Wednesday, May 15, 2013

scratch that itch.

Being the drama queen I am, I thought there must have been something sinister going on.

Cancer!  Of course!  Because a lot of my family have been afflicted with it, it must be!

I'd heard that day about Angelina Jolie removing her breasts in a preventative measure against the cancer gene.

Not to mention, sure enough, while I'm in a country that doesn't really make me confident with their medical system, it would be now that the horrible things happened, right?!

I went online to search for proof of my demise, googling, 'itchy boob' and found a lot of women with the same problem.

There are a few different diseases, but I didn't have the 'burning' that accompanied, nor do I have any lumps or swelling.

Other than the fact, of course, that I've been scratching it so much that my nipple is a little angry.

But I kept looking and searching and blammo!  There it was.

Allergies.

I'm so allergic to chemicals and while we don't have a washing machine and while I don't want to rub the skin off my knuckles anymore, we bring it in to the hard working women 20 minutes away in Cabarete.

I remember picking up my items and that awesome pretty smell was just wonderful!

Putting on my clothes, I found it to be refreshing, instead of the stink that accumulates from wearing the same clothes over and over.

But that pretty aroma is the problem.

It's no wonder it's my privates that are so damn itchy, when clothes are smack dab against them, rubbing in the heat, releasing all the chemicals onto my skin.

Even yesterday, when I told Papi of my silent drama that was going on without his knowledge, and upon finding the result with relief, he told me, "Yeah, these clothes feel heavy with whatever they use."

No kidding.  Weighed down with chemicals.

So, now the problem is, I wait.  We're back on Dominican Time as we wait for word about what happens next with that damn machine.

The washing machine tech came and finally gave me the answer we needed.

The machine will not work here, because it is digital and the sine, square or whatever else wave it runs on isn't working with our electrical system.

He told me he would write them an email and ask if we could exchange for a good old dial system that won't fail us.

I'll probably have to call and nudge them for an answer for another month.

We have had this damn machine in our house for 2.5 months now.  Nada.

No laundry, and two visits from the tech, not to mention an upgrade of our electrical, not just for the machine, but what we needed to do to get electrical working should have worked for the machine if it worked for Papi's air conditioning he desperately needed to sleep.

Anyway, at least the Google search relieved me of the drama and now I can just ask the angels to perhaps, maybe get this Dominican Time to speed up a bit?

That and from this point forward, until I get that damn machine, at least my bras and undies will be washed by hand.

I'm not going through this much longer.

Sometimes, I can't wait for the workers to leave so that I can strip down and scratch.

One thing I did learn about while going through my boob drama, was that in order to get a doctor here, it's much different than in Canada.

You don't just 'go get a doctor'.  First, you go to the hospital and there you will be given a specific doctor for your ailment.

Then, it's up to each individual to keep a medical record of the results, dates, doctors seen etc.

They don't keep a file on you here.  No paper trail or records to show any history that a doctor might need for symptoms etc.

You must be accurate in your records, or clues could go missing, and you won't have the support you need.

Well, I have to go get my ear looked at and I'm a little afraid of the system here.

I can't really hear out of my right ear, because I have 0% pressure in it from my jaw moving during my Brace Face expedition for 2 years.

I know in Canada, they said to wait until the shrapnel was off, then they'd put a little tube in my drum, release the pressure and I'd have my hearing back.

It scares me with the language barrier as to what might happen here.

Well, today we go to see if we can fix my ear without losing my hearing permanently.

Wish me luck.

i make intelligent choices

2 comments:

  1. I still have my "book of health" from Poland with blood results stapled to pages (that is, when results weren't hand written into book!) and a shoe box to fit other medical stuff too big to staple. Sooo oldschool!! I strongly suggest organizing chronologically (which i didn't and now can't find shit) and making a special spot to keep this stuff in - a nice box WITH A LID, or big folder with an elastic closure is great. Picking out ants, roaches, mouse poop and shooing prodding doggy noses out of your irreplaceable lab results gets gross and annoying over the years. Hmmm.. That reminds me, I should really scan my records! Some of them are in rough shape!

    (Ania)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thank you for the tip!!! i've just never heard of doing it myself!

      what a canadian princess eh?

      but thank you ... i will do this :) you rock oxoxo

      Delete

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