Delhi Belly in Agra

We went to bed happy and full, but around midnight, Jan woke up with a terrible wave of nausea. It ended up with him making a mad dash back and forth between the bed and the bathroom all night long. He had come down with a nasty case of food poisoning, which resulted in vomiting and diarrhea. We tried to figure out where he could have eaten something bad. There were only two possibilities: our hotel or Shariton. We called Gauda to ask which hospital or clinic we should go to. They provided us with the names of three clinics in Agra that had received good recommendations from other travelers. We decided to head to Dr. Sodhi, who was the closest. Jan was immediately admitted with an IV to prevent him from losing any more fluids. They also took a urine sample and a blood test, and we were told we’d get the results later that day. The doctor was optimistic and said he thought we could leave later in the day. When we got the test results, the doctor’s demeanor changed. He looked serious as he told us that things didn’t look good. There was blood in the urine, and it was green??? We never figured out what the green was all about. I went back to the hotel to check out and grab our luggage since I planned to stay at the clinic too. On my way back and forth between the hotel and the clinic, I experienced for the first time how Indian men can be intrusive and downright unfriendly. I was met with shouts, people followed me, and one even spat at me. We later learned that other tourists have also noticed a change in the attitude of Indians the further they got from Rajasthan. People have generally become more aggressive and intrusive. Female travelers have felt quite harassed. However, it’s important to remember that many Indians strongly disapprove of such behavior. When I returned to the hotel after picking up our bags, they asked where we had sought medical help. When I mentioned Dr. Sodhi, the receptionist warned me that this doctor wasn’t entirely honest. He had a tendency to drag out treatment and charge high fees. Not knowing who to trust, we decided to call Pradeep, a friend from work who is Indian and lives in India. He had a friend in Agra who recommended Pushpanjali Hospital. We told a big fat lie to get out of the clinic. The clinic was actually quite dirty, and we were the only ones there. No other patients came in throughout the day – strange. Based on Gauda’s recommendation, we had thought it was an okay place to seek treatment. Dr. Sodhi didn’t want payment from us; he said he would sort it out with Gauda. A bit odd, so we told Gauda exactly how long we had been there. We also advised them not to send anyone else there. Finally, upon arriving at the hospital, Jan was admitted again to a private room, so I could stay overnight too. He got an IV and had new tests done. It was a bit chaotic being at the hospital, as there were so many different nurses constantly discussing loudly in our room. Other patients and their relatives kept stopping by to look at us. Eventually, we had to ask everyone to leave so we could get some peace.