Sunday, October 31, 2010

November 1, 2010

I'm finally off to Tanna...the doc has perscribed rest and no lifting or carrying...so this should be fun! I will be back on for an update on Thanksgiving hopefully. Thanks again for continuing to send prayers and thoughts my way.
Lukim yufala!

Friday, October 22, 2010

Airport Greeting!

My Peace Corps fan club greeted me at the airport and sang this rap song!
I went to Brisbane with a pain in my side
They thought it was my kidney that wasn't alright
They cut me up and found some funky stuff
And man were my next seven days rough
They took out twisted fat, a real strange fala mix
But, yo doc, where's my appendix?
All I wanted to do was hold a koala
But man, all I could think was they smell like olfala
Mi bin stap mi wan, mi bin stap all alone
Be Sara i bin kam blong help changem tone
We went on some dates and storied smol
But all I could thing was where's the closest Nakamal
Now I've come back and my friends have gone craycray
Now it's time for us to all go pleiplei

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Back to Vanuatu...



Where to begin.....
I won't bore anyone with the medical specifics....but I had a whole bunch of stuff taken out and poked around in my gut. I'm back and walking slow slow still with a little pain. It turnes out that I passed my tiny kidney stones before even leaving Vanuatu....but I'm glad that I got other things taken care of. Hopefully I will return to Tanna in a few pain free!

I also found out last night that my dog, Oli passed. The story is that someone fed her fish that had cigatera....but I'm pretty sure that means that someone killed her. She was very territorial and would attack men if they came near my house so she made quite a few enemies. I'm pretty upset considering she was my little companion that went to town with me and shared my meals...anyway I will just leave it at that.

Thanks for your prayers and thoughts.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Friday, October 15, 2010

Released from hospital

Hali is out of the hospital but still in Brisbane until Monday at least. She does have easier access to the internet so will hopefully be able to access email, etc. through the weekend.

"Mother of Hali"

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Wednesday and still in Brisbane

Just a quick word to say that Hali is still in the hospital in Brisbane. She had laparoscopic surgery yesterday and they removed and untwisted some things and also took out her appendix. The latter the doctor said was just because she lives in Vanuatu. The doctor hopes something he did will relieve her pain and take care of her infection. She should be up and about today and perhaps out of the hospital on Friday. Her return date to Vanuatu will depend on recovery and follow-up stuff.

I've had the chance to speak with her daily, which has been good for both of us.

Will keep you posted.

"Mother of Hali"

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Still here

Since it has been determined that I don't have kidney stones the search is now on for what I do have. Showed up at the hospital on Friday for laparoscopy only to be admitted after a 9 hour wait. Spent the weekend in the hospital. Now looks like it may happen tomorrow. Will keep you posted....

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Update

Highlights

-Enjoyed flirting with this attractive dude that did my xrays...until we started talking about kidney stones. He mentioned he'd heard it's like giving birth and then said "But you've already been through that." Still not sure how to interpret that one...

-Waited for the doctor for two hours yesterday evening before giving up and going back to my hotel. After showering and getting into bed the phone rang...9PM so wasn't expecting a call. The doctor was outside my hotel....creepy...he told me I didn't have kidney stones but that the pain must be due to something else...like maybe the rods in my back! He basically said I should take pain killers until I can see my orthopedic surgeon. And then he started asking me about Vanuatu...that's when I started to get uncomfortable and said I should go....it was odd.

-Saw some wildlife today: kangaroos, platapus, koalas, huge lizards and so much more. I will post pictures later.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Hospitalness





October 4, 2010
Still no doctor’s visit today as he was booked. Tomorrow wan taem. I walked around a bit today and treated myself to a hair cut. Shampoo and moisture treatment. The lady wasn’t too impressed with the way I cut my own hair a few months ago. I explained to her that I didn’t have a mirror so it was a bit difficult to cut the back…she was appalled. I met up with one of my brother-in-laws family members and we did a bit of running around and then settled at her house for the afternoon. I had a good time hanging out with her two young girls and enjoyed sitting on a couch and eating a home cooked meal. I also got to Skype with mom, dad, Whitni, Elie, and Anthony. The connection was so clear it was like we were all in the same room…no ten second delay or anything.
October 5, 2010
I took the City Cat (see pic) to South Bank Brisbane today to check out some art galleries this morning. Unfortunately the Valentino exhibit was 20 bucks which is over half of my per diem for the day…so didn’t do that. I walked around though and found some delicious gluten free pastries. I went inside the Library but immediately walked out because I was so freaked out by all of the T.V screens and flat screen computers and coffee shops…I mean what the heck happened to good old libraries where you can’t bring food or drinks and there are books everywhere….not screens. I walked back on the bike road beside the river (see pic). It’s only my second day here and I’m ready for some nature and some quiet. I can’t wait to get back to my little house on the beach.
After tests…
So I just ate sushi in a hospital…that’s right they do it gourmet style in Brisbane hospitals. As for the bad part of the day…I showed up after fasting for two hours which doesn’t sound like that much but apparently my body needs food more often than every 3 hours. I waited 30 minutes in the lab place then had to chug a pitcher of what tasted like water with a bad after taste. Then I waited 45 minutes. I finally made my way to the scan room to get some dye injecting into me. It took two nurses and a doctor to find my “small deep veins”. Three pokes later we were in business and I was told that the dye would make my mouth taste weird and I would feel like I wet myself…wow. Half the stuff was injected and then I had to go sit in a cubicle for a bit where I almost passed out and had to wait some more for the doctor to come in and make sure my body could handle some more dye. After that I had to go get some more pokes and my blood drawn and then pee in a cup. Basically it was just a grand ol’ time at the hospital. I’m sitting here in the cafĂ© with my sushi waiting to see the doctor.
After doctor’s visit…
I finally saw the doctor at 6PM and the tests showed nothing so I have to do it all again tomorrow…

I Won the Lottery

October 3, 2010

So as we say around here, I won the lottery and have an illness that Vanuatu is ill-equipped and unable to fix. Who knew that kidney stones (or should I say renal colic) would require a trip to Australia. Nonetheless here I am in Brisbane. I am staying at what other PCV’s have deemed the “nursing home” and hope to at least see a koala or something if time permits. On my flight over I sat next to the only two Ni-Vanuatu men, one Man Aneityum and a Man Efate. Talk about some in-flight entertainment. Neither fellas had ever flown internationally. One lad spent a solid 30 minutes going through the Safety Instruction card and every now and then would look around for the exits and check under his seat for his emergency floating device. When the meal came around, the flight attendant automatically gave them the meal with meat and a coca cola. Without thinking about it, I devoured my meat with my hands like the two men. We spent the rest of the flight joking about how we’ve been in the bush way too long. And after instructions on how to use the radio and headset, they blared string band music the rest of the flight.
I was a bit overwhelmed when I entered the huge airport full of white folks. I grabbed my bag and found my way to the taxi line. Within minutes I was in a taxi with a young man driving speeding down the highway. The young man seemed a bit nervous and was biting his nails a lot. I noticed his gas light was flashing so just figured he was nervous about running out maybe. After a couple of minutes he called someone on his phone and though he was whispering I heard the word “American”. By this point I’m completely freaked out. I almost started crying thinking about how this man could be driving me anywhere since I don’t know Brisbane at all. I seriously thought I was going to be taken somewhere and sold into prostitution like on the movie Taken. Paranoid much? I made it fine to the “nursing home” and walked a little bit to a nearby petrol station where they sold rice cakes and milk….
Frogs, huge birds, cars, people on their phones, people with headphones, not saying good morning, butt shorts, rain, the smell of pine trees, cars and more cars…these are just a few of the things that I’ve noticed so far.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Brisbane

Made it. No news yet on the kidney stones. Seeing doctor tomorrow. Blog entry to follow on details of the culture shock and adventures. For those of you who aren't too good at geography, Brisbane is in Australia : )