I'm back!

It's been quite a while since I blogged. Part of the reason - I got to have an adventure with Doctors and hospitals in Indonesia. I woke up with pain in my lower left abdomen one night that just would not go away. It came in spasms and after three hours I finally decided that there was something wrong. Regina and her husband came and took me to the materinity hospital. The "supposed" ER doc had my blood pressure checked (160/80) informed me that I had a spastic stomach, gave me a shot and told me I could go home. I was in so much pain I couldn't move. After a half-hour of him sitting stone-faced and quiet, and me writhing in pain, Regina asked him how long it took for the medicine to take hold. He responded "5 minutes". Obviously my problem was not a spastic stomach. I was admitted to the hospital and watched the sun rise as I waited for the internist to arrive at 7:00. In the meantime, ants visited me, crawling up and down on the wall near my head, and a nurse who could only say "Obama." The intern came in wearing the Indonesian version of a Dr.'s white coat; it looked like the top of a very cheesy tuxedo. The intern informed me that he was going to take an ultrasound (my first!). Later that morning I had an ultrasound, where the nurse/aide smeared the jelly on my belly with a spatula. I kept thinking of Betty Crocker as she swirled the jelly from one side to the other, as the Doctor commanded. To keep a very long story mercifully short, I went to five different hospitals, one so appalling I can't imagine anyone gets out of there alive, and five different "specialists". Finally it appeared to be a small kidney stone, or crystals, which I was able to pass while drinking copious amounts of water. Now back to the travels and pictures!