It's 2063 - Welcome to the Future

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Thursday October 19 - I woke up this morning feeling a bit better. I think the pain medication works, which is always good. I headed out early, planning to get to the hospital around 9am. Instead I made the decision to detour to the Indian Embassy. I want to apply for an Indian transit visa so that I can fly out of Delhi instead of Kathmandu. It is MUCH cheaper and it will give me a taste of India and a visit to the Taj Mahal. I just needed to know if the visa application was a lengthy process and what I would need to get it started.

I walked to the consulate and on my way there, I passed a flying fox colony! Flying foxes are large fruit bats in this part of the world, and for those of you who know, I used to study fruit bats. Love them! As any sane person would. I didn't even realize that they would be found in Kathmandu. I took some photos which will never come out, but I was so excited to see them that I had to try. It was great - some were flying around the trees, circling along with several birds. Some were hanging up in the trees, squabbling and moving about as they are prone to do. They never seem to sleep.

After my batty revelation, I arrived at the Indian consulate at 9am and got in line. The line wasn't too long but wasn't moving either. Then I realized they didn't open until 9:30am. I started to talking to two women who were coming back to collect their passports and visas. They said that I was in luck - from what they understood, the transit visas were the easy ones to get, same day and all. But I needed to have a plane ticket showing my departure out of India first. I waited to confirm the details and they were correct - a plane ticket, some money in exact change, and a photo. The visa is good for 15 days, but from the date you receive it, not from a specified date in the future. So I will have to wait until I am ready to leave Nepal to get the visa. But that should work out fine.

Next stop was the hospital. I took a cab here as it was a longer walk and I didn't want to be late. I arrived just before 10am and was told that the Urology OPD was not open on Thursday. I would have to come back tomorrow. Nice one. Would have been nice to know that before I forked over the cash for the cab. Once they assured me I wouldn't die overnight waiting for the doctors to decide to come in the following day, I left.

From there I walked back to the hotel and relaxed a bit. Took a nice hot shower and stated to decide what to do with my free day. Kindie and Guillaume had gone to sort out their trekking details and I had until 7pm before we would meet for dinner. I spent the day wandering about Thamel, the part of the city I am staying in. It is where most of the backpackers and trekkers stay. It reminds me a great deal of Bangkok, which surprises me even after I had been warned. It is polluted and loud and crowded. This part of town specifically is also full of a constant row or restaurants and souveneir shops. Everyone speaks English and there are plenty of Westerners to be seen. Mini-Bangkok. There are families, young people, middle aged and elderly people cruising around. Everyone is here. Many people love it but I am a bit turned off right now. I felt the same when I was in Bangkok. It's just too much, too easy almost. There is a wonderful German bakery though, and you can get almost anything from home food-wise and it's still cheap. Except cheese. It's still Asia and cheese is hard to come by. I miss cheese.

I walked around, looked at everything, and got lost eventually. I had lunch in a small restaurant - the same meal I had had the night before but it wasn't as good. I did buy a book Maurits had recommended way back in Turkey, Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist. It is supposed to help me find my destiny. Maurits seemed concerned for me; at 23 he has already found his, so I will read it. And the bookstores here are wonderful - they have just about everything.

I made it back to my street in the end and made my way to the travel agent brother of the hotel owner. I had promised to see what he had to say, but I also needed some trekking information and this seemed as good a place to get some as any other. I got the info and prices and itinerary for a three week trek and then headed to the internet. It is quick and cheap - I can be on for four hours for only $1! Everything is cheap here, even for me. I can buy six liters of water for less than $1 - let me know how much water you want for Christmas and I'll deliver.

After some emailing I met Kindie and Guillaume and we went back to the same restaurant that we had eaten at the night before. They are creatures of habit, like me. But this time I had garlic chicken, though I still couldn't eat much. During dinner we chatted about our days and I found out that they had found a guide for their trek and would walk the Langtang trail. They leave Saturday morning. I treated them to dinner as a surprise for all the help they have given me. They were there when I really needed someone and I will never forget that. In return they took me out and bought me a favorite chocolate that I haven't had all year. They are truly generous people. Afterwards we made it back to the hotel and got a good night's sleep.

Friday - Today was my big interview with the doctors so I got up early and got a cab back to Bir Hospital. I arrived just before 9am and checked in. Reception here is not quite how it is at home. It is outside and I had to buy a little book for the doctor to keep his notes in. They made a note in their computer and told me to go to the third floor. I walked in and went up stairs and finally found the Urology OPD. All the lights were off in the hallway and it was pretty horrible. Two other men were waiting to get in as well. One had a bag of fluid that seemed to be connected to his leg that he carried around with him everywhere. I started reading and an hour later the doctors arrived. They walked into an office and the two waiting patients followed them so I joined along. I just stood there until it was my turn and then sat and chatted with the two doctors a bit. I showed them my ultrasound results and told them which pain killer I was on. They said I should get a urine analysis at the pathology lab, wrote it out, and said to come back today with the results.

Interesting side note - in Nepal they use a different calendar and it is 57 years ahead of our calendar. So it is really 2063 here. And the months are all different as well. I started noticing this on my hospital receipts - they are all dated for 2063. So here it is - the future. I don't want to spoil what's to come for you, but let me say this - they have woderful pretzels in the future.

Next stop was the fourth floor Pathology. I gave them my sheet of paper and they told me to go back into the hallway, and find the collection of vials on the table. I was to get one, collect some urine, and bring it back. Ok, sounds easy enough. I found the table and thought I must be mistaken. There were small glass bottles to be sure, but they looked dirty and had tiny openings. I took one anyway and asked for the toilet. I was let in and it was dirty. "Luckily" it was a squat toilet which actually made my job a little easier, though my hands still got wet in the process and there was no running water in the bathroom. Lovely. I handed over the sample and the man said I could pick up the results at 1pm. I almost started crying. What could possibly take so long? So I took a seat and started reading my thankfully long book. I got this book from Jules in Africa and had been carrying it around ever since. Now I know why.

At 1pm I collected the results and brought them to the doctor's office. But the office was closed. So I sat and waited thinking that I had missed them. But it turned out, after some general worrying, that the doctors come back at 2pm, not leave for the day at 2pm like I had understood. They looked the results over and said that I had an infection, a UTI. I had never had one before but thought the pain seemed wrong for this. But ok, they are the doctors. They prescribed an antibiotic and a pain pill. The pain pill was the same I had been taking but was no longer effective. So they also prescribed another to use only if I needed it. Then they said I needed to get a urine culture, to make certain that I was on the correct antibiotic. They told me that I could give the urine now and the lab would begin the culture, but the hospital would be closed now until Wednesday due to the Festival that had started today. So I could come back for the results then. Five days seemed a long time to me but what choice did I have?

I went back to Pathology and they said no, since they are closed for five days I couldn't give a sample until Wednesday and then collect the results Friday. But if I didn't start the antibiotics until after the collection, I would spend five more painful unhealthy days. And if I did start the antibiotics before giving the urine, then it wouldn't work properly. Frustrated and already taking the Festival as a personal afront to my health, the doctors told me I could go to a private clinic or hospital for the test and that I could bring the results back on Wedneday between 2-3pm. They recommended one and I went down to get a cab there. The cabbies were trying to rip me off, and of course did, but I shamed them into a decent price anyway. I arrived at the desired clinic and was told that they would also be closed until Wednesday for the Festival. So much for calling ahead. At this point I was in pain, angry, frustrated, and wishing my husband was here to make some damned decisions for once. Then my head cleared, I remembered I have no husband and it is all up to me. So I asked where I could go and they suggested the Himal Hospital, which fortunately for me (and them as far as I was concerned) was a short walk away. I called ahead this time and they said yes, they would be open. Yee-haw, I struck gold this time.

I hobbled over to the Himal Hospital and went to their pathology lab where I was given my second little glass vial of the day, though this one seemed cleaner, as did the bathroom. There was even running water! I handed my specimen over (ugh that sounds terrible) and the woman told me the results would be ready on Sunday morning at 10am. I repeated it to make sure I had heard her right and she nodded. Except nodded is inaccurate. Here they don't nod assent, they kind of give a head jiggle, almost like a barely perceptible figure eight movement.

I was feeling better so I walked back to the hotel from this hospital and it wasn't that far, maybe 30 minutes walking. I was still uncertain of where my hotel was after being lost yesterday, but made some good guesses and got back in good time. I went back to the room to relax. After a while I was in some pain again and laid in bed hoping it would pass. I laid in the room with the lights off and a huge thunderstorm began. It lasted over an hour and was amazing in strength. Towards the end Guillaume and Kindie came in, dripping wet. I told them I wasn't going to make it to dinner tonight - I felt bad and wasn't hungry. They said ok and once changed they went out again to eat and run some errands. I tried to go to the internet but felt bad. Was only able to get to the store and buy some water and oatmeal cookies to take with my medication. I left the light on for them and fell into a fitful sleep. I heard them come in but went directly back to sleep.

Saturday - Kindie and Guillaume got up early today to pack for their trek. Then we said good bye and they were off for 8 days or so. After a shower and some general primping I packed up a bit and changed rooms to a single. I have two beds but no private bath. It was a cloudy day and I was feeling ill so I spent most of the day in bed. So much to listen to with the festival going on all around me - mostly kids in the street singing and firecrackers scaring the hell out of me every few minutes. So I spent the day listening to my ipod singing out loud in bed. That was fun too. I felt a little better in the evening and went out to our same restaurant for dinner. I ordered pizza, and this was a horrible mistake as it seemed to come out of the freezer and was cold and tasted like cardboard. When I got back I looked out my window into the courtyard area below and in the fading light I saw a woman bathing there in the courtyard. She was crouched down and had on a sarong that covered her lower half. A child was washing her back and she was washing her arms and chest. A couple of splashes of cold water from a bucket later and she was done. I couldn't help feeling guilty that just above her I had access to indoor plumbing with hot water. It is interesting to see just how different it is for locals than for tourists.

Sunday - This morning I had some more of my oatmeal cookies with my medication and then went off to the Himal Hospital to get the results of my urine culture. The point of this test was to confirm that the antibiotics I was taking were the correct ones to treat the infection. When I got there they said it was good news - I had no infection. I said this was bad news - the infection is supposed to be what was wrong with me. If it's not that, then what is it? So they made me an appointment to meet with Dr. Rana, the urology specialist at that hospital, later that day. Dr. Rana is also curiously the doctor that was written on the initial paper requesting that I get a urine culture in the first place - though I had never met him before.

I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to catch up on my travel blog a bit, as I had just not felt like it up until that point, even though I have had so much time on my hands. At 4pm I met with Dr. Rana. He decided to do another urine culture and a blood test as well, so I went back to the pathology lab to have this taken care of. We were to meet again on Tuesday morning but I would have to get there very early in order to pick up my results from the lab before they closed early for the festival. Festival! Ugh.

For dinner I bought some Pringles. They sounded like a good idea and since I wasn't much interested in eating, I decided to go with what works. Have I mentioned the grocery stores here? You can get almost all the snacks and chocolates you can get back home, wherever home is. It's amazing - Kathmandu is definately a different place. I ate the Pringles and formed an addiction instantly. Pizza-licious, wow.

Monday - Today I spent some more time at the internet cafe writing the blog and corresponding with my travel insurance company to tell them I was sick and trying to work out the details. I also got confirmation that my friend Christoph and his girlfriend Susanne would arrive the next day. They had just been trekking and were not planning to come back to Kathmandu but decided to come and see me while I was there. I met Christoph in Peru in January and we crossed into Chile together. We also met up again in Argentina and spent some time there as well as in Uruguay. Susanne met up with him in China and they have been traveling together for the last six months. He was supposed to end his trip in September, after one year, but decided to extend it and now go home to Austria overland. He expects to be there in February!

In the afternoon I spent some time reading The Alchemist only to discover that it had a defect! How can I find my destiny in a book that goes from page 102 back to pages 23 through 36 and then picks up again on page 135? That was extremely frustrating. Finally I got some bread from the nearby German bakery, the Weizen, and ate in bed. I spent some time laying in bed when the pain was bad, and during this time I would usually listen to my ipod and sing out loud, pretending no one could hear me. This helped with the pain until the medications kicked in.

I also managed to polish off the Pringles and buy an identical one and got started on that immediately. Is it better to eat nothing or to eat unhealthily but still be eating?

Tuesday - I woke up in the night at 1am because my pain medication had stopped working. I took some more and was able to fall back asleep around 3am. I got up and got over to the hospital around 8am where I picked up my test results and then met with Dr. Rana. The urine culture still showed nothing but the blood tests said there was a slight infection in my blood. He wanted me to have Xrays done but we had to wait until the following morning to do them since the festival was going on and it was the last big day. We made the arrangements and then I stopped to get some lunch at the Weizen bakery restaurant. It was my first restaurant meal in days and I was excited but the restaurants were all so busy and closing early for festival. I sat down and was ignored long enough that I finally left and just got a slice of pizza bread from their bakery and brought it back to the hotel.

When I got back to the hotel, Christoph was coming down the stairs. It was so nice to see him again. I also met Susanne. They were on their way to lunch and I let them go because I already had mine with me. It took them over two hours to make it back because their service had also been so slow. Once they came back, Susanne took a nap since they had had a long bus ride to Kathmandu that had left early that morning, and Christoph came over to my room to chat. It was a great way to catch up and we spent about three hours talking before Susanne came in with some chocolate for us all. We talked for a few more hours and then everyone went to bed. We each had some bakery food left if we got hungry since the restaurants were closed, and I just called it a night since I was tired and had to get up early.

Wednesday - Today I got up early to have my Xrays done. I was at the hospital by 8am and they were already gearing up for me. They have a Xray room that is open 24 hours a day and it must be great fun for them. First they took an Xray of me just as I was. Next, while still laying on the table, they administered an injection which would allow them to see the flow through my kidneys better. The injection was actually two large tubes of fluid, and about halfway through I started to feel ill. My mouth started watering and my shoulders felt full of lead. Luckily the feeling passed without vomiting and then they took the next Xray. From these two pictures, which they developed immediately, they could see that there was a problem. My right kidney showed up flawlessly; the left was not in the picture yet. They told me they would need to take more Xrays to determine where the problem was. They suspected a kidney stone that was out of the kidney and stuck somewhere in the ureter but they needed to see where. The next Xray was taken of my compressed stomach. They actually strapped me down and put pressure on my abdomen to get a better view it seems. When the left kidney started to show up it was obviously problematic - swollen as well as the ureter that leads from it to the bladder. By this time it was 9:30am and they told me to go home, get some light breakfast and come back at 12:30pm for the next picture. This would give the fluid enough time to process through my kidney enough to hopefully see the blockage.

At the hotel I had a banana muffin from the bakery and left a note for Christoph and Susanne telling them that I would see them for dinner if not before. Back at the hospital we did another two Xrays and there it was - the stone! You could follow the ureter from the kidney to the stone and that is where it stopped. So I did have a kidney stone and it was completely blocking all the urine that my kidney was processing from reaching the bladder. That would explain the pain - it has been over a week! Urinary tract infection indeed!

The doctor then took me back to his office to explain treatment options. The only real option was a uteroscopy, where a thin tool is inserted into the urinary tract and the stone is broken up and removed. This seemed appauling for so many reasons, and I told him I would think about it and let him know. I knew it had to be done but was uncomfortable having this procedure done here in Nepal. I went back and discussed it with Christoph and Susanne and then with my mom on the internet a bit. I wrote the insurance company to see what they thought - if I should do it here or go somewhere else - maybe India?

I spent the evening having dinner with Christoph and Susanne and thinking some more about what to do. At some point they informed me that they had looked in a new Lonely Planet guide book for Nepal and found that the Bir Hospital was where sick people go to die. Right - well, at least i got out of there in one piece and was considering surgery in a different hospital...

Thursday - This morning I got up and called the doctor to set up a meeting for some follow up questions I had, but his phone was off. I went to the internet to research some information on the procedure and then came back to call once again. He was in surgery all morning at the Bir Hospital but agreed to meet with me at 4pm. I then went to breakfast with Christoph and Susanne at the Weizen, the same wonderful bakery I found the other day. I had a pretzel and a bagel with cream cheese. I can't explain what a treat this was - I haven't seen pretzels, bagels, or cream cheese all year. Kathmandu is seriously a long term travelers paradise of food items. We arrived at 9:30am and at 3pm we were still sitting there chatting. At this point I had to leave, to go back to the hotel and then meet the doctor. I walked over to his office to burn off some nervous tension. If he answered the questions well, I would go through with the procedure. It needed to be done and I didn't think it was safe to wait any longer. He did answer well, and I felt comfortable with his skill level. He was a specialist, had been doing this procedure for 12 years, and had degrees and diplomas all over his wall from the UK so I knew he had seen sterile conditions and would know how to do it right. We decided to do it early the following morning and then he told me to spend the night in the hospital so they could monitor my blood pressure, etc. That really made me nervous but I agreed to go. I went back to the hotel to tell my friends and we went out for dinner before I headed back to the hospital. We ended up at a place they had eaten before and Christoph and I both ordered the Spaghetti Yeti. I was supposed to eat a light meal, but screw it. This could be my last meal, so eat it I would. In the end I only ate half - still not quite up to eating a lot yet.

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