Today I am going to give you the opportunity to take a visit to the vet with me. Some of you may know that Beth is on vacation right now and I am responsible for her cat. To make a long story short, she went exploring last week, came back a little tired and not herself, and ended up getting to visit the vet last Thursday (the same day I was supposed to leave for Almaty in order to go to the doctor myself).
To get to the vet, you walk down this long covered corridor, between the wall of the building and the fence. Sounds vibrate through this little tunnel driving every animal there mad. When we got there, there were a couple people before us waiting to see the vet.
Picture this: a long corridor that empties into a small room (4 X 8 ft) with a black bench ... a man and woman on the bench with a big dog waiting terrified in the corridor ... a man sitting there with a small plastic bag ... a cat (yep, the one that I am holding) shaking and letting out these horrible meows that reverberate through the whole corridor ... the big dog being carried (one person on either end) into the room ... a place for me to sit on the bench between the man with a moving plastic bag (which we realized was a chick) and a woman standing holding a little yappy dog ... in comes the next "client" a woman in a bathrobe with a young boy and a larger rice bag ... the woman explains many reasons why she should move ahead of us (I had some sympathy until I realized why she was there) ... out of the bag steps a bleeding rooster fresh from the cock fights ... the door opens and closes as people go to the animal pharmacy next door to get shots, cotton balls, and everything else that the vet needs to fix the animal ... our turn finally comes and we enter another room.
Picture the cat (sometimes jokingly referred to as the devil cat due to her periodic attacks) sitting lethargically on an examining table while the vet looks at what seems to be a small, painful cut in her side. As he probes a bit, it starts to bleed more and she lets out a wail showing her extreme dislike of all the circumstances (this wail (from the depths of her soul) had been repeated pretty constantly since leaving the apartment).
The vet decides that she needs an injection. I hold the cat to keep her from bolting and Kiikzhan runs to the pharmacy to get the needed tools. Upon returning the cat is transferred to the back room, where an operating table and light take up most of the room. She isn't too excited about the shot. After 10 minutes the vet comes in to try to look and the cat starts making some very mean noises that basically indicate to everyone in the room ... you touch me and you will regret it. He says ... this is a tough cat, I think she needs another shot. This did not surprise us one bit. Ten minutes later after the second shot has taken effect, we are able to see a hole that is larger than a quarter in the side of the cat. No one knows how or why the cat has a hole in her side, but thankfully the vet could repair it with about five stitches.
We paid our $5 and left the vet with instructions to rub this powdery stuff on her sore twice a day ... yeah right!!! She put up with it the first day or two when she was still heavily medicated, but after that she decided she didn't want anything to do with it. Actually, she decided she didn't really appreciate the stitches and managed to pull them all out ... hence the second and third visit the vet that I will write about later.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Medical Adventures
I am feeling much better. I am a bit tired today - at the end of a very busy day, but am probably back at about 85-90% energy, which is a great feeling. I even had plenty of energy to slide down the slide with the little kids and play basketball with the older kids at Saramoldaeva Orphanage.
Well, I thought I would share some funny stories related to my medical experiences over the last week or so. Not only have I had to have medical treatment, but Beth's cat came home from an outside adventure with a big hole in her side. In the last week, I have been to the diagnostic clinic (blood drawn and urine sample), the vet (3 times), and the doctor for me. I will start with one of those stories today and then have a few more in the days to come.
Diagnostic Center - Always a New Adventure
When you first enter the diagnostic center, you have to ask the people there who is last. Instead of standing in a line about 20 deep, each person just knows the couple people before and after them. This allows everyone to wander around until their time draws near. When it was our turn, we filled out documents explaining what tests I wanted. Then, we went to the cashier to pay. I have done this before, so none of this was unexpected. I even knew to bring my own urine with me (in a jar of my choice) for a urine sample.
When they told me that both of my tests were on the second floor part of me wanted to cry. That meant that the blood test I had to do was my least favorite EVER blood test. I bravely gave my urine away (taking the lid off and waiting for them to paste a number on the outside of my pickle jar).
Once finished, I headed into a room with one lady, a rack of test tubes, some slides, and a sterile sharp object (a mix between an exacto knife and a needle). She asked me for my finger, which I hesitantly held out. After rubbing it a bit to get the circulation flowing and cleaning the extra used slide that she had, she opened the sterile sharp object and jabbed it half way through my finger. She then took a drop of blood, put it on a slide, and used another slide (which had been cleaned since the last use) to drag the blood across the original slide. Then, she went to work trying to draw 1/4 of a test tube of blood out of my finger. This included more rubbing and squeezing as well as dragging my finger across the open part of the test tube in order to squeeze blood out of my finger and into the test tube. I handle pain pretty well, but I just wanted to yell at her to stop. I would much rather have someone stick a needle in my vein and remove a pint of blood than 1/4 of a test tube from my finger.
After about 30 seconds (which seemed like 30 minutes) we were done and she gave me a piece of cotton to stop the bleeding. I left the clinic and returned later in the afternoon for my results.
This was the first of many different medical adventures this week. I hope you enjoyed them and will continue the story tomorrow.
Well, I thought I would share some funny stories related to my medical experiences over the last week or so. Not only have I had to have medical treatment, but Beth's cat came home from an outside adventure with a big hole in her side. In the last week, I have been to the diagnostic clinic (blood drawn and urine sample), the vet (3 times), and the doctor for me. I will start with one of those stories today and then have a few more in the days to come.
Diagnostic Center - Always a New Adventure
When you first enter the diagnostic center, you have to ask the people there who is last. Instead of standing in a line about 20 deep, each person just knows the couple people before and after them. This allows everyone to wander around until their time draws near. When it was our turn, we filled out documents explaining what tests I wanted. Then, we went to the cashier to pay. I have done this before, so none of this was unexpected. I even knew to bring my own urine with me (in a jar of my choice) for a urine sample.
When they told me that both of my tests were on the second floor part of me wanted to cry. That meant that the blood test I had to do was my least favorite EVER blood test. I bravely gave my urine away (taking the lid off and waiting for them to paste a number on the outside of my pickle jar).
Once finished, I headed into a room with one lady, a rack of test tubes, some slides, and a sterile sharp object (a mix between an exacto knife and a needle). She asked me for my finger, which I hesitantly held out. After rubbing it a bit to get the circulation flowing and cleaning the extra used slide that she had, she opened the sterile sharp object and jabbed it half way through my finger. She then took a drop of blood, put it on a slide, and used another slide (which had been cleaned since the last use) to drag the blood across the original slide. Then, she went to work trying to draw 1/4 of a test tube of blood out of my finger. This included more rubbing and squeezing as well as dragging my finger across the open part of the test tube in order to squeeze blood out of my finger and into the test tube. I handle pain pretty well, but I just wanted to yell at her to stop. I would much rather have someone stick a needle in my vein and remove a pint of blood than 1/4 of a test tube from my finger.
After about 30 seconds (which seemed like 30 minutes) we were done and she gave me a piece of cotton to stop the bleeding. I left the clinic and returned later in the afternoon for my results.
This was the first of many different medical adventures this week. I hope you enjoyed them and will continue the story tomorrow.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Healthy - Well Almost
I just got back from my trip to Almaty. I will write more about my medical/travel adventures in the next couple days, but I thought I would just write and let you all know that there is nothing (other than the ulcer thing) wrong with me. Some would argue this ... but we won't go there right now. :)
The doctor looked at my blood tests and did other exams to rule out some options. After all the tests came back negative, he assured me that the tiredness is probably a combination of the medication that I am taking and the fact that my immune system is trying to recover from a major assault. So, he said to keep doing what I am doing and get some rest and let my body heal itself. It is nice to know that the tiredness is not a symptom of some other unknown disease. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.
The doctor looked at my blood tests and did other exams to rule out some options. After all the tests came back negative, he assured me that the tiredness is probably a combination of the medication that I am taking and the fact that my immune system is trying to recover from a major assault. So, he said to keep doing what I am doing and get some rest and let my body heal itself. It is nice to know that the tiredness is not a symptom of some other unknown disease. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Quick Medical Update
Hi Everyone! I just wanted to write a quick update before I board a train to Almaty. I will be traveling overnight to Almaty to go to an International medical clinic. I have an appointment set for tomorrow afternoon. I have not regained my strength, so we thought it would be best for me to get it checked out. I don't know how long I will be there ... I just know that I will stay as long as it takes to get things figured out. I am at peace with this decision and feel it is the best move for now. I hope to back in Taraz fairly soon. Who knows, I may look for a car in Almaty if I have energy by the weekend and am still there.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Enjoying the Beauty of Creation
On Saturday the American team enjoyed a picnic on a hill in Vanofka. Although we went to see the wild tulips and they weren’t there this year, we got to thoroughly enjoy the beauty of other wild flowers. The weather was wonderful - although it was a little windy. We enjoyed sitting and talking as team (minus Beth in England). It was a nice, relaxing day and just what I needed for my health.
My stomach is doing much better. Thank you to all of you that have written and expressed concern. The most recent addition to symptoms is that since last Wednesday I have been extremely weak. I can’t stand or do anything for very long before I feel I need to sit down and rest. I took Thursday off and went in late to work today. Tomorrow I am going to have some blood tests done to see what may be causing my weakness. Hopefully, they will provide some answers and I will soon be back to normal strength.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Health Update and a Funny Story
I have actually been feeling pretty bad the last couple days. My stomach has been bothering me a lot and I have been feeling really weak. I'm hoping that the medications I am taking with start to take affect soon. Today I went ahead and took the day off, which was much needed. I spent most of the days sleeping and watching movies. It was relaxing. Even so, today has not been without its excitement.
Funny Story: Yesterday morning I woke up to no cat. That's right, Beth's cat was missing. The only thing I could figure was that she climbed out the window and went to play outside. Yesterday Ken and I both looked for her a couple times, but couldn't find her. Today, when I wasn't feeling good someone from work was going to pick me up to go look at a car. I went out to wait on the street and heard her crying. I walked down the street half a block and looked up into a tree. It took me a while to find her, but there she was. Ken, Ember, Kiikzhan, Moldir, and I came back a short while later to try to get her out of the tree.
Here is the funny part. Now, picture this, a tree with no branches for the first 10 or so feet. From there up, the branches all pretty much go straight up creating this slender tube of branches outside the trunk. Ken used his car to get up to the lowest branch and climbed the tree (within the branches) to look for the cat. At which point the cat decided to climb higher and deeper. There were four of us on the ground trying to direct Ken to the cat we couldn't see. Each of us had different opinions of where it sounded like her cry was coming from. Finally, Kiikzhan saw the cat way up high and we went ahead and had Ken come down. We decided to go out a couple hours later and see if she had climbed back down. On their way back from Ulan (while I was watching the old Pride an Prejudice - the best movie for when you're sick) Ember and Ken found the cat and brought it back. She was extremely thirsty and tired, but otherwise seems fine. I bet she'll think twice before going out the window again.
Funny Story: Yesterday morning I woke up to no cat. That's right, Beth's cat was missing. The only thing I could figure was that she climbed out the window and went to play outside. Yesterday Ken and I both looked for her a couple times, but couldn't find her. Today, when I wasn't feeling good someone from work was going to pick me up to go look at a car. I went out to wait on the street and heard her crying. I walked down the street half a block and looked up into a tree. It took me a while to find her, but there she was. Ken, Ember, Kiikzhan, Moldir, and I came back a short while later to try to get her out of the tree.
Here is the funny part. Now, picture this, a tree with no branches for the first 10 or so feet. From there up, the branches all pretty much go straight up creating this slender tube of branches outside the trunk. Ken used his car to get up to the lowest branch and climbed the tree (within the branches) to look for the cat. At which point the cat decided to climb higher and deeper. There were four of us on the ground trying to direct Ken to the cat we couldn't see. Each of us had different opinions of where it sounded like her cry was coming from. Finally, Kiikzhan saw the cat way up high and we went ahead and had Ken come down. We decided to go out a couple hours later and see if she had climbed back down. On their way back from Ulan (while I was watching the old Pride an Prejudice - the best movie for when you're sick) Ember and Ken found the cat and brought it back. She was extremely thirsty and tired, but otherwise seems fine. I bet she'll think twice before going out the window again.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Update on Medicines
My doctor friend in Shymkent exchanged the medicine I couldn't find for one that is easily found here in Taraz. Apparently the medicine she first suggested can be found anywhere in Shymkent, but I guess people in Taraz don't use it as much. I am now on four different medications (between two and four times a day). My stomach is still hurting, but my heartburn is decreasing. I am having a harder time sleeping, but overall doing well.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Visiting Drug Stores
Many of you live in a country where you can go to one drug store and have any prescription filled. Well, finding the medications my friend recommended has been a chore. So far, I have found two out of three. I think I have only been to ten drugstores so far looking (this is actually not an exaggeration). For the most part, drugstores here are small and only have a narrow selection of drugs available. Although this has been a bit frustrating, it has also been fairly entertaining.
There are some real advantages to getting medications here. For the most part, you do not need a prescription. This is especially helpful when you decide to self-diagnose and self-medicate. Also, the two medications that I purchased cost me a total of less than $10 for 40 pills (10 of these being pretty high powered antibiotics). This is better than my drug copay in the States.
This weekend has been relaxing. I have been trying to rest as much as possible. We had the day off for Victory Day (end of WWII) on Friday. I went to watch six of our girls at two different orphanages compete in soccer. It was fun, although I was a bit sore from sitting on concrete bleachers for 4 hours. Today I basically rested and didn't accomplish very much. Tomorrow I will be going to the car bazaar to start looking for a car. We will also celebrate Men's Day with the boys at Saramoldaeva in the afternoon.
There are some real advantages to getting medications here. For the most part, you do not need a prescription. This is especially helpful when you decide to self-diagnose and self-medicate. Also, the two medications that I purchased cost me a total of less than $10 for 40 pills (10 of these being pretty high powered antibiotics). This is better than my drug copay in the States.
This weekend has been relaxing. I have been trying to rest as much as possible. We had the day off for Victory Day (end of WWII) on Friday. I went to watch six of our girls at two different orphanages compete in soccer. It was fun, although I was a bit sore from sitting on concrete bleachers for 4 hours. Today I basically rested and didn't accomplish very much. Tomorrow I will be going to the car bazaar to start looking for a car. We will also celebrate Men's Day with the boys at Saramoldaeva in the afternoon.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
A Visit to the Local Hospital
What do throwing up blood, heartburn, and having a long tube with a light on the end have in common? Well, I found out today. On Sunday I was sick to my stomach and ended up throwing up a little bit of blood. After doing a little research, I was concerned that I might have an ulcer. An American doctor friend in Shymkent suggested I have an endoscopy done, since the bacteria that is the main cause of ulcers is prevalent here.
Well, this morning I went to the local hospital. I had never been to this hospital for treatment, so this was a new experience. Thankfully, we have a friend that is the head of the endocrinology department and knows everyone at the hospital. We met her at about 9:15 and then she walked us over to the department where they do endoscopies. For those of you that don't know what an endoscopy is, it is a procedure where they take a long hose-like thing with a light on the end and stick it down your throat all the way into your intestines while you try to suppress your natural gag reflex. Their hose-like thing was about 1/2 and inch in diameter. Well, this was definitely a new experience for me. Being the biology major that I am, I really enjoyed seeing the tool they were using and even convinced them to let me take pictures. I think they thought I was a little weird, but they let me do what I wanted.
Well, all that to say my esophagus, stomach, and intestines were red and bumpy when they should have been pink and soft. I do not have a full fledged ulcer, but I have the beginnings of several. After sharing my results with my doctor friend, we decided I should go ahead and treat myself for ulcers since there was definite irritation visible. I have to take 4 different type of medicines for the next several weeks.
Many of you know that I have had trouble sleeping and have had to try to follow a special diet as a result. One of the medications that I will be taking is an antibiotic, which usually creates more problems with my sleep. So, in order to get rid of one thing I have to potentially let my sleep suffer a bit.
I hope you enjoyed my story of my visit to the doctor. Although I haven't been feeling perfect, I am doing well. This has caused me to rest a little and pay attention to how I feel.
Well, this morning I went to the local hospital. I had never been to this hospital for treatment, so this was a new experience. Thankfully, we have a friend that is the head of the endocrinology department and knows everyone at the hospital. We met her at about 9:15 and then she walked us over to the department where they do endoscopies. For those of you that don't know what an endoscopy is, it is a procedure where they take a long hose-like thing with a light on the end and stick it down your throat all the way into your intestines while you try to suppress your natural gag reflex. Their hose-like thing was about 1/2 and inch in diameter. Well, this was definitely a new experience for me. Being the biology major that I am, I really enjoyed seeing the tool they were using and even convinced them to let me take pictures. I think they thought I was a little weird, but they let me do what I wanted.
Well, all that to say my esophagus, stomach, and intestines were red and bumpy when they should have been pink and soft. I do not have a full fledged ulcer, but I have the beginnings of several. After sharing my results with my doctor friend, we decided I should go ahead and treat myself for ulcers since there was definite irritation visible. I have to take 4 different type of medicines for the next several weeks.
Many of you know that I have had trouble sleeping and have had to try to follow a special diet as a result. One of the medications that I will be taking is an antibiotic, which usually creates more problems with my sleep. So, in order to get rid of one thing I have to potentially let my sleep suffer a bit.
I hope you enjoyed my story of my visit to the doctor. Although I haven't been feeling perfect, I am doing well. This has caused me to rest a little and pay attention to how I feel.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Fun with Rakhym
We had the opportunity to spend an evening with the kids of Rakhym. Rakhym is a home in which four children from orphanages live with their "mother". She cares for them as if they were her own children - it is kind of like a foster care situation in the States, but she sees them as her children. We were planning to go roller blading at the square, but when we got there it started raining. We decided to go back to the office and just spend some time hanging out. They did some puzzles and we played UNO as a group.
At 10 pm (on a school night), we finally took them home. They wanted to stay later, but we figured it would be good for them to get some rest before school the next day. Kids here tend to stay up a lot later than kids in the States. It is nothing for a three year old to stay up until 10pm. These kids probably don't usually go to bed until somewhere near midnight.
We had a good time being goofy and just enjoying each other's company. They are Kazakh speakers, so it is fun for me to be able to talk with them and find out how they are doing. We are hoping to do this at least once a month, if not more often.
Thanks Ember for Sharing your pictures.
Taken by one of the kids.
At 10 pm (on a school night), we finally took them home. They wanted to stay later, but we figured it would be good for them to get some rest before school the next day. Kids here tend to stay up a lot later than kids in the States. It is nothing for a three year old to stay up until 10pm. These kids probably don't usually go to bed until somewhere near midnight.
We had a good time being goofy and just enjoying each other's company. They are Kazakh speakers, so it is fun for me to be able to talk with them and find out how they are doing. We are hoping to do this at least once a month, if not more often.
Thanks Ember for Sharing your pictures.
Taken by one of the kids.
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