Yesterday (Saturday the 11th) marked the first day of the New Year in which I was able to go running. I went all out. Running, hiking and ice-skating as I just wrapped up another beautiful weekend in Bad Hofgastein.
Some of you may or may not know that I have been suffering from a mean case of tonsillitis since the 1st of January. Initially I thought it was just a sore throat, but as swallowing became more difficult and my condition worsened AND after the infection spread to my ear, I finally decided to contact a doctor.
The pain really began to worsen in my ear, turning into a severe, burning pressure slowly hiking up my Eustachian tube. In the middle of the night it finally released itself and a beautiful stream of brown, bloody phlegm followed. It was miserable.
This was on Monday morning (around 3 a.m.) and in such a moment of hopelessness I finally contacted one of my teachers who unfortunately was out of town but gave me the number of the doctors who are on-call over the holidays. Monday, in case you didn't celebrate, was 3 Kings Days (so, from Friday to Monday nothing was open) meaning that no doctor's offices or pharmacies are open. So, I called the country doctor and through my sniffles and cry-voice he slowly figured out where I lived and what was wrong. It took him all of 10 minutes to diagnose me, write a prescription and show me where to find the only open pharmacy. With my prescription in hand I headed into town, got my antibiotics (ick!), nose drops and gargle solution. Now, a week later I feel like I just have the common cold and a little pressure in my ear. I'll head to the real doctor tomorrow or Tuesday to make sure everything has healed properly. Whew. I, in fact, learned a lot about how to find doctors and about the anatomy of the inner and middle ear and how unfortunately connected everything is, but I also realized how important it is to have someone there for you when you're sick.
You possibly can't feel more alone when you're sick in bed in a foreign country fearing that your ear might explode.
One of my teacher's reminded me of this once I got to school and she kept saying, "and no one was there to make you soup? or tea? or help you? all alone?" She of course, reminded me that I should have contacted her, but you just don't really think straight when you're immobilized.
Now, done with the drama. It really wasn't that bad, it was just another experience... a part of life!
Christmas break was pleasant but extremely long. 3 weeks!
Week 1: Switzerland
Three days in Wengen :) and almost a week in Bern. I got to see almost all of my lovely host families and Jana and have never experienced so much hospitality. I am always overwhelmed by how kind and welcoming they are.
Week 2: Austria
Week 3: Partially in Germany, specfically Heidelberg, where my friend Teddy lives! If any of you read about my travels in Freiburg, Teddy was my closest and dearest friend. She's an American who is currently studying her masters in Heiderlberg. We caught up for about 6 hours as I was there with a class trip.
Some of you may or may not know that I have been suffering from a mean case of tonsillitis since the 1st of January. Initially I thought it was just a sore throat, but as swallowing became more difficult and my condition worsened AND after the infection spread to my ear, I finally decided to contact a doctor.
The pain really began to worsen in my ear, turning into a severe, burning pressure slowly hiking up my Eustachian tube. In the middle of the night it finally released itself and a beautiful stream of brown, bloody phlegm followed. It was miserable.
This was on Monday morning (around 3 a.m.) and in such a moment of hopelessness I finally contacted one of my teachers who unfortunately was out of town but gave me the number of the doctors who are on-call over the holidays. Monday, in case you didn't celebrate, was 3 Kings Days (so, from Friday to Monday nothing was open) meaning that no doctor's offices or pharmacies are open. So, I called the country doctor and through my sniffles and cry-voice he slowly figured out where I lived and what was wrong. It took him all of 10 minutes to diagnose me, write a prescription and show me where to find the only open pharmacy. With my prescription in hand I headed into town, got my antibiotics (ick!), nose drops and gargle solution. Now, a week later I feel like I just have the common cold and a little pressure in my ear. I'll head to the real doctor tomorrow or Tuesday to make sure everything has healed properly. Whew. I, in fact, learned a lot about how to find doctors and about the anatomy of the inner and middle ear and how unfortunately connected everything is, but I also realized how important it is to have someone there for you when you're sick.
You possibly can't feel more alone when you're sick in bed in a foreign country fearing that your ear might explode.
One of my teacher's reminded me of this once I got to school and she kept saying, "and no one was there to make you soup? or tea? or help you? all alone?" She of course, reminded me that I should have contacted her, but you just don't really think straight when you're immobilized.
Now, done with the drama. It really wasn't that bad, it was just another experience... a part of life!
Christmas break was pleasant but extremely long. 3 weeks!
Week 1: Switzerland
Three days in Wengen :) and almost a week in Bern. I got to see almost all of my lovely host families and Jana and have never experienced so much hospitality. I am always overwhelmed by how kind and welcoming they are.
Week 2: Austria
Week 3: Partially in Germany, specfically Heidelberg, where my friend Teddy lives! If any of you read about my travels in Freiburg, Teddy was my closest and dearest friend. She's an American who is currently studying her masters in Heiderlberg. We caught up for about 6 hours as I was there with a class trip.
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