Our first trip to the hospital

By Amy.

Well, I am thankful to report that today, Brad and I had our first hospital experience in this country, and it went better than anticipated. I think we've mentioned before that my back has been hurting me and that I have been having frequent headaches. In America when I would begin to have headaches or back pain, I'd hop into my chiropractor's office, get a quick adjustment and feel great again for another 3-5 weeks. Well, chiropractors are non-existent in our city (I think there are only a handful in our whole country.) A couple of weeks ago Brad met a local Dr. who studied medicine in America for a year or two. So, after emailing him last night, he called us today and arranged for Brad and me to come to his hospital to be seen by a friend of his that is a back doctor.

So, after quickly calling a friend to come watch our kids, Brad and I hopped in a taxi and headed to the hospital. (I did not want my first experience to be without Brad!) And, to be honest, we both were a little skeptical as to the effectiveness of the treatment I would receive.... But actually, I was pleasantly surprised. After asking me a host of questions (that Brad's English-speaking friend translated for me) he laid me on a table and began "massaging" me. And there was nothing relaxing about it... It hurt so badly that I couldn't hold back the tears. He claimed he was working on a "slipped disk." Ugghh! Whatever he was doing, it hurt!! He also did several "moves" on me that my chiropractor used to do. I've been pretty sore all day, but am hopeful that this will bring the relief I've been looking for. He wants to see me three or four more times. We'll see how it goes. He says that if this doesn't work we can try acupuncture....

About halfway through my treatment, he asked us if we have three kids. As we asked him how he knew that, it clicked.... This is the man, Michael, that sat behind Savannah when we went rode the train to the big city we visited almost two months ago. He still had a picture of Savannah on his cell phone that he later showed us. Talk about a small world!

**We celebrated Savannah's brithday yesterday and had a GREAT day. We'll tell you all about it with pictures soon!