Most of you know Chinese culture views privacy differently than American culture, most easily explained as 'there isn't any expectation of privacy in Chinese culture.' I knew this affected personal space, family and friendly secrets, neighbors knowing what you're up to all the time, everyone always in your bidness, etc. but I didn't realize it also extended to the body.
It does.
In my experience, bodily functions aren't considered private in China. Sneezing, burping, coughing, passing gas, peeing: all these things are viewed as natural functions of the body, so you don't have to say excuse me, you don't God Bless anyone, and you definitely don't feel embarrassed when they happen...if you're Chinese, that is! Many North Americans...it might take a while to get to that point. (I think this is also why babies and little kids pee everywhere and no one freaks out. Babies pee and poop...why NOT on the sidewalk?)
When you first get to China, you're probably going to get sick. I can't think of anyone in my group who didn't get sick, but we have doctors available 24/7 and they will ask you all kinds of questions about the quality and quantity of your poop and whether or not you see anything weird in the toilet bowl. After a while, you kind of get used to talking about these things. (Some more than others!)
I knew I had become pretty comfortable when I was handed a bag of medicine at our January training conference, just prior to my trip to Hainan Island. (Sidenote: before we went on vacation we had to submit an itinerary; the medical staff checked it to give us any special medications we might need before going to that area, like malarial drugs.) I was sitting with a bunch of my guy friends when I opened my bag, which included a box of Chinese brand vaginal yeast infection suppositories. I pulled it out to inspect more closely. "Um, why do I have this? Why did the medical office give me vaginal suppositories??" Now, usually the last thing a group of 20-something guys wants to discuss is vaginal suppositories, but they started firing questions at me:
"Let me see it...yup, that's what it is."
"Hmmm...DO you have a yeast infection?"
"Is there anything weird going on down there?"
"It includes a finger glove? Open it up, let's see it!"
"So THAT'S how you say 'vagina' in Mandarin!" (He was joking, he already knew!)
I wasn't embarrassed at all to be discussing what the medical office thought was possibly wrong with my vagina with a table full of guys I see on a regular basis. Thanks China, for giving me the gift of no shame.
(Endnote: my friend C., who is super awesome but lives in another province so I hardly ever got to see him, piped up with the correct answer: "Wait-- did they also give you malaria meds? You need the suppositories in case the malaria medicine gives you a yeast infection." C. was the hero that day!)
It also made me laugh when a good friend went home and literally the first thing she said to me when she got back was, "I have diarrhea." Only in Peace Corps...
Showing posts with label medicine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label medicine. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Dentistry Adventures
Next week I have to go to the dentist, so I thought you might like to hear about what that’s like.
The Peace Corps has a designated dentist we go to in Chengdu, the city where PC headquarters is located. They’ve verified her skills and credentials, materials and clean water supply, so that’s why we all have to go to her.
Here’s how the trip goes: I take the bus 1 1/2 hours to the train station in my city. (On a good day—one time it took 2 1/2 hours and I missed my train.) I take a two hour train to Chengdu (yay, high speed trains!). In Chengdu, I take a 45 minute bus from the train station to the university where Peace Corps offices are located. I walk 25 mins from the bus stop to the PC office, near the campus hotel where I check in to spend the night because I don’t have time to take the train back the same day. I walk 25 mins. back to the street, then take a 20 minute bus ride to the dental office. After my appt. is over, I have the evening to hang out in Chengdu. In the morning, I do all of that in reverse.
This is the kind of thing I mean when I say we only do one thing a day. It will take me almost two full days to see the dentist, and I’m lucky, I’m relatively close to Chengdu. Some volunteers have to travel for days for a dental appt.
In China, this is called “Incovenient.”
Last year I had to have a lymph node removed from my cheek, so I went to the University dental hospital. I was in a sparse room of about 50 chairs, no privacy at all. A doctor operated on me while another dentist held my mouth open with his fingers, because there was no tool to keep my cheek open. I was really hoping his fingers didn’t slip while that scalpel was in my mouth! Goodbye, tongue.
This was the best care I could receive there. The conditions shocked me, but for my part of China, it’s perfectly acceptable. And hey, my lymph node was removed and I’m fine, so it worked.
The Peace Corps has a designated dentist we go to in Chengdu, the city where PC headquarters is located. They’ve verified her skills and credentials, materials and clean water supply, so that’s why we all have to go to her.
Here’s how the trip goes: I take the bus 1 1/2 hours to the train station in my city. (On a good day—one time it took 2 1/2 hours and I missed my train.) I take a two hour train to Chengdu (yay, high speed trains!). In Chengdu, I take a 45 minute bus from the train station to the university where Peace Corps offices are located. I walk 25 mins from the bus stop to the PC office, near the campus hotel where I check in to spend the night because I don’t have time to take the train back the same day. I walk 25 mins. back to the street, then take a 20 minute bus ride to the dental office. After my appt. is over, I have the evening to hang out in Chengdu. In the morning, I do all of that in reverse.
This is the kind of thing I mean when I say we only do one thing a day. It will take me almost two full days to see the dentist, and I’m lucky, I’m relatively close to Chengdu. Some volunteers have to travel for days for a dental appt.
In China, this is called “Incovenient.”
Last year I had to have a lymph node removed from my cheek, so I went to the University dental hospital. I was in a sparse room of about 50 chairs, no privacy at all. A doctor operated on me while another dentist held my mouth open with his fingers, because there was no tool to keep my cheek open. I was really hoping his fingers didn’t slip while that scalpel was in my mouth! Goodbye, tongue.
This was the best care I could receive there. The conditions shocked me, but for my part of China, it’s perfectly acceptable. And hey, my lymph node was removed and I’m fine, so it worked.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Anxiety, and Being Honest With Yourself
This is difficult for me to write.
(My dad, before he died, was very open to sharing with others the lessons he learned from having cancer. He wanted people to not to feel alone. He was also a very good listener, and encouraged people to share with him things they didn't feel anyone else would understand. I'm trying to follow his example.)
Anxiety is a problem for me. From stories my mom told me about my childhood, it's something I've probably always had. I've struggled with it as long as I can remember, but I thought everyone did.
Some things that cause anxiety are easily forgotten. Anxiety sometimes resulted in achievement, due to panic, so I haven't always recognized it as a problem. Some things that cause anxiety are long-term, and not easily forgotten.
In the past, I've dealt with anxiety through medicine and self-medicating, not by addressing the anxiety itself. I don't think this is uncommon.
Just prior to arriving in China, I had an experience with another person that caused me a great deal of anxiety, both at the time and afterward. I self-medicated and used a lot of denial to try to deal with it. All of our continued contact made me anxious, both because of the past experience and the way things were between us now. The only way I knew to relieve myself of the overwhelming, at times unbearable, anxiety I felt was to stop contact. (I could not have articulated at that time, though, that I was feeling abnormal levels of anxiety. All I knew was how painful any thought or contact with him was.) I met someone here I trusted and confided in, and they recognized that the high levels of anxiety I experience are not healthy or normal and encouraged me to seek healthy ways to deal with anxiety. It has been a long and painful road, and it's not over yet, but I've been getting help with this. No more self-medication. No more denial. Instead, mental strategies and solutions, and ultimately, the confidence, to deal with it.
The most difficult thing was admitting I had anxiety I didn't know how to deal with. And have had for a very long time. I got really good at hiding it from others. I always thought of myself as very capable, so admitting it was like admitting a personal failing. But now I realize, it's an opportunity to be a stronger person. I still have moments of intense anxiety; I don't think those will ever go away. But I am learning to manage it in healthy ways, and making progress.
There is no shame in seeking help if you don't feel like you can deal with the things that happen to you. Whatever skills are missing, you can find and make a part of your life. I can't change the past, but I can have control of my future. I hope you know you can, too.
-----
Thinking and praying for the people of Haiti today. Wish there were a way for me to go help. Another tragedy, it's not fair some people suffer so much.
(My dad, before he died, was very open to sharing with others the lessons he learned from having cancer. He wanted people to not to feel alone. He was also a very good listener, and encouraged people to share with him things they didn't feel anyone else would understand. I'm trying to follow his example.)
Anxiety is a problem for me. From stories my mom told me about my childhood, it's something I've probably always had. I've struggled with it as long as I can remember, but I thought everyone did.
Some things that cause anxiety are easily forgotten. Anxiety sometimes resulted in achievement, due to panic, so I haven't always recognized it as a problem. Some things that cause anxiety are long-term, and not easily forgotten.
In the past, I've dealt with anxiety through medicine and self-medicating, not by addressing the anxiety itself. I don't think this is uncommon.
Just prior to arriving in China, I had an experience with another person that caused me a great deal of anxiety, both at the time and afterward. I self-medicated and used a lot of denial to try to deal with it. All of our continued contact made me anxious, both because of the past experience and the way things were between us now. The only way I knew to relieve myself of the overwhelming, at times unbearable, anxiety I felt was to stop contact. (I could not have articulated at that time, though, that I was feeling abnormal levels of anxiety. All I knew was how painful any thought or contact with him was.) I met someone here I trusted and confided in, and they recognized that the high levels of anxiety I experience are not healthy or normal and encouraged me to seek healthy ways to deal with anxiety. It has been a long and painful road, and it's not over yet, but I've been getting help with this. No more self-medication. No more denial. Instead, mental strategies and solutions, and ultimately, the confidence, to deal with it.
The most difficult thing was admitting I had anxiety I didn't know how to deal with. And have had for a very long time. I got really good at hiding it from others. I always thought of myself as very capable, so admitting it was like admitting a personal failing. But now I realize, it's an opportunity to be a stronger person. I still have moments of intense anxiety; I don't think those will ever go away. But I am learning to manage it in healthy ways, and making progress.
There is no shame in seeking help if you don't feel like you can deal with the things that happen to you. Whatever skills are missing, you can find and make a part of your life. I can't change the past, but I can have control of my future. I hope you know you can, too.
-----
Thinking and praying for the people of Haiti today. Wish there were a way for me to go help. Another tragedy, it's not fair some people suffer so much.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Train, Skin, Flu
I’m home from my visit to the other city to see the doctor. A few things:
1. The train was indeed fast (200 kph, or about 125 mph for you Imperialists), but not pressurized, so my ears popped about every 10 minutes. It’s like they get so close… There was a storm on the way home so it was a little easier because the barometric pressure had dropped. I know this courtesy of my 5th grade obsession with weather reports.
2. The skin appears to be non-melanomic. I was given some medicines to put on it twice a day and see what happens. If it doesn’t clear up, they’ll send some off to the lab. I kinda wish they had done that lab thing now, just to be safe, but I’m sure it’s fine.
3. While I was gone, I got a text message from someone at my school that 13 students had been quarantined for (possible or confirmed? No one has told me) H1N1 flu. What they didn’t say is that at least some of them had been quarantined downstairs from my apartment. For those who don’t know, I live in my university’s hotel. (Note: this not like living at the Marriott. Please interpret the word ‘hotel’ loosely*.) There are 3 wings, and I live in the 3rd, most remote, wing. Floors 1-3 are hotel rooms, and we have a separate locked staircase that leads to the 4th and 5th floor foreign teachers’ apartments. Turns out they are housing the quarantined students on the 1st floor. There’s a rope sectioning off our wing and masked, armed guards at the entrance. As of right now, no one is allowed in who doesn’t live there, so no guests for me for a while. So far, though, WE have not been quarantined, which is very good news. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
*My apartment is very nice, though, much nicer than I deserve. The school works hard to keep them nice for the foreign teachers.
1. The train was indeed fast (200 kph, or about 125 mph for you Imperialists), but not pressurized, so my ears popped about every 10 minutes. It’s like they get so close… There was a storm on the way home so it was a little easier because the barometric pressure had dropped. I know this courtesy of my 5th grade obsession with weather reports.
2. The skin appears to be non-melanomic. I was given some medicines to put on it twice a day and see what happens. If it doesn’t clear up, they’ll send some off to the lab. I kinda wish they had done that lab thing now, just to be safe, but I’m sure it’s fine.
3. While I was gone, I got a text message from someone at my school that 13 students had been quarantined for (possible or confirmed? No one has told me) H1N1 flu. What they didn’t say is that at least some of them had been quarantined downstairs from my apartment. For those who don’t know, I live in my university’s hotel. (Note: this not like living at the Marriott. Please interpret the word ‘hotel’ loosely*.) There are 3 wings, and I live in the 3rd, most remote, wing. Floors 1-3 are hotel rooms, and we have a separate locked staircase that leads to the 4th and 5th floor foreign teachers’ apartments. Turns out they are housing the quarantined students on the 1st floor. There’s a rope sectioning off our wing and masked, armed guards at the entrance. As of right now, no one is allowed in who doesn’t live there, so no guests for me for a while. So far, though, WE have not been quarantined, which is very good news. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
*My apartment is very nice, though, much nicer than I deserve. The school works hard to keep them nice for the foreign teachers.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Hot and Cold Foods
I've enjoyed learning how the Chinese believe food affects your health. Every food is categorized as hot or cold, and they believe you need to eat a balance of these foods in order to be healthy. (Not hot or cold by temperature, but by the effect the food has on your body.) When the seasons change, you should adjust what you eat so your body stays in balance. Hot and cold foods should be eaten in a certain order to take advantage of the the temperature effect on your body. For example, at Chinese banquets, someone knowledgeable about hot and cold dishes orders for everyone, and the dishes are served in a precise order. There is an art to how food is eaten here. I think it's pretty neat, so different from our "make it cheap and filling" food mentality in the West. (I also wonder if this is one reason people here are so thin? Perhaps they eat in a way that makes maximum use of their metabolism by keeping everything in balance. I have no idea, just a thought.)
They also believe humidity in the air can build up in your body and can cause poor health, so there are certain fruits you should eat to get rid of excess humidity. If you have skin rashes, it means you have too much heat and need cooling foods. Most meats are considered hot foods, which I think is very interesting because I always thought meat made my eczema worse. If this Chinese way of eating can be believed, I wasn't making it up when I thought being a vegetarian was more healthy for me personally, due to my propensity for eczema and skin rashes. Who knows? But it is interesting to learn about this part of the culture.
And for those that have never attended a Chinese banquet, here is a camera phone pic of our table after a banquet. Dishes get stacked on top of dishes.
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