pinkeye

there is an epidemic at my school this week... of conjunctivitis or for the non-medically inclined, pinkeye. everywhere i turned at school today i saw red, oozing, and infected eyes.

western medical experts suggest keeping a kid home for a few days when they have pinkeye because it's so contagious, but not the koreans. the kids will leave for a few classes, go to the doctor and come back, ready to pass it on to their friends - which is the first thing they do, so that everyone gets to miss a class or two.

i'm wondering how long it will take to spread to the teachers room - at least tomorrow i head off to school #2, where hopefully the same thing isn't going on. i've heard, though, that this is totally normal near the end of the semester when exams are approaching. maybe it's an excuse to give their parents when they do so poorly... "i was sick and couldn't study...".

Signs and symptoms

Pink eye (conjunctivitis)

The most common signs and symptoms of pink eye include:

• Redness in one or both eyes
• Itchiness in one or both eyes
• Blurred vision and sensitivity to light
• A gritty feeling in one or both eyes
• A discharge in one or both eyes that forms a crust during the night
• Tearing

sounds lovely, doesn't it?

there are several reasons you can get pinkeye - allergies, bacteria, viruses, but i know these kids give it to each other - i see them do it. i saw one kid wipe his finger on the dirty window sill and then rub it in his eye - i guess he doesn't know all he has to do is get his buddy to poke him in the eye.

despite using my antibacterial hand sanitizer every five minutes today, my eyes are feeling a little itchy... let's hope it's psychosomatic.

the trip you don't want to make...

one of my stitches has been consumed by my skin... that might be a problem when they take it out. stupid doctor.

i guess i still haven't actually written about the hospital... according to one of my students korean hospitals are either "really good" or "really bad". i guess i ended up in one of the latter. oh well, lesson learned, right? but really, when it's a emergency do you have choice?

the hospital was kind of dark inside when we got there. it wasn't even 7 PM so i'm not sure why it was so dark... the lights may have been turned off or simply insufficient, i'm not sure. i walked up to the counter and there was a young man. he didn't speak any english, so it's a good thing i had the korean man with me... even though he didn't speak english either. at least they could communicate together and the korean man knew what was wrong with me, so he explained. they wanted my passport, which i didn't think to bring, but he was relieved when i handed him my health card. (which isn't really a card, but a peice of paper).

they brought me around a corner, down a short hallway, and through some doors into the "emergency" area. a couple of nurses were standing behind a counter. i showed them my hand and made a stabbing gesture. one of them came from behind the counter and pulled me toward a gurny. "sit down" at least there was some english. the gurny was covered in that brown fake leather that so many couches are upholstered with. no sheet. no giant roll of paper. nothing. just the brown fake leather that has probably seen thousands of other patients. ew.

i sat holding my hand and looking at the floor. it had spots and splotches of dried blood all over the area that i was in. ew. i couldn't beleive it. but i knew at that moment that i wasn't "in kansas" anymore... and that i had to watch carefully to make sure the proper hygenic precautions would be taken with me. the nurse came over and took my blood pressure, making sure to ask me "mensa?" what has my period got to do with anything? but she wanted to know when i had last had it. i told her.

a couple of minutes later a man came over to me, i'm not sure if he was a doctor, nurse or orderly, but he grabbed my hand, opened the wound (which by this point had stopped bleeding) and walked away. a nurse came over and started putting all kinds of things on various trays. she looked at me and told me to lie down. i started to, but she pointed at my feet and said "shoes". (what IS it with the shoes???) so i took them off and laid back but still watched her to make sure the utensils, needles, etc... were coming out of sterile packs. they were. thank god!

a few minutes later another man - the doctor i assume since he stitched me up - came over. he didn't even look at me, let alone say anything to me. he grabbed my hand. i looked away. the next thing i knew i was experiencing more pain than i had when i stabbed myself. he was anesthetizing my hand to give me the stitches, but it felt (again, i wasn't looking - not good with stuff like that) like he had jabbed the needle straight into the wound. it must have sounded like every emergency room horror story, because i was screaming like freddy kruger was after me. i've heard people scream in situations like that, but never imagined i'd be one of them. it hurt. a lot. anyway, finally, or thankfully, my hand went numb, and he started stitching me up. he didn't ask first if it was frozen, just started stitching. i guess he didn't care either way, or maybe he knew.

i could feel the stitches going in because they were pulling on my hand. it kept moving involuntarily and the doctor was getting visibly aggravated by it, but still said nothing. a few minutes later it was over and he just walked away, never speaking a single word, or looking me in the face. way to make a foreigner feel better in a bad situation. the nurse told me to make sure and not get it wet for TWO weeks. "what?" i said. i didn't beleive her and i know it's total crap, but i made sure there wasn't a communication problem and counted out fourteen days on my fingers. she nodded. what a load of bull. then i was alone on the fake leather gurney.

no one told me to stay or what to do, so i got up to look for the korean who drove me. i couldn't find him. i didn't know what to do. was i supposed to pay? there was a sign that said "cashier" but no one had given me a bill. i wandered around the reception for a bit wondering what i should do. the nurse came up to me and gave me some papers, one of which was the bill, the other a prescription for i-didn't-know-what. (painkillers) i paid the bill without hassle, and looked around again for the korean who drove me. i didn't think it was possible that he would just leave without me, but his car was gone.

i walked out the back door and into the pharmacy across the street. the korean man found me there... he hadn't left after all. i filled the prescription, picked up some gauze, and then the korena man drove me home. i finally ate my dinner - it was half cooked when everything started - and the rest as they say...

the thing that bothered me the most was not the blood on the floor, or the pain of the needle, but that the doctor didn't even look at me. fine, if you don't speak english, but everyone (in my experience) can at least say hello. every other doctor i've seen since in korea has had some grasp of english... you'd think that a person in medicine would have picked up a little somewhere... so i can't imagine that he didn't look at me because he was shy of his english, so then what was it? bad bedside manner? a hate-on for foreigners? i don't know... either way, it made the experience a lot worse than it had to be... now i have the fun task of finding a way to get the bloody things out of me! and with one of them grown over, that is sure to be another exciting tale.

the hand...

i can't beleive how much i wrote yesterday. with one hand typing is a real pain... so this will be short. the stitches don't look too bad. i think he could've put another one, but there are only four. my hand is swollen and aching. it hurts to move my forefinger and middle fingers. but i'll survive...as long as they cleaned it properly and i don't get gangrene or something! knock on wood. i bought some alcohol swabs and gauze to clean and dress it myself. so far so good. the pills they gave mee made me feel pretty loopy and tired all day which made for difficult teaching, thank god for nice co-teachers. anyway, this weekend seems like a wash because of the stupid hand... was supposed to go feed the sharks at the busan aquarium... but that won't happen now. i'll get there eventually, i hope. i was going to post a picture of the stitches, but i'll spare you... unless you want to see... let me know. have a good one.

drama...drama...drama...

no, i'm not leaving teaching for acting... there was a little drama here this evening.

i was making dinner - a yummy "mexican" stir-fry (chicken, peppers, onion, cilantro, lemon juice, pepper). i was going to put it on one of my three tortillas that i still have in my freezer with some salsa and avocado. mmmm.... yummy, right? of course!

everything was done and i was prepping the avocado. 1. cut in half. 2. remove pit. this is where the drama comes in... you know how to remove the pit? stick a knife in it and pull it out of the half that it's stuck in, right? that's how i was taught anyway. so the problem was when the knife went straight through the avocado instead of into the pit... what was on the other side of the avocado? that's right, my hand.

i saw it happen before i felt it. it actually took a couple of seconds to hit me. i'm not a squeamish person and i tend to remain quite calm during emergency situations; this was no exception. i quickly put my hand under running water and applied pressure. a few seconds later i peeked at it. i knew right away that i would need stitches. the knife didn't just cut me, it stabbed me and it looked really deep... so i grabbed a massive wad of paper towel and held it there. i figured if the bleeding stopped within 5 minutes that it might be ok. well, it wasn't.

i grabbed my purse and left thhe house. thank god the realtor for the building was in the hallway. he doesn't speak english at all but i justt kept saying doctor and pointing at the bloody paper towel. he got his car and drove me to the hospital - a place i do not recommend visiting for ant kind of major surgery (more on that when i'm not typing with one hand). thank god he was there though, i don't know what i would have done if he weren't.

anyway, i've got i don't know how many stitches, since i didn't look and now my hand looks like this:

i have to change the dressing tomorrow, and i got some pills... not sure what they are so will ask at school before i take them... anyway... just my luck, isn't it? finally getting over whatever has been plaguing me for the last three weeks, and the laryngitis, and now, this. wish me luck taking a shower and doing the dishes... the nurse said no water can touch it for two weeks... i think that's a load of bull though... but won't be easy for at least a couple of days... here's to a healthier life! ha!

korea in bloom... and a laryngoscopy

as promised yesterday i took some pictures on my way to school this morning of the cherry blossom trees (i think that's what they are) that i walk by every day... they didn't look like this two days ago... i'm sure of it! and the photos don't really do them justice. i'll try to get out this afternoon or this weekend and get some better shots.

it kind of reminds me of the trees covered in ice in winter... but it's not cold out!!!

a close-up in one of the trees

this one branch caught my eye... the tree itself looks like it's waiting for death, but this one branch just won't give up! beautiful!

Now on to more gross things. as you may or may not know, i've been sick off and on for the last two weeks (or more). for the last week my throat has been particularly sore, but just thought it was the yellow sand of china irritating it. this morning, however, i woke up at about 5am with the sorest throat i've had in ages and i could feel that it was swollen - much like in fall when i had tonsillitis. so, i figured i should go to the doctor. a friend of mine here has tonsillitis, which is highly contagious, and i thought i'd caught it from him.

i walked to school as usual, figuring i could do the two classes no problem, i'd just have to talk really quietly. when i got to class the kids in the back couldn't hear me so my co-teacher took over. the second class i spent resting in the "resting room"... the other co-teacher i work with told me not to bother coming to class that she could take care of everything.

so after school was over (thank god for the science thing that let me out early today) i walked to the ear-nose-throat guy i saw last fall. he speaks better english than any other doctor i've been to here and he's a specialist in what is wrong with me.

i didn't have to wait more than two minutes, (what a difference from canada) before being shown into the office. he looked down my throat with a light and told me that my pharynx looked fine, as did my tonsils. he wanted to get a good look at my larynx (deep down in your throat - it's your voicebox). so i had to lean forward, stick out my tongue and breathe through my mouth. he tried to stick this long pole with a light and camera on the end down my throat... i gagged. he stopped and tried again. i gagged. then he suggested spraying a local anasthetic to relax my throat. i said try one more time... so he did, and i gagged.

finally he sprayed my throat - which was actually really nice cause it lessened the pain - with anasthetic and i waited a bout five minutes. we went through the same procedure as before and he managed to get it down there. then he told me to make a high pitched squeel, well i tried, but all i could do was kind of groan! finally i gagged again and he stopped saying he'd gotten enough pictures to make a diagnosis.

he was really great. he showed me pictures of a healthy throat, a slightly infected throat, a really infected throat, and then the ones of me. this was really cool, cause how often do you get to see inside your own body? anyway, i could tell the second he pulled mine up that it was pretty bad - see for yourself:

see the dark red? that's supposed to be really light pink.

see the two sort of balls deep down there? those are the mucous membranes of my voicebox, you aren't really supposed to see them... they're totally inflamed. anyway, that's a little gross eh? sorry for the squeamish out there!

so, i have laryngitis. i'm not allowed to talk (or supposed to talk as little as possible) i have pills up the wazoo to take after every meal for the next three days... i don't feel sick really except that my throat hurts. i mean, i'm not excessively tired or achey, or anything else... so this really sucks! and of course, it's right in time for the weekend! what's a girl to do? anyway, hopefully it'll start feeling better and it won't ruin my weekend too much. guess i should carry a pen and notepad around with me!

to the doctor...

today, for the second time since my arrival in korea i went to the doctor. this time was quite different than the first.

mrs. Che, one of the english teachers at my school, brought me this time (i guess jay didn't want to have to deal with it). we went to dr choi... the place i went last time, but were told that he would only be in around 10:30 - an hour and a half away. so we went down the street to dr jeong's ENT clinic (ear, nose, throat).

after waiting about ten minutes i was brought into his office where i was sat in a chair surrounded by medical equipment. it almost felt like going to the dentist, except the chair didn't recline. he put on a head lamp - made him look like he should be 200 feet down a mine shaft, not in a doctors office...

he looked at my throat, which he said didn't look so bad - "gamgi" he said, which means "cold" - as if i had to be told that! anyway, then he put this metal tong-like utensil up my left nostril and spread it, to get a better look up my nose. then his assistant sprayed some air, then some liquid, then some more air... all while he was looking up my nose. it was the strangest thing i've ever experienced at the doctors. then they did the same to my right nostril.

then the korean banter started and i have no idea what was said after that... i guess he was just telling her that i was sick and needed a shot - something you always get when you go to the doctor. a lot of people think it's just some kind of placebo to make the patient feel like something is being done, and i'm starting to believe it. when you ask what it is for, no one ever seems to be able to give me a straight answer... but i got it anyway, IF it does do something, then i want it... after the way i've been feeling for the past five days, i'll try anything, and hey, maybe the koreans know something about the common cold that they haven't shared with the rest of us!?!

so after my diagnosis, i was sat in front of a machine that sprayed hot, wet air and told to open my mouth and breathe for one minute... another oddity, but it did feel good on my lungs. then to the little room for the shot and i was released.

all of this cost me just over three dollars. we then went to the pharmacy where i was given pills and cough syrup. all of it individually wrapped for each dose.
no tricky bottles and figuring what is what, just take the pills in each pouch and take the amount of cough syrup that you need... seems so much easier than back home... of course, they do give you four times the number of pills here...

then after a half hour at school waiting to see if i was allowed to go home, i did. i've been napping off and on all day...

tomorrow i'm off to changwon in the morning for some big foreign teacher meeting that people only found out about today or yesterday... gotta love the last minute-ness of everything here... for someone who loves to know "the plan" and what is going on, this is one of the more difficult aspects of living here...

for those of you who are worried or concerned for my well-being here, i'm doing okay, i think that getting sick just made a lot of small things seem a lot worse... i know that everything will work out in the end - i am in control of my own life, and i can go home really, whenever i want... i just hope it doesn't come to that. maybe the meeting tomorrow will make things a lot clearer for all of us. at the very least, i'll get to see a bunch of peeps i haven't seen since august.