Some Kind of Week

I'm going for the holistic Vietnam experience. That is why I was in a motorbike accident last week and why I spent all day today at the hospital. You all deserve to hear the full experience!

When I woke up this morning, I couldn't move my head without the room spinning and spinning and spinning. I thought I must have caught what Tarn had last week, but when Tarn came up in answer to my desperate text, he said it didn't sound like it. My head felt like it weighed a ton.

I sent an email to my principal, who was very concerned. He sent Tarn home early to take me to the Franco-American hospital (it was Tarn's first day back in a week). Dr. Mark paid for his taxi home and for our taxi to and from the hospital (nice). He was afraid that my dizziness was tied to my motorbike accident and insisted that I get it checked.

So today was my first emergency room admission, since - I don't know, mom? when? I don't even remember. My broken leg when I was two? Getting there was the longest journey ever. Being four floors up has been only a good thing until today (and sometimes when I forget something). I crawled to the fourth landing, then rested on the floor on my pillow. Then to the third, rested again. And the second, and then the ground. I was exhausted. I hugged the wall all the way down the alley to the taxi - much to the concern of Candle Neighbor. The taxi ride was OK - Tarn laid out my yoga pad in the back seat - except for every bump and blown horn (which was about ten times per minute). What followed at the hospital was lots of me being wheel-chaired around the premises to many different stations. They took full x-rays of my back.

The result: no connection between the two incidents. My back has injuries unconnected to the accident, which I know (from years ago), and they are admitting me to see a "pain doctor" on Wednesday. The dizziness - vertigo. Something changed in the fluids in my inner ear. No real explanation as to what causes that. I'm on medication, and am ordered to stay home tomorrow.

Two things: 1) the hospital was completely professional and state-of-the-art. I was in very good hands. The only problem was that it was a bit hard to understand the doctor when she brought in the x-rays. "Clear as mud," said Tarn. All Vietnamese people, including doctors, pronounce "headache" phonetically - head "h." It is a funny-spelled word. Oh, and the entire thing was paid by insurance, even down to the prescription. All I did was show my card.
2) Tarn was an amazing friend today. He stayed with me the whole time, from 2 until about 6. He bought me a sandwich, entertained me with stories of Iraq protest arrests in New Zealand, etc, and was so incredibly patient with all of my dizzy spells all the way there and while we were there. I'll never know how I got so lucky to find these two roommates.

When we got home, Tarn said he would go out and get us some fried rice. Candle Neighbor stopped him because she wanted the report. A minute later, he came back in. "She said you are not allowed to eat fried rice. Only rice soup." He waited a few minutes, went out again, and came back with two containers of fried rice and salad. He was able to sneak it in, past our vigilant friend.

I came home to some school emails from my students. "Are you OK? Please come back to AIS!" The emails had been sent within one hour of school starting today. It's nice to be missed. One also said, "Your sub made us work so hard. Please come back!" I'm the fun teacher, not the hard teacher. I'm OK with that.

So, yeah, all I really care about right now is that I am able to get on the plane to Nha Trang on Thursday morning. I will sleep all day tomorrow in my castle, and watch a bunch of pirated CD's. I'm hoping that you all don't require any more reporting on holistic Vietnam. It's hard on me!