Unplanned Adventure

My lower back has been giving me problems lately – that creepy sciatica nerve has been keeping me awake at night and keeping me off the computer during the day because it spasms a lot whenever I sit or lay down. Last night was another sleepless night and also the “tipping point”. This morning I got Candy of the Foreign Affairs Office to take me to the hospital. In China they do not have individual doctors offices – here all doctors work in a hospital so you go there for EVERYTHING (dentists, eye exams, and all the other things that are found in an American hospital along with Chinese Medicine experts). One huge difference is that you pay for everything before it is done. So we paid to get to see a doctor, then we paid for the CT that he recommended, then we paid for the Chinese medicine that was prescribed. The CT scan, which cost less than 20 dollars, showed nothing major wrong. The Chinese Medicine doctor, who spoke perfect English, gave me pills to take and many smelly patches to put on my back. The patch has already stopped the spasms down my leg and I was able to take a HARD long nap when I got home. It Was Heaven. After this experience I would have no qualms about returning to this hospital if I needed it, but I don’t plan on having any more unplanned adventures.