Monday, October 27, 2014

Where did 2 months go?

Hi everyone,

First up I want to apologise for the lack of "activity". In some ways I'm not sure where the time went, and in other ways I know exactly where it went! Anyway, I have high hopes for more regular updates now that life is settling somewhat into a bit of Laotian normality.

Is that enough? Probably not. I can't imagine that an apology will satisfy your enquiring minds as to what exactly we have been up to over the past 2 months. So let me fill you in on few things.

In my last post (August 16th FYI) I was feeling good. Back from holidays in Phuket, refreshed from time with my sister showing her around, enjoying work after a needed break.

Enter morning sickness. Yep that's right. For those of you who don't already know via another means, I'm pregnant. Currently 18 weeks and counting. And about one week after my last post the dreaded ALL day sickness kicked in. To be more specific it was 4am sickness that carried on into the day, abated for a few hours and then kicked back in again at around 5pm. Anyway, its over now, lets not dwell. I only want to say that nausea is not helped when you leave your apartment and walk outside to the smells of BBQ chicken and squid at 8am!

Thankfully after a quiet couple of months of work and couch time I am back on my feet and can tolerate most of the smells that only an Asian country can throw at you! (Anyone who has been to Asia knows exactly what I am talking about)

The other weird thing about my position at the moment is antenatal care. I'm not entirely sure what the right word for it is but it seems somewhat hypocritical/ ironic that I spend my days teaching newborn care, and am actively involved in the newborn health action plan for Laos while at the same time I fly to Bangkok for my antenatal care. Yep. At least twice in this pregnancy I will fly to Bangkok to be seen and have my tests/ultrasounds that cannot be provided anywhere in Laos to a reasonable quality for Australian standards. Should I be just getting what everyone else here gets? Why am I any different? We are all people of the same world and as lucky and privileged as I feel, I also feel saddened that I have some kind of "golden ticket" when everyone else I work with misses out.

So I will continue to work hard over the next few months to do as much as I can for this country of incredibly kind and caring people. People who try to take my bag off me on ward rounds, offer me a seat everywhere we are at work, and have started bringing snacks like ice-cream and iced ovaltine to afternoon work meetings that they "couldn't possibly finish by themselves!"

And when I am back in Melbourne with my Western health care and state of the art delivery suite I will be thinking of my experiences here and counting myself lucky. In so many ways. Because U will also feel lucky for my experience here and the people I have met.

Melinda xx