloved Vietnam.
I mean, not surprisingly.
I knew it was going to be cool.
I was very excited to go.
However, it wasn't the onewhere I was like, yes, I'm so
pumped to go.
However, it was amazing.
(01:23):
I thought that there was somuch to do.
I thought that there wereamazing activities.
I went caving and diving and Isaw Ha Long Bay, and so Vietnam
just took me by surprise and Iabsolutely loved traveling there
.
However, there was a certainincident that happened when I
was in Vietnam and it allstarted when I was in Hoi An.
So Hoi An was one of myfavorite cities that I traveled
(01:47):
to.
There were so many lanterns.
I got this coat made becausethere's a lot of seamstresses
there, for some reason, thatmake clothing for super cheap.
So I ended up getting a coatmade and, after exploring the
city, I decided that I wanted togo diving because, if you don't
know already or you haven'tbeen to my website, the bucket
list mermaid.
(02:07):
I am a mermaid and my parentsgot married underwater.
I've been diving for a whilenow, so I really wanted to go
diving in Vietnam because howcool.
So ended up going.
It was a pretty big boat andthere were a lot of divers there
so we all had to split up intodifferent groups.
I ended up going with anothergroup.
(02:30):
I was traveling solo at thispoint so I needed to be paired
off with a buddy.
Now, a year and a half ago, Ihad gotten my helix pierced.
So this is basically the topportion of your ear.
It's made out of cartilage andit's in like the pinna or pinna
of the ear.
Definitely hurt and especiallygetting two done at the same
time, and I just always hadissues healing it.
(02:52):
As I said, it was a year and ahalf, but even when I was still
living in Cambridge I just hadsome issues healing it.
But it was pretty much fine bythe time that I went and I ended
up jumping into the water herein Vietnam.
Fast forward, a year and a halflater I'm in Vietnam scuba
diving and I hit the water atkind of a weird angle to where
(03:15):
my mask came off a little bit.
Now I didn't think a thing ofthis at all.
I was totally fine.
I laughed it off, put back onmy mask, but I think it did
jostle my ear around a bit as init hit the piercing.
So I went.
We ended up doing a drift divearound these rocks.
(03:35):
So if you're not a diver here,drift diving, you basically just
go with the current I it was myfirst time drift diving so I
was a little bit hesitant to go.
But you know, I'm always downfor a new adventure.
I probably should have had somemore training on it.
But don't be like me, do as Isay, not as I do in this
situation.
So anyway, we're on this driftdive and we're not too far down,
(03:58):
maybe 40, 50 feet and I lookdown and I see this clownfish
and he has this tiny little babyand he's about an inch away
from my face and it is just somagical to watch this little
tiny clownfish just come up tomy face.
And then I look up andeverybody is gone.
My buddy is gone, the rest ofour group is gone, I am
(04:18):
completely alone.
So I do my whole protocols of Ilook around, you know.
And then I did decide that itwas probably best for me to
surface because I had no cluewhere everybody was.
So I ended up surfacing and Iblew up my little rescue.
It's basically like this littlered inflatable tube and you
(04:42):
just kind of put some air inthere from your BCD and it's
like a little rescue.
So what happened was I driftedaway from my buddies and they
just didn't realize that Iwasn't still there, so they just
kind of left without me.
I was in the water waitingthere for about 45 minutes,
which sounds kind of terrifying,but honestly, I just knew in my
head that I was going to beokay.
(05:03):
You know, I was fine.
However, what kind of suckedwas that?
There were sea lice in thewater.
So the whole time it kind ofjust felt like I was getting
these little tiny stingseverywhere or like my whole body
was kind of on fire.
But it wasn't that bad.
So anyway, it wasn't the bestexperience ever, but they made
(05:26):
it up to me because they wentand grabbed me and then took me
to this luxurious beachafterwards and gave me some
incredible Vietnamese food.
So I was overall a very happyadventurer.
This didn't dampen my trip atall.
I still would have gone diving100%.
I'm laying there on this beach,it's all good.
And then I go back to thehostel and I realize that my ear
(05:49):
is inflamed.
Something in my piercing is notgood and it's just red and it's
swollen.
So washed it really well andrejoined my group.
I was actually I was stilltraveling solo, but I was
traveling with a group at thispoint, so they were all kind of
helping me clean it, and then wewere headed to Ho Chi Minh
(06:11):
right afterwards.
So we're in this tiny littleairport and I'm actually
messaging my piercer saying, hey, it's angry, I don't know what
to do.
She's telling me that I need togo take it out, which I'm not
sure was the correct advice.
But here we are so you can justimagine me crying,
unfortunately in the bathroom ofthis tiny little Vietnamese
(06:35):
airport, and this girl comes upand says oh my gosh, I'm gonna
like go get you some help.
And the entire infirmary orhospital was literally just a
dude in a bag.
He just brought his bag overand I was trying to take it out.
It was kind of bleeding, whichthat part of your ear, the
cartilage, is not vascular, itis not going to bleed, but so
the fact that it was bleedingwas just not great and we just
(06:58):
couldn't get the back off.
And he told me that I needed togo to the emergency room the
second that I landed in Ho ChiMinh.
So I'm panicking because I'venever gone to a foreign number.
Actually, that's a lie.
I had gone to a foreignemergency room back in India.
Oh, that's gonna have to beanother episode for later.
Basically, I got cellulitis inmy foot and then all the doctors
were on strike.
(07:18):
It was great.
Anyway, I was scared.
You just never want to hearthat you're gonna have to go to
a foreign hospital when you'reon vacation and you're exploring
and you're adventuring.
So that was definitely not thebest feeling in the world,
especially when you had to geton a flight.
Luckily, my other travelcompanions were very, very nice.
(07:39):
One guy actually just like heldmy hand.
The whole flight was like it'sgonna be okay, it's gonna be
okay, you're gonna be fine.
And so we landed in Ho Chi Minhand I ended up going and trying
to see a doctor and I found outthat all of their doctors
sometimes just take Sundays offand of course they have a pager
for life-threatening emergencies, which, my ear being have a
(08:00):
pager for life-threateningemergencies, which, my ear being
inflamed, was not alife-threatening emergency, even
though I felt like it was, sothey didn't feel the need to
call in a doctor.
After that I ended up going toa more local hospital and it was
just such a differentexperience than America.
I don't know what thehealthcare is like in your
country.
(08:20):
Feel free to comment.
I don't know what thehealthcare is like in your
country.
Feel free to comment on theshow notes what the healthcare
is like or what the emergencysituation is like in your
country.
But this one and it's funnybecause I would actually go
along after this to work in anemergency room However, this one
was just very interesting to me.
There was a lot of people layingin the hallways, there was some
(08:42):
power outages at one point andthen, once I did see a doctor,
it was in a communal room.
So I went in with a bunch ofother people, mainly Vietnamese
people, and we were all just inthe same room and luckily I had
a translator with me so he couldtranslate everything.
Same room, and luckily I had atranslator with me so he could
(09:02):
translate everything.
And he ended up telling me thatI needed to be hospitalized for
several weeks on an antibioticdrip.
Luckily, I had also had aninsurance where I could talk to
a doctor and I was able tocontact my doctor back home
because the time zones were nowlining up, and they said that
obviously it was up to mydiscretion, but they didn't
think that I needed to behospitalized for weeks and weeks
on end in a foreign emergencyroom with an antibiotic drip.
(09:25):
It was kind of nearing the endof my Vietnamese journey because
we were crossing into theCambodian border, so I would
have needed to be hospitalizedand then refly to Cambodia later
.
It just would have been anabsolute mess.
So I'm panicking at this pointbecause I really want to go to
Cambodia and I don't want to behospitalized.
(09:46):
That was definitely interestingand I ended up saying no, thank
you, which is so weird.
And so I went back to thehostel.
I was in a co-ed dorm room inthis hospital and those poor
people in there were probablylike what is this girl going
(10:07):
through right now?
Because at this point my earwas so inflamed that it had
grown over the earring, whichsounds so nasty and so gross.
But here we are, it's fine.
And I actually ended up goingto the Ho Chi Minh tunnels
because I really wanted to seeit and I have this crippling
FOMO or fear of missing out.
So I was literally in thetunnels, hunched over, just
crying because it hurt so badtoo, like my ear was just
(10:30):
burning and I couldn't touch itand I you could just looked at
it and it was oozing.
It was so disgusting and peoplewere looking at me like what is
wrong with her ear?
So anyway, that was not thebest time on the planet.
I definitely had better timesin Vietnam than in that moment.
Next morning it was Monday moreof the doctor's offices showed
(10:50):
up and I could actually see aspecialist.
So I went back with my guideand translator, ended up seeing
a very, very nice female doctorwho specialized in this kind of
stuff.
And here is where it gets justa little bit dicey.
If you're still with me, I'mproud of you for that, since I'm
talking about my oozing ear.
(11:11):
However, I do have to say adisclaimer.
From this point on, it's alittle gnarly.
So if you do get squeamish, Iwould definitely recommend not
listening to the rest of thisepisode.
Go on to a different episode.
It's about to get a littlehairy.
So here's what happened.
So I went into the hospital andby this time my ear was so
(11:31):
angry at me I couldn't see theback of the earring.
It was just like this bloodypussy mess.
Again.
I'm gonna be talking franklyhere.
If you get grossed out, don'tcome at me, I've warned you.
And basically I ended up gettingan x-ray done because they
wanted to make sure that theback of the earring it was
basically the top earring thatwas infected.
(11:53):
So the back of the earring wascompletely gone and they wanted
to make sure that it hadn't justfallen off or if it was
actually enveloped in my ear.
So they did the x-rays and itwas still in my body.
I just enveloped it.
My ear said come here, I'mgonna just absorb you.
That's so gross, that's sodisgusting, oh god.
(12:16):
And she basically gave me thehard discussion that she was
going to have to surgicallyremove the earrings.
So I really said I don't reallyhave a choice in this really at
this point, because I don'twant to have to take off a part
of my ear if it gets worse andit's not getting better.
So I gave the go-ahead, I saidyes and I also talked to my
(12:38):
doctors.
They said, yeah, I think youshould do that one.
So we ended up proceeding withsurgery and I went into the room
and I was like you know what?
Breathe, alex, this is going tobe fine.
I see the tools.
It's going to numb it up alittle bit and just cut it out
(13:00):
of there and it'll be fiveminutes and you'll be on your
merry way just enjoying Vietnamand getting ready to go into
Cambodia.
Wrong, absolutely wrong.
I was so wrong.
So she came in with anothernurse and again, I can't say
disclaimers enough, but this isgoing to get a little bit rough.
But here's what happened.
The nurse came in, she put herforearm on my head and basically
(13:26):
pinned me down to the hospitaltable and the doctor cut the
earring out.
And it took about 45 minutes tocut the earring out of my head.
It was so gross and so painful.
There was actually like therewas blood in my hair.
There was blood dripping downmy neck.
(13:47):
Throughout this whole thing Iwas screaming, I was crying and
they were just talkingVietnamese at each other and
then every once in a while theywould look at me and go, you
push through the pain, you areso strong and honestly, that
entire phrase has become such ajoke for my family.
Anytime something bad happens,we all just look at each other
(14:09):
and go, you push through pain,you're so strong, because I was
not being strong in that momentat all.
So she takes the earring outand shows me like the bloodied
mess of the earring and it'slike, oh, look at this.
And I'm like, okay.
And then she's like, okay,you're done.
(14:29):
And I was like where, where'sthe other earring?
Cause I had two.
She's like, well, that one'snot infected.
And I was like you get thatearring out of my ear right now.
And she just cut it out and Iwas like, girl, you can take off
the back.
I think the back is stillshowing on that.
Nope, she just cut it out thewhole thing, just cut out both
(14:51):
earrings.
I could feel the entire thingright there and I don't know, it
was just very terrifying havingthe nurse hold down my head
during this.
I don't know, it was just likethis complete lack of control
and, yeah, it was just not asuper good experience.
Um, so then the nurse leftafter I was done and I said, hey
(15:14):
, where's my good friend goingover there?
And she said, oh well, she'sgoing to go get some anesthesia
for the sutures.
Um, for those of you who don'tknow medical and don't speak
medical, that means that she'sgoing to go get some numbing
agents so that she can give myear stitches.
A, why did you cut open my earso bad that I need stitches and
B?
Where was the anesthesia when Ifirst went into this procedure?
(15:38):
Anyway, it was fine, it wasokay.
I'm sure there was a perfectlygood and reasonable explanation
on why I had to go through 45minutes of excruciating pain, of
them cutting my ear open, but Isurvived.
I'm still here.
And I got out of the bed andshe said oh my gosh, honey, like
I'm sure you're in so much painright now.
And I said yes, I really am,I'm in a lot of pain right now.
(16:03):
She goes oh, let me go get yousomething for that.
And she gives me anacetaminophen, which is like a
paracetamol or a Tylenol, likesomething I take for a headache,
which is not like I needed morepain medication, but it was
just very funny, but it was justvery funny.
So, yeah, that was fun.
And then we couldn't find myantibiotics.
So we had to go down to thislike seedy area to get the
(16:28):
antibiotics and all the whileI'm on my phone with my best
friend just crying, just going.
I didn't use any anesthesia andI felt it all and it took like
45 minutes and I'm traumatizedand she's just sitting there
going.
I don't even know what to sayto you.
Right now I'm just trying tobuy these antibiotics that
aren't available, but I did getthe antibiotics, so that was
(16:50):
good.
And if you think that thisstory ends here, you're surely
mistaken, because there's more.
So the day after I go on a16-hour coach ride to Cambodia,
cross into Cambodia, all while Ihave this huge head bandage on
my head, and I luckily.
I am so grateful for the doctorbecause she was really nice.
(17:11):
She gave me her personal phonenumber and she just said okay,
text me with any questions.
Here's what I'm going to needyou to do.
She told my guide.
Luckily, I was with aVietnamese guide who was so
helpful.
I don't even know what my lifewould have been like without
this man, so he was helping me.
We finally got to our place.
Luckily it wasn't a hostel, butwe were still in shared rooms.
(17:32):
It was right after we got intothe border of Cambodia.
When she was patching up my ear.
She didn't use non-stick gauze,she just used normal gauze,
which means that as my blooddried from the wound, it stuck
to the gauze.
So when we took it off, shesaid, okay, wait, you know, 24
(17:52):
hours and then get the bandageoff and clean it.
We couldn't get the bandage offbecause it had stuck to my ear
wound.
This is the grossest podcastever.
I am so sorry, but this storyneeds to be told.
I need to be heard.
I need some sympathy.
We got very, very fine scissors.
(18:12):
I went to go buy them from thelocal market and tried to
sterilize them the best that Icould and it ended up taking
about an hour for my guide tocut the gauze out of the wound
and he was so close to it and Icould feel the scissors going so
close to the incision site.
It was so uncomfortable andafter this I was done with
(18:35):
everything I was.
I wanted to go home.
I just turned 21.
At this point I was absolutelydone and I I had just reached my
limit.
So I talked to my mom and youknow, as every 20 year old who
just had a traumatic proceduredone to her in a foreign country
does, and she's just trying tomake me feel better at this
(18:56):
point, cause I'm like I'm doneand all this stuff has happened
and I just can't believe.
This just feels like atraveling nightmare.
And she finally gets me calmeddown and I go back into my room
and I think, oh my gosh, I'mjust so lucky to be here, I'm so
lucky to be in Vietnam andCambodia and to have this
experience.
I need to just make the best ofit.
(19:17):
And there you go.
So I go in and my roommate, whoI'm sharing the room with, is
puking Something she ate.
She got a bug somewhere alongthe lines there.
And I think, no, no, no, stayon the positive focus track.
I'm so happy to be here, I'm sohappy to have these experiences
.
This is character building.
Okay, character building.
(19:38):
That's what I have to keeptelling myself.
So I sit down on the bed and, nojoke, a cockroach crawls across
my leg in my bed and so,naturally, I call back my mother
and I just say you're wrong,this sucks, I don't know what to
do at this point.
And she uses one of thosefilters that you have on
(19:59):
Snapchat to superimpose her faceon a hot dog and she sent it to
me and said don't be a wiener,because that's all she could
think of to say to me at thatpoint.
And, honestly, it worked.
And again it's her still, tothis day, her contact photo is
her on a hot dog saying don't bea wiener.
(20:20):
And again, if something badhappens, we always just say you
push through pain, you're sostrong, and then we send the
wiener photo of her on a hot dogsaying don't be a wiener, but
see, this is my family.
We just have to turn a jokeinto everything.
And I honestly love it, becausethat's exactly what I needed at
(20:40):
that point and it gave me agood laugh and it got me out of
my funk.
The story continues.
You thought it was over, no, no, no, this story is still, is
still going.
So a couple days later, I havebeen to Cambodia.
I've seen some amazing things.
I've tried not to let this earfiasco get in the way of
anything and I had a great time.
But then it got to the pointwhere I needed to get the
sutures removed and I didn'treally know what to do.
(21:03):
So I contacted a person whocould help me and they directed
me to this one hospital.
So I ended up going to thehospital and they said that they
didn't have any sterile toolsand he would bike down to the
next village to get the steriletools.
Waited for a little bit, leftfor a little bit, came back for
a little bit it was a long timeended up making friends with the
(21:26):
nurse and he said I feel so badthat you have to sit here for
this whole time.
He actually spoke amazingenglish.
I was very, very impressedbecause unfortunately, I didn't
speak any cambodian and I reallywish I did.
But no, he was veryaccommodating, spoke English and
he said hey, do you want asnack from my village?
And I said, yeah, sure, let'sdo it.
(21:47):
Give me a snack from yourvillage.
And he hands me a tarantula.
At this point I'm like okay,jokes, jokes on the dumb
American.
Like is there a TV show that'sgonna come in and be like ha ha
ha, we've been filming you,jokes on you.
This whole thing is going to bea gag for you know a reality TV
show?
No, okay, like what is going onhere.
So, anyway, I ate the tarantula.
(22:10):
Kind of tasted like beef jerkywas not my favorite.
I actually ended up going to avillage as a part of the
excursion with the group laterand got to eat a plethora of
bugs.
I'm not a traveling foodie, soit was not my favorite time.
However, I'm glad I did it andthere you go.
So, overall, definitely aninteresting story.
(22:31):
I promise it's done.
That's it.
However, she did say that Icouldn't get my ear wet for
three months and I was travelingfor those three months.
So there's a bunch of picturesof joke pictures of me at these
beautiful Balinese waterfallsand in champagne tubing cruises
(22:51):
in Fiji and I have like aplastic bag over my head.
So that made for some veryinteresting photos and honestly,
it's just such a laugh now andit's definitely one of those
stories that I will alwayscherish because it definitely
made me stronger and it provedto me that if I could handle
(23:11):
that as a 21-year-old girl, Ican handle anything.
So definitely increased myconfidence a little bit.
But I want to hear your thoughtson this story.
What would you do if you werein my position?
Do you think that all of thiswas handled well?
Do you think that this ispretty standard for what an ear
(23:32):
surgery external ear surgery inVietnam should have been?
Definitely let me know in thecomments.
I'm going to also be linking allof my photos on the show notes
now I have to put out there.
They're not for the week.
You can actually see what myx-rays looked like.
You can see what my ear lookedlike before and after.
You can see the earring post-opand the whole shebang, and I'll
(23:56):
also throw in those hilariouspictures of me in granny caps
and trash bags on my head inthese beautiful places.
So definitely go and check outthose show notes.
I also have a full article onthis and a full video on this on
YouTube.
All my social media is at thebucket list mermaid and my
website is the bucket listmermaid comm, so definitely
check it out.
If you are into that kind ofstuff and are just morbidly
(24:17):
curious, which I would be Like,I would go check out my gross
photos.
No shame at all, I totallywould.
If not, I understand that too.
Here is me wishing you all ofthe luck and good vibes on your
next adventure and be carefulwhile scuba diving those
clownfish Deadly, deadly, deadlyclownfish and sea lice.
Thank you, guys, so much forwatching.
(24:39):
If you did enjoy this episodeof my ear surgery in Vietnam,
don't forget to give a review onyour favorite podcasting
platform.
Subscribe.
It would mean the world to thistraveling mermaid and we will
see you next week for the nextepisode of Ticket Before you
Kick it.
Thank you so much, guys.
Happy adventuring and we willsee you next time.
my ears said come here, I'm gonna just absorb you.
That's so gross.
This is the grossest podcastever.
I am so sorry, but this storyneeds to be told.
I need to be heard.
Hey there, adventurers, welcometo Take it Before you Kick at
the podcast where we talk aboutall of the amazing adventures
that you can add to your bucketlist, and then also some
adventure travel stories.
(00:21):
On this week's episode, we aregoing to be talking about one of
my more dramatic travel stories, and by dramatic I mean it's
probably the weirdest thing thathas ever happened to me while
traveling.
In fact, it was so weird that Iwould just kind of wake up in
the middle of the night after ithappened and be like did that
happen, or was that a nightmareof that happening?
(00:43):
So this is definitely going tobe a travel story that is not
super great.
However, we need to talk aboutit and it is quite entertaining.
So let's get started and let'stalk about the time that I had
ear surgery in Vietnam.
So I'm gonna start out thisstory.
I was traveling in Vietnam, Iwent to college in the UK and
(01:03):
then I ended up doing abackpacking trip after I
graduated college or university,and one of my stops was Vietnam
and, honestly, surprisingly, Iloved Vietnam.
I mean, not surprisingly.
I knew it was going to be cool.
I was very excited to go.
However, it wasn't the onewhere I was like, yes, I'm so
pumped to go.
However, it was amazing.
(01:23):
I thought that there was somuch to do.
I thought that there wereamazing activities.
I went caving and diving and Isaw Ha Long Bay, and so Vietnam
just took me by surprise and Iabsolutely loved traveling there
.
However, there was a certainincident that happened when I
was in Vietnam and it allstarted when I was in Hoi An.
So Hoi An was one of myfavorite cities that I traveled
(01:47):
to.
There were so many lanterns.
I got this coat made becausethere's a lot of seamstresses
there, for some reason, thatmake clothing for super cheap.
So I ended up getting a coatmade and, after exploring the
city, I decided that I wanted togo diving because, if you don't
know already or you haven'tbeen to my website, the bucket
list mermaid.
(02:07):
I am a mermaid and my parentsgot married underwater.
I've been diving for a whilenow, so I really wanted to go
diving in Vietnam because howcool.
So ended up going.
It was a pretty big boat andthere were a lot of divers there
so we all had to split up intodifferent groups.
I ended up going with anothergroup.
(02:30):
I was traveling solo at thispoint so I needed to be paired
off with a buddy.
Now, a year and a half ago, Ihad gotten my helix pierced.
So this is basically the topportion of your ear.
It's made out of cartilage andit's in like the pinna or pinna
of the ear.
Definitely hurt and especiallygetting two done at the same
time, and I just always hadissues healing it.
(02:52):
As I said, it was a year and ahalf, but even when I was still
living in Cambridge I just hadsome issues healing it.
But it was pretty much fine bythe time that I went and I ended
up jumping into the water herein Vietnam.
Fast forward, a year and a halflater I'm in Vietnam scuba
diving and I hit the water atkind of a weird angle to where
(03:15):
my mask came off a little bit.
Now I didn't think a thing ofthis at all.
I was totally fine.
I laughed it off, put back onmy mask, but I think it did
jostle my ear around a bit as init hit the piercing.
So I went.
We ended up doing a drift divearound these rocks.
(03:35):
So if you're not a diver here,drift diving, you basically just
go with the current I it was myfirst time drift diving so I
was a little bit hesitant to go.
But you know, I'm always downfor a new adventure.
I probably should have had somemore training on it.
But don't be like me, do as Isay, not as I do in this
situation.
So anyway, we're on this driftdive and we're not too far down,
(03:58):
maybe 40, 50 feet and I lookdown and I see this clownfish
and he has this tiny little babyand he's about an inch away
from my face and it is just somagical to watch this little
tiny clownfish just come up tomy face.
And then I look up andeverybody is gone.
My buddy is gone, the rest ofour group is gone, I am
(04:18):
completely alone.
So I do my whole protocols of Ilook around, you know.
And then I did decide that itwas probably best for me to
surface because I had no cluewhere everybody was.
So I ended up surfacing and Iblew up my little rescue.
It's basically like this littlered inflatable tube and you
(04:42):
just kind of put some air inthere from your BCD and it's
like a little rescue.
So what happened was I driftedaway from my buddies and they
just didn't realize that Iwasn't still there, so they just
kind of left without me.
I was in the water waitingthere for about 45 minutes,
which sounds kind of terrifying,but honestly, I just knew in my
head that I was going to beokay.
(05:03):
You know, I was fine.
However, what kind of suckedwas that?
There were sea lice in thewater.
So the whole time it kind ofjust felt like I was getting
these little tiny stingseverywhere or like my whole body
was kind of on fire.
But it wasn't that bad.
So anyway, it wasn't the bestexperience ever, but they made
(05:26):
it up to me because they wentand grabbed me and then took me
to this luxurious beachafterwards and gave me some
incredible Vietnamese food.
So I was overall a very happyadventurer.
This didn't dampen my trip atall.
I still would have gone diving100%.
I'm laying there on this beach,it's all good.
And then I go back to thehostel and I realize that my ear
(05:49):
is inflamed.
Something in my piercing is notgood and it's just red and it's
swollen.
So washed it really well andrejoined my group.
I was actually I was stilltraveling solo, but I was
traveling with a group at thispoint, so they were all kind of
helping me clean it, and then wewere headed to Ho Chi Minh
(06:11):
right afterwards.
So we're in this tiny littleairport and I'm actually
messaging my piercer saying, hey, it's angry, I don't know what
to do.
She's telling me that I need togo take it out, which I'm not
sure was the correct advice.
But here we are so you can justimagine me crying,
unfortunately in the bathroom ofthis tiny little Vietnamese
(06:35):
airport, and this girl comes upand says oh my gosh, I'm gonna
like go get you some help.
And the entire infirmary orhospital was literally just a
dude in a bag.
He just brought his bag overand I was trying to take it out.
It was kind of bleeding, whichthat part of your ear, the
cartilage, is not vascular, itis not going to bleed, but so
the fact that it was bleedingwas just not great and we just
(06:58):
couldn't get the back off.
And he told me that I needed togo to the emergency room the
second that I landed in Ho ChiMinh.
So I'm panicking because I'venever gone to a foreign number.
Actually, that's a lie.
I had gone to a foreignemergency room back in India.
Oh, that's gonna have to beanother episode for later.
Basically, I got cellulitis inmy foot and then all the doctors
were on strike.
(07:18):
It was great.
Anyway, I was scared.
You just never want to hearthat you're gonna have to go to
a foreign hospital when you'reon vacation and you're exploring
and you're adventuring.
So that was definitely not thebest feeling in the world,
especially when you had to geton a flight.
Luckily, my other travelcompanions were very, very nice.
(07:39):
One guy actually just like heldmy hand.
The whole flight was like it'sgonna be okay, it's gonna be
okay, you're gonna be fine.
And so we landed in Ho Chi Minhand I ended up going and trying
to see a doctor and I found outthat all of their doctors
sometimes just take Sundays offand of course they have a pager
for life-threatening emergencies, which, my ear being have a
(08:00):
pager for life-threateningemergencies, which, my ear being
inflamed, was not alife-threatening emergency, even
though I felt like it was, sothey didn't feel the need to
call in a doctor.
After that I ended up going toa more local hospital and it was
just such a differentexperience than America.
I don't know what thehealthcare is like in your
country.
(08:20):
Feel free to comment.
I don't know what thehealthcare is like in your
country.
Feel free to comment on theshow notes what the healthcare
is like or what the emergencysituation is like in your
country.
But this one and it's funnybecause I would actually go
along after this to work in anemergency room However, this one
was just very interesting to me.
There was a lot of people layingin the hallways, there was some
(08:42):
power outages at one point andthen, once I did see a doctor,
it was in a communal room.
So I went in with a bunch ofother people, mainly Vietnamese
people, and we were all just inthe same room and luckily I had
a translator with me so he couldtranslate everything.
Same room, and luckily I had atranslator with me so he could
(09:02):
translate everything.
And he ended up telling me thatI needed to be hospitalized for
several weeks on an antibioticdrip.
Luckily, I had also had aninsurance where I could talk to
a doctor and I was able tocontact my doctor back home
because the time zones were nowlining up, and they said that
obviously it was up to mydiscretion, but they didn't
think that I needed to behospitalized for weeks and weeks
on end in a foreign emergencyroom with an antibiotic drip.
(09:25):
It was kind of nearing the endof my Vietnamese journey because
we were crossing into theCambodian border, so I would
have needed to be hospitalizedand then refly to Cambodia later
.
It just would have been anabsolute mess.
So I'm panicking at this pointbecause I really want to go to
Cambodia and I don't want to behospitalized.
(09:46):
That was definitely interestingand I ended up saying no, thank
you, which is so weird.
And so I went back to thehostel.
I was in a co-ed dorm room inthis hospital and those poor
people in there were probablylike what is this girl going
(10:07):
through right now?
Because at this point my earwas so inflamed that it had
grown over the earring, whichsounds so nasty and so gross.
But here we are, it's fine.
And I actually ended up goingto the Ho Chi Minh tunnels
because I really wanted to seeit and I have this crippling
FOMO or fear of missing out.
So I was literally in thetunnels, hunched over, just
crying because it hurt so badtoo, like my ear was just
(10:30):
burning and I couldn't touch itand I you could just looked at
it and it was oozing.
It was so disgusting and peoplewere looking at me like what is
wrong with her ear?
So anyway, that was not thebest time on the planet.
I definitely had better timesin Vietnam than in that moment.
Next morning it was Monday moreof the doctor's offices showed
(10:50):
up and I could actually see aspecialist.
So I went back with my guideand translator, ended up seeing
a very, very nice female doctorwho specialized in this kind of
stuff.
And here is where it gets justa little bit dicey.
If you're still with me, I'mproud of you for that, since I'm
talking about my oozing ear.
(11:11):
However, I do have to say adisclaimer.
From this point on, it's alittle gnarly.
So if you do get squeamish, Iwould definitely recommend not
listening to the rest of thisepisode.
Go on to a different episode.
It's about to get a littlehairy.
So here's what happened.
So I went into the hospital andby this time my ear was so
(11:31):
angry at me I couldn't see theback of the earring.
It was just like this bloodypussy mess.
Again.
I'm gonna be talking franklyhere.
If you get grossed out, don'tcome at me, I've warned you.
And basically I ended up gettingan x-ray done because they
wanted to make sure that theback of the earring it was
basically the top earring thatwas infected.
(11:53):
So the back of the earring wascompletely gone and they wanted
to make sure that it hadn't justfallen off or if it was
actually enveloped in my ear.
So they did the x-rays and itwas still in my body.
I just enveloped it.
My ear said come here, I'mgonna just absorb you.
That's so gross, that's sodisgusting, oh god.
(12:16):
And she basically gave me thehard discussion that she was
going to have to surgicallyremove the earrings.
So I really said I don't reallyhave a choice in this really at
this point, because I don'twant to have to take off a part
of my ear if it gets worse andit's not getting better.
So I gave the go-ahead, I saidyes and I also talked to my
(12:38):
doctors.
They said, yeah, I think youshould do that one.
So we ended up proceeding withsurgery and I went into the room
and I was like you know what?
Breathe, alex, this is going tobe fine.
I see the tools.
It's going to numb it up alittle bit and just cut it out
(13:00):
of there and it'll be fiveminutes and you'll be on your
merry way just enjoying Vietnamand getting ready to go into
Cambodia.
Wrong, absolutely wrong.
I was so wrong.
So she came in with anothernurse and again, I can't say
disclaimers enough, but this isgoing to get a little bit rough.
But here's what happened.
The nurse came in, she put herforearm on my head and basically
(13:26):
pinned me down to the hospitaltable and the doctor cut the
earring out.
And it took about 45 minutes tocut the earring out of my head.
It was so gross and so painful.
There was actually like therewas blood in my hair.
There was blood dripping downmy neck.
(13:47):
Throughout this whole thing Iwas screaming, I was crying and
they were just talkingVietnamese at each other and
then every once in a while theywould look at me and go, you
push through the pain, you areso strong and honestly, that
entire phrase has become such ajoke for my family.
Anytime something bad happens,we all just look at each other
(14:09):
and go, you push through pain,you're so strong, because I was
not being strong in that momentat all.
So she takes the earring outand shows me like the bloodied
mess of the earring and it'slike, oh, look at this.
And I'm like, okay.
And then she's like, okay,you're done.
(14:29):
And I was like where, where'sthe other earring?
Cause I had two.
She's like, well, that one'snot infected.
And I was like you get thatearring out of my ear right now.
And she just cut it out and Iwas like, girl, you can take off
the back.
I think the back is stillshowing on that.
Nope, she just cut it out thewhole thing, just cut out both
(14:51):
earrings.
I could feel the entire thingright there and I don't know, it
was just very terrifying havingthe nurse hold down my head
during this.
I don't know, it was just likethis complete lack of control
and, yeah, it was just not asuper good experience.
Um, so then the nurse leftafter I was done and I said, hey
(15:14):
, where's my good friend goingover there?
And she said, oh well, she'sgoing to go get some anesthesia
for the sutures.
Um, for those of you who don'tknow medical and don't speak
medical, that means that she'sgoing to go get some numbing
agents so that she can give myear stitches.
A, why did you cut open my earso bad that I need stitches and
B?
Where was the anesthesia when Ifirst went into this procedure?
(15:38):
Anyway, it was fine, it wasokay.
I'm sure there was a perfectlygood and reasonable explanation
on why I had to go through 45minutes of excruciating pain, of
them cutting my ear open, but Isurvived.
I'm still here.
And I got out of the bed andshe said oh my gosh, honey, like
I'm sure you're in so much painright now.
And I said yes, I really am,I'm in a lot of pain right now.
(16:03):
She goes oh, let me go get yousomething for that.
And she gives me anacetaminophen, which is like a
paracetamol or a Tylenol, likesomething I take for a headache,
which is not like I needed morepain medication, but it was
just very funny, but it was justvery funny.
So, yeah, that was fun.
And then we couldn't find myantibiotics.
So we had to go down to thislike seedy area to get the
(16:28):
antibiotics and all the whileI'm on my phone with my best
friend just crying, just going.
I didn't use any anesthesia andI felt it all and it took like
45 minutes and I'm traumatizedand she's just sitting there
going.
I don't even know what to sayto you.
Right now I'm just trying tobuy these antibiotics that
aren't available, but I did getthe antibiotics, so that was
(16:50):
good.
And if you think that thisstory ends here, you're surely
mistaken, because there's more.
So the day after I go on a16-hour coach ride to Cambodia,
cross into Cambodia, all while Ihave this huge head bandage on
my head, and I luckily.
I am so grateful for the doctorbecause she was really nice.
(17:11):
She gave me her personal phonenumber and she just said okay,
text me with any questions.
Here's what I'm going to needyou to do.
She told my guide.
Luckily, I was with aVietnamese guide who was so
helpful.
I don't even know what my lifewould have been like without
this man, so he was helping me.
We finally got to our place.
Luckily it wasn't a hostel, butwe were still in shared rooms.
(17:32):
It was right after we got intothe border of Cambodia.
When she was patching up my ear.
She didn't use non-stick gauze,she just used normal gauze,
which means that as my blooddried from the wound, it stuck
to the gauze.
So when we took it off, shesaid, okay, wait, you know, 24
(17:52):
hours and then get the bandageoff and clean it.
We couldn't get the bandage offbecause it had stuck to my ear
wound.
This is the grossest podcastever.
I am so sorry, but this storyneeds to be told.
I need to be heard.
I need some sympathy.
We got very, very fine scissors.
(18:12):
I went to go buy them from thelocal market and tried to
sterilize them the best that Icould and it ended up taking
about an hour for my guide tocut the gauze out of the wound
and he was so close to it and Icould feel the scissors going so
close to the incision site.
It was so uncomfortable andafter this I was done with
(18:35):
everything I was.
I wanted to go home.
I just turned 21.
At this point I was absolutelydone and I I had just reached my
limit.
So I talked to my mom and youknow, as every 20 year old who
just had a traumatic proceduredone to her in a foreign country
does, and she's just trying tomake me feel better at this
(18:56):
point, cause I'm like I'm doneand all this stuff has happened
and I just can't believe.
This just feels like atraveling nightmare.
And she finally gets me calmeddown and I go back into my room
and I think, oh my gosh, I'mjust so lucky to be here, I'm so
lucky to be in Vietnam andCambodia and to have this
experience.
I need to just make the best ofit.
(19:17):
And there you go.
So I go in and my roommate, whoI'm sharing the room with, is
puking Something she ate.
She got a bug somewhere alongthe lines there.
And I think, no, no, no, stayon the positive focus track.
I'm so happy to be here, I'm sohappy to have these experiences
.
This is character building.
Okay, character building.
(19:38):
That's what I have to keeptelling myself.
So I sit down on the bed and, nojoke, a cockroach crawls across
my leg in my bed and so,naturally, I call back my mother
and I just say you're wrong,this sucks, I don't know what to
do at this point.
And she uses one of thosefilters that you have on
(19:59):
Snapchat to superimpose her faceon a hot dog and she sent it to
me and said don't be a wiener,because that's all she could
think of to say to me at thatpoint.
And, honestly, it worked.
And again it's her still, tothis day, her contact photo is
her on a hot dog saying don't bea wiener.
(20:20):
And again, if something badhappens, we always just say you
push through pain, you're sostrong, and then we send the
wiener photo of her on a hot dogsaying don't be a wiener, but
see, this is my family.
We just have to turn a jokeinto everything.
And I honestly love it, becausethat's exactly what I needed at
(20:40):
that point and it gave me agood laugh and it got me out of
my funk.
The story continues.
You thought it was over, no, no, no, this story is still, is
still going.
So a couple days later, I havebeen to Cambodia.
I've seen some amazing things.
I've tried not to let this earfiasco get in the way of
anything and I had a great time.
But then it got to the pointwhere I needed to get the
sutures removed and I didn'treally know what to do.
(21:03):
So I contacted a person whocould help me and they directed
me to this one hospital.
So I ended up going to thehospital and they said that they
didn't have any sterile toolsand he would bike down to the
next village to get the steriletools.
Waited for a little bit, leftfor a little bit, came back for
a little bit it was a long timeended up making friends with the
(21:26):
nurse and he said I feel so badthat you have to sit here for
this whole time.
He actually spoke amazingenglish.
I was very, very impressedbecause unfortunately, I didn't
speak any cambodian and I reallywish I did.
But no, he was veryaccommodating, spoke English and
he said hey, do you want asnack from my village?
And I said, yeah, sure, let'sdo it.
(21:47):
Give me a snack from yourvillage.
And he hands me a tarantula.
At this point I'm like okay,jokes, jokes on the dumb
American.
Like is there a TV show that'sgonna come in and be like ha ha
ha, we've been filming you,jokes on you.
This whole thing is going to bea gag for you know a reality TV
show?
No, okay, like what is going onhere.
So, anyway, I ate the tarantula.
(22:10):
Kind of tasted like beef jerkywas not my favorite.
I actually ended up going to avillage as a part of the
excursion with the group laterand got to eat a plethora of
bugs.
I'm not a traveling foodie, soit was not my favorite time.
However, I'm glad I did it andthere you go.
So, overall, definitely aninteresting story.
(22:31):
I promise it's done.
That's it.
However, she did say that Icouldn't get my ear wet for
three months and I was travelingfor those three months.
So there's a bunch of picturesof joke pictures of me at these
beautiful Balinese waterfallsand in champagne tubing cruises
(22:51):
in Fiji and I have like aplastic bag over my head.
So that made for some veryinteresting photos and honestly,
it's just such a laugh now andit's definitely one of those
stories that I will alwayscherish because it definitely
made me stronger and it provedto me that if I could handle
(23:11):
that as a 21-year-old girl, Ican handle anything.
So definitely increased myconfidence a little bit.
But I want to hear your thoughtson this story.
What would you do if you werein my position?
Do you think that all of thiswas handled well?
Do you think that this ispretty standard for what an ear
(23:32):
surgery external ear surgery inVietnam should have been?
Definitely let me know in thecomments.
I'm going to also be linking allof my photos on the show notes
now I have to put out there.
They're not for the week.
You can actually see what myx-rays looked like.
You can see what my ear lookedlike before and after.
You can see the earring post-opand the whole shebang, and I'll
(23:56):
also throw in those hilariouspictures of me in granny caps
and trash bags on my head inthese beautiful places.
So definitely go and check outthose show notes.
I also have a full article onthis and a full video on this on
YouTube.
All my social media is at thebucket list mermaid and my
website is the bucket listmermaid comm, so definitely
check it out.
If you are into that kind ofstuff and are just morbidly
(24:17):
curious, which I would be Like,I would go check out my gross
photos.
No shame at all, I totallywould.
If not, I understand that too.
Here is me wishing you all ofthe luck and good vibes on your
next adventure and be carefulwhile scuba diving those
clownfish Deadly, deadly, deadlyclownfish and sea lice.
Thank you, guys, so much forwatching.
(24:39):
If you did enjoy this episodeof my ear surgery in Vietnam,
don't forget to give a review onyour favorite podcasting
platform.
Subscribe.
It would mean the world to thistraveling mermaid and we will
see you next week for the nextepisode of Ticket Before you
Kick it.
Thank you so much, guys.
Happy adventuring and we willsee you next time.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Intentionally Disturbing
Join me on this podcast as I navigate the murky waters of human behavior, current events, and personal anecdotes through in-depth interviews with incredible people—all served with a generous helping of sarcasm and satire. After years as a forensic and clinical psychologist, I offer a unique interview style and a low tolerance for bullshit, quickly steering conversations toward depth and darkness. I honor the seriousness while also appreciating wit. I’m your guide through the twisted labyrinth of the human psyche, armed with dark humor and biting wit.