Disease

I try so hard to ignore that I have lupus. But at this moment it's impossible. I want to scream, yell, and cut my feet and hands off at the hands and ankles to stop the swelling, burning, rolling overly sensitive tingling like sensations. Plus- I'm stumbling all over the place and keyboarding like a well trained chimpanzee.

I forgot to bring what ibuprofen I left home from my office, so stupid- these sensations are always worse when I have my period. In the past couple of months I've developed a delightful new symptom of a rash that appears as a light bumpy rash- itchy of course- all over my body.

I went to sleep at 12:30 but woke up at 2am because to the burning tingling in my feet and hands- it's so uncomfortable. Excruciating. This symptom I've actually experienced since I was a kid but it' so much more extreme now. So, now I'm awake, totally exhausted, rubbed campo phenique and hydro-cortisone over all my extremities, and have slammed 3 glasses of wine in 20 minutes. Starting to feel slightly better- I think mostly due to the booze.

Also, I finally, after a year and half, went and talked to doctors here in Korea. Unfortunately, they are in firm agreement with my American doctor that I do, indeed, have lupus. Silver lining- I joined several online support groups and I'm reading about a bunch of people with the exact symptoms I experience. Comforting in a misery loves company kind of way. Plus some good advice on coping. None of which includes the wine I'm slamming, most of which says to take anti inflammatories. Which I left at work. So wine it is. Along with the hope that it starts to let up by tomorrow because there is no way I'm strapping on skates when I'm this stumbly, fumbly.

Oh ye weary freshmen

Completely not going to win the blogger of the year award.

I'm really tired today. Not sure why- I've had plenty of sleep, food, exercise, and whatnot- but I can't stop yawning. Maybe it's the excitement of the cracking, booming thunderstorm that knocked out the power for a few seconds and then turned into monsoon like rainfall earlier today. Maybe it's having to force myself to pay attention during 170 city reports. On countries. Or Manchester United. I'm even yawning through my 'This is worth 10% of your grade, I am not happy so many of you did not complete it' lecture.

The kids are just worn out. Spring semester, March 1- June 15, is the first semester of the school year as opposed to fall semester. This the first time most of them have had to be on their own and definitely the first time they have been away from the watchful eyes of their parents. The university has a ton of events, all of which involve heavy drinking, to welcome them to campus life, each freshman has a senior- who also encourages heavy drinking, and their new friends- who also want to drink. Unfortunately for them- they also have a full load of college classes and I think the hammer has come down on most of them. Even through my yawns I think I managed to convey how much they were risking from slacking off and started to look nervous.

Gone are the bright eyed, sparkly, excited faces from 3 months ago. They been replaced by dazed zombies. 'What's wrong with you?', I asked a class who responded to 'How are you?' with 'Very very bad'. A moment of silence and then a girl responded with a quiet wail- 'College is HARD'. Yep. Welcome to the almost real world kids. Just wait until finals next week.

What did I do this last week? Hmmm.
Prepared the finals and studied for them with all 7 sections of conversational English, reviewed what they needed to do for their homework presentation (college is hard). Had ladies night with pina coladas, wine, and some of my neighbor ladies and then went to a bar called Kaokao in Okdong, which I keep wanting to call Kakao like the free text app everyone uses here, and got just drunk enough to be hungover for the 10:30am elementary, middle school physical education class we are now taking turns doing on Saturdays. It was fine- lessons plans got tossed and we sang the Hokey Pokey and played Duck Duck Goose and got yelled at by the people running the huge ceremony for, something, in the next room (who's bright idea was it to put 30 9 yr kids next to a ceremony? I do not know). Saturday I stayed home, cooked, organized derby stuff. Sunday I went to derby practice in Daegu and came home and got a couch from my friend Ian, who got it from our friend Scott (expat community of rotating possessions). Monday night I rearranged my apt so the coach would fit and last night I went out for Chinese with my Korean dr and pharmaceutical rep friends . Delicious! Wish I had taken pictures- first really good Chinese I've had in Korea. 'Set' meal with about 10 courses and we drank Chinese whiskey, Baijiu, not for the timid. Really good time. Tonight I need to call derby girls but I'm le tired and might just watch le tv and do le laundry and put the l'art back up on my walls from the le furniture rearrangement.

Fail

I made a goal 2 days ago to write at least a couple of sentences. even if it's just what I had for lunch, everyday. And then I have written nothing since- already! I guess it's like quiting smoking- you just have to keep trying (where did I put my lighter..)

Not a lot to tell from the last couple of days. Wrapping up classes and studying for finals with my freshmen. Who are exhausted, worn out, and brain dead. Usually no one comes to me office- right now I have a stream of students coming to get handouts from 3 or 4 weeks ago. The handouts that I said, 'Make sure and keep this! This WILL be on the final!', several times a class. Next week is presentations and the week after is finals. Then, one more week of grades and paperwork and vacation!

Trying to get the committees organized and up an running for ROKD. Derby is so much work- even when it's a small league, even when I've done it all before and don't have to create it from scratch. Luckily we have a some very enthusiastic peeps and the kind of woman who decides to move to a foreign country tends to be pretty proactive.

Other than that I'm getting ready to visit the good ol' USA for a month. I want to go to Puerto Rico with my sister and nephew- but I think I should go to California instead and visit my BFF and god daughter. I really should touch base with all my loved ones because, after this visit, I'm not planning on going back for a couple of years. It's just so expensive and there are so many other places I want to go.

  

Tattoo conventions, Seoul, Derby

I had a 3 day weekend because Andong National University had it's annual school festival. It's pretty fun. Each major has a tent where they sell soju, makali, beer, and food to raise money for their school trips. Which are called 'major training' (MT), their classes are cancelled, and as far as I can tell the only training that happens is they drink soju, makali, and beer. I went Thursday night and bought many bottles of soju and drank shots with several dozens of my students, which is expected, ate some good food, picked at some terrible food, and took many pictures. You can see pics from this year and 2010 here.

The next morning I woke up at 6am to catch the Seoul train with my neighbor Sue to go to Ink Bomb 2011 tattoo convention. We got to Seoul around 11am, got some food, checked into a guest house in Myeongdong, and then started making our way to the convention. It took awhile though because subway shopping is irresistible. To me at least. I got some light sweaters that will be awesome for covering my tattoos while still remaining somewhat cool (since the university will not turn on the ac until it reaches 110 Fahrenheit). I also got a pair of glittery, sparkly, frilly, flats with skulls and metal studs. Awesome! Expensive and unnecessary. Which makes me love them more.

Inkbomb was at a place called Platoon Kunsthalle, which is a really cool gallery in the very upscale neighborhood of Gangnam in Seoul. I'm looking forward to going back for other events. Inside the space was separated into stalls where artists from around the world were giving tattoos as people watched. Smoked cigarettes and watched. Very rarely do I see Korean girls with tattoos, showing at least, but there were many girls with full sleeves, chests, and backs! Most of the crowd was Korean, especially early in the day, and everyone was very, very, very cool. Kinda reminded me of punk rock back in the day, or rockabilly shows, where everyone is done up to the nines, basking in the glow of their own coolness. People were friendly and approachable when talked to though, I got a possible skatebooard shop connection for derby, and Sue got a lot of great pics. She claims it's the 'mom' affect. My favorite ROKD ref (ok- our ONLY ref- but he is pretty cool) Nik came down around 7:30 and watched the band Kingston Rudieska with us. Korean ska with a horn section and they are fantastic!!! I really want to see them in a club where everyone boogies because they are super boogielicious! After the band we stood around for awhile and then Sue went home and Nik and I went and met my friend Jamie K (Detroooit!) for some drinks. I didn't make it much past the second bottle of vodka and took a taxi back to Myeongdong where I was harassed by some some drunken Korean business men who wanted to 'party' and wouldn't leave me alone until I threatened to beat them up with my umbrella. Got back to the room about 2:30-3am and fell asleep instantly. You can see pics of Ink Bomb in the end of my FB album ROK and beginning of ROK II.

Next day I got up, got breakfast, and bought some really cute baby clothes covered in skulls (not for me! Don't get excited mom) which I promptly left in a taxi. Sigh. And then headed for derby practice. We had a handful of new girls- with experience! We are really lucky to have so many derby girls who have played derby before- I think this makes at least 10. It really helps for partnering up with the freshmeat to teach skills. It was a great practice- the beginners are developing skills, we did a real pace line and no-one dropped out, and we finished with yoga taught by the new ref! This is awesome because derby bulks up muscles- but yoga kengthens them. Perfect combination.

After practice, I ate dinner with Nik and Joan Killinger in Jamsil. Joan is going to be my Seoul derby buddy because, well she's great, and also because she lives 2 subway stops away from Dong Seoul bus terminal which solves my problem of lugging all my gear and a weekends worth of crap around with me all weekend. I didn't stay for Sunday practice because I'm low on funds this month 'cause I transferred it all to the USA (irresistible subway shopping) and I was worn out from another lupus episode, or whatever it is that makes me feel like something the cat drug in, with my joints swelling up, that I should probably get checked out since I do have health insurance here. My insurance in the states wouldn't cover testing. I've had more episodes in the past couple of months- I think it's because of the hwang-sa, yellow dust, that makes everyone sick, stressing out my immune system. 'Course- drinking and smoking probably doesn't help either.

Today I slept a lot, in short naps, exercised, caught up on emails, loaded a months worth of pictures onto FB, made chicken soup, did laundry, blogged!, and now I'm going to watch tv, read, and go to bed early so I have lots of energy to catch up on derby biz tomorrow.

Discipline

I am terrible at keeping my blog up to date. The worst part is I have a list of things I want to write about. But- I have a renewed inspiration brought on by a girl who just joined the derby and I am going to write every day- even if it's just a couple of sentences. This way when I write my best selling autobiography, most likely 2 days before I walk in front of a bus so I'll miss out on all the fame and $, I'll have a reference to guide my spotty mix everything together memory. The years- they do fly by.

Today it's going to be easy because I have other things I'm supposed to be doing and my favorite way to procrastinate is to do something near the middle of my list rather than the top.

Hello again doctor

moonwalk

Changing continents has not changed my ability do serious damage to myself in truly ridiculous and stupid ways. I am still the same person who tore my Achilles tendon falling off the roof trying to break into my own house, ripped the cartilage out of ribcage because I was told 'girls don't jump this 4 story cliff' in Jamaica, took hits that sent me flying 15 ft in derby with no permanent damage- but spiral fractured my fibula screwing around at practice, and broke my orbital and did damage to my retina playing in a moonwalk. Among many other injuries that are equally as stupid and just way too numerous to recount. My derby name, Crash Baby, is actually a reflection of these tendencies more than any threat to others.


At the begining of December, I went to Hongdae in Seoul to hang out with 3 other derby girls currently residing in the ROK and go to the Rubber Seoul fundraiser put on by Little Travelers. It was a total blast. I love hanging out with derby girls. Nothing quite compares. Plus, good cause, tons of live music and Hongdae is always fun. And I fell down a flight of stairs and smashed my leg HARD.


Woke up the next day in pain, totally teased by my derby mates, stumbled into Itaewon to have lunch with a new friend from Ann Arbor (introduced on FB, met in Seoul, know quite a few people in common. Small world), trying to convince myself that it was just a bruise. Ironically- new friend from A2 had fallen down some stairs a few weeks earlier and actually ended up in surgery for his broken ankle. He gave me an oxycontin, I took HALF, and barely made it on my bus. Never taken it before- but I have taken darvocet, codeine, vicodin, hydrocodone, and demoral, among others. All Prescribed. None taken at the prescribed dosage, always way less, I'd have been a zombie. You'd think with my on and off constant injuries I would have a tolerance. Wrong- it was full on Kubla Khan. No wonder it's sold on the streets in the US. Got home at 8pm and went straight to bed.


Next day, Monday, I woke up in extreme pain at 5 in the morning, stumbled through my classes popping ibuprofen like candy, every step making me break out in sweat, and went to the hospital directly after work. Limped to the counter and watched the receptionist scatter like mice from a cat. Not surprised- many Korean are nervous to speak to waygooks (foreigners) because they either can not, or are too shy, to speak English. Waited about 5 minutes until they fetched the guy who could speak to me. Then another attendant put me in a wheelchair and wheeled me to the orthopedic waiting room. She also told me I was fat and very heavy to push. I told her to exercise because I was smaller than her. She laughed and apologized and then apologized again because I would have to wait 'very very long long time'. It was 5pm. I waited 10 minutes and then they took me for an x-ray. Made me pay first- 17,500 won (little over $15) for x-ray and doctor fee. Back to the waiting room and another 15 minutes and they brought me in to see the doctor. My x-ray was on the computer screen next to him and he pointed at it and said, 'no broken' and then told me he was giving me medicine and to not work or walk for a week. He did not LOOK at the injury. Period. I asked for crutches and told him I had to work. He kept telling me 'No no, stay home'- it took me 15 minutes to get him to agree to give me crutches.  


Next, they wheeled me back out to the main lobby and gave me back to the first guy who spoke some English. He handed me my prescription and pointed to the pharmacy across the parking lot. I told him I needed crutches. I even knew the word in Korean because my students had told me when we did our Dr's visit lessons- 목다리 Mogdali. Then he said he'd go to the pharmacy for me, so I gave him my alien registration and my bank card (Yes- I said BANK card- something I would NEVER do in Detroit) and he left me in the waiting room. Where I was harassed the entire time by an extremely drunk Korean man who kept smacking me on the injured leg, trying to get me to drink from his flask, and yelling at his wife as she tried to pull him away from me. The hospital guy finally returned with my meds, receipt, and cards as I was wheeling myself out of the lobby to get away from the drunk guy, yelled at him in Korean, and asked how I was going to get home. I told him 'taxi' but I needed the crutches first and he took me to the med supply store area to get them. 


The woman working in the store pulled out a set of crutches from a huge pile against the wall and had me stand up to show me how to use them. A lesson I, unfortunately, did not need- plus, the crutches she gave me came up to my chin. I told her I needed shorter crutches and pointing to them. She said they were too short and refused to get them for me. Finally, I got out of the wheelchair, limped over and got the shorter set out of the pile, flipped them over and adjusted the legs so they were the correct height, and handed her my bank card ($15). At this point, the guy who had been helping me out was cracking up so hard he had tears in his eyes. He walked with me out to get a taxi, told me I had 'good temper' for a migook (American), and asked if I would give him English lessons. Which is against the law so, of course, I said no. Between the doctor who didn't actually examine the injury, the woman who didn't seem to understand the medical equipment she was selling, and finding out later that one of the medications I was prescribed, streptokinase, is actually pretty dangerous this was one of the worst medical experiences I have had. I'm not going to go  on a rant about the terrible medical care in this country, like I've read from other expats, because I've had some pretty crappy experience in the US too. And have been unable to even GET the care that I need because of lack of money and health insurance.

This is what the bruise looked like on day 2. As the week went on the bruise spread another few inches in all directions and my entire thigh and knee swelled with a rock hard lump at the center of the injury. Granted, I was not taking the medication I was given prescribed for the first few days because I didn't want to be high during finals- but I did use the damned crutches and iced and elevated as soon as I got home.  I also worked out how to figure out what was in the prescription. I wrote about that here.


A coworker asked how long I was going to be on the crutches and I told her 'until I can walk with out pain, the doctor told me to stay home' and told her about the ridiculous hospital visit and that it seemed to be getting worse. She suggested I visit a traditional oriental doctor and they could probably at least help reduce the bruising and speed up the recovery process. Since I had already been debating check out acupuncture for other issues (allergies, joint swelling that gets worse in the winter) and it's covered by the national health planI decided anything to get off of crutches! I got directions from another co-worker and made my way over to 부부한의학 Boo Boo han wi han (husband and wife medical) to see what they could do. 

It was extremely busy so I had to wait about 1/2 an hour before I was given a loose skirt to change into and taken consult with the doctor. He examined the injury and said he thought it would take 3 or 4 visits to make it go away. He asked me to  stick out my tongue and when I did he said he could tell I was under stress and asked if I had other health issues. I told him I had pretty bad allergies and periodic swelling and joint pain, possibly caused by lupus (my doctor in the US had told me she thought I had lupus, I tested positive for the antibodies, but my health insurance wouldn't cover the full testing). He said he could help with that also but first we should concentration on  getting me back on my feet. His English is excellent. 



Then he handed me over to an attendant who took me to a little cubicle with a heated surface and had me put my leg up on the square cushion. There were 2 middle school girls in the room I was in getting acupuncture and moxibustion. They asked why I was there and I showed them my bruise. I asked why they were there and they told me it was because they 'sweat too much'. Who knew sweating was curable?


The first part of the treatment was to cover the injured area with a heating pad and turn on the heat lamp attached to the wall.

electric current cups

The next part  consisted of suction cups attached to my leg that sent waves of electric currents through the muscles. Then they put a towel and the heating pad on top of it. Very odd ticklish sensation that was almost painful and caused by leg to occasionally spasm. This lasted for about 10 minutes.                                                                         

 When they took the suction cups off it left big fuzzy looking circles  that lasted for about 24 hours

acupuncture

After that was acupuncture. There were only 2 parts of the whole process that were handled by the doctor himself. The rest was handled by assistants. I half twisted my self into a sitting position to watch the process. It took him about 30 seconds to apply all these needles and I barely felt a thing. The circle drawn on my leg was to mark the center of the injury.

Then another assistant came in and applied moxibustion- small burning sticks all through the needles. They smelled like sage. Internet research tells me it is probably mugwort. These burned down in about 2 minutes. Right as it started to get really hot and I started to get a little worried they came in and took them off. The needles stayed in for about 15 minutes.

The next part really freaked me out. Another doctor came, pointed at the pen drawn circle and asked if that was the center. When I nodded, he pulled out what looked like a pen and turned out to be a very sharp stabbing utensil, stabbed my leg a dozen times, put a glass cup on top of it, and used a pump to suck out the air. It took about 10 seconds- before my shock reaction had even kicked in he was walking out of the room leaving me alone to watch in horror as the cups quickly filled with blood. An assistant peaked in on me about a minute later and my expression must have said everything because she laughed, stroked my head for a couple of seconds, and told me 'it's ok, it's ok!' before she ran off to help someone else. The cups stayed on for about 3 minutes then the assistant returned, released the air, caught the blood in a tissue, wiped my leg with an alcohol swab, and told me I could get dressed.

wet cupping

wet cupping

wet cupping

The last part of the procedure is great. This first visit I couldn't enjoy it much because I was so freaked by the bleeding but I've been back 3 more times. They took me upstairs to the room of massage machines.

Massage # 1- the flat table has rollers in it that run up and down your back and legs
Massage # 2- poofy air filled leg massagers
Massage # 3- the massage chair! Not for the claustrophobic- it closes around your legs and arms and you'd probably hurt yourself trying to get out.

All 3 felt great!  

All of this, from the time I started the consultation to the end of the massages took a little over an hour. I paid my bill, 4,400 won ($4). The doctor asked how I felt and I replied 'I don't know' because my leg felt like it was on fire and I was still stuck on the wet cupping scenario. He walked me out and hailed a taxi for me and asked if I wanted to go to dinner sometime. I just looked at him and he laughed and said we'd talk about it next time and to come in every other day. I left thinking f' this, went home and straight to bed. 


The next morning I woke up and literally a 3rd of the bruise was gone, the swelling was down, and the hard knot had started to loosen. I went back every other day. After the second visit I was off crutches. After the 4th visit all of the swelling was gone. I still have a very small bit of bruising left and I couldn't wear heels until last weekend I sort of feel like it was miraculous. All of these pictures are from the 3rd visit- less than a week to go from angry green, black, and blue swollen pain to almost no bruise and close to normal activity. I'm totally going back for more treatments.


I also met the doctors wife, who is also a doctor and treated me on the 3rd visit. They said they like to hang out with foreigners to practice their English. And invited me to dinner again but said they would invite their other waygook friends so I would feel comfortable. I said I would love to.