the sickness

as it turns out i am more ill than i thought i was.

after talking with mom last night about my lingering earache and sore throat, she called the dr. back home. the fact that i cannot open my mouth or stick out my tounge worried the dr. and mom encouraged me to find a hosptial/er/clinic/ something here.

so. . . after a long breakfast {tried to eat eggs and toast, but the toast was out of the question} and a skype call to madre and my insurance company, i went to find the dr. recommended to me by the josefchuk family of all people! i must say when i went to my email i felt very loved. so many people have been praying for me and helping make contacts here.

i got a taxi to the other side of town, then wandered into the hospital. i was then directed to the er and asked to sit on a sticky blue bed. {1st visit to the er in a foreign country. . . just anotherexperience i've had recently}

after a solid 20 min. the nurse, a guy about my age who didn't speak english came in and started sticking things in my mouth and checking my blood pressure. he left suddenly and then the dr. came in. another young guy, but this time he spoke excellent english. the first thing we actually talked about was unc once he heard i was from north carolina. he was researching the best public health programs in the world, and unc was at the top. i encouraged him to visit and he said that one of these days he will.

after the small talk, he checked my ear and throat and looked a little scared once he saw my throat {plus i apparently still have tikka powder in my ear left from holi. . . two weeks ago. . .}. he was concerned too and didn't know what to prescribe, so he had to call "the specialist".

after another 45 min. of waiting {i just drew pics, thinking i could be in private and do this, but no. . . i'm in nepal! all the nurses came in to see what i was doing and started flipping through my journal without even asking} . . . then the specialist arrived {in jeans and a t-shirt. today was his day off and he had to come see the strange patient}.

why do i always get the weird illnesses? like shingles at age seven? when i get sick, it get sick with the weird stuff.

so apparently i have this strange case of tonsillitis still and it has only attacked one side of my body. he said if it gets any worse i'll have to get surgery. NOT COOL.

so everyone, please pray that my three meds will just knock this sucker out and i won't have to get something more done here!

he said i could go to chitwan tomorrow, but he wouldn't recommend it. . . i'm going anyway. . . i think a little break from the ktm air will do me a world of good right now.

i'm not saying this to brag, but i think i've always had a fairly high pain tolerance and if it was up to me, and not my mother, i would have been my typical stubborn self and not have gone this afternoon. i'm usually a big believer in giving sickness time. . . but this has gone on long enough without any improvement. . .

thank you mother. you always do know what is right.

if this gets worse, i could potentially loose my voice or not be able to breathe normally he said. also, NOT COOL.

i have confidence this will work out and i will get better. i'm just tired of pain and i want to be able to eat a real meal and enjoy it too!

nepal, you're wonderful, but man, you sure have been rough on me!

{enjoy the pics. . . these are the only three i took at the hospital. love the wide-eyed look of confusion in number two. also, i am very, very thankful the bill didn't wipe out all that i have left in my savings!}