Still on Vietnam Time !

We had been told that it would take 3 or 4 weeks to acclimate again to local time and thoroughly "process" the impact of our experiences in Vietnam. I did not believe them at the time but now I do.

We have been both battling the 18 hour time change, staying up later than normal, waking in the middle of the night and then wanting to "sleep in". Some might ask us...isn't that what you retired to be able to do. Well yeah, but not this way...this is different and it really interferes with my "social schedule". The other day when Gary was reminding me that I was due at water aerobics, I pulled my blanket over my head and said "I just called in sick".

We are also back into the trips to McMinnville with test after test to try and get Gary's back pain to heal up. On Monday they are doing a "bone scan" which will help the physical rehabilitation doctor to better target the next injection she is planning on doing into his lumbar region. She thinks if she can hit right at the source that she can improve his pain level considerably...hope she means decrease it! He has really been a "trooper" in dealing with this all.

Ever since the trip I have had "issues" with my ability to pass any solid food (and some times even water) through the small "stoma" created by my "adjustable" gastric band. They are supposed to be restrictive, but not this much. I have pinpointed the cause to be inflammation of my esophagus and throat by the nasty meds I had to take...and still am supposed to continue for a full month after our visit in Vietnam. It is Doxycycline and it prevents Malaria...now my choice is being able to drink fluids or the remote possibility of Malaria. My weight is again dropping nicely but it is still a bit scary.

Just when I start to feel "sorry" for myself and anything going on here...my recent memory takes me back to Vietnam.

• I can see the people, proud but very disadvantaged, living a very meager life.
• I see the man with leprosy who posed for me in the alley and cannot even imagine his pain and the conditions under which he lives.
• I picture the two small boys with spina bifida...a birth defect resulting from Agent Orange...they were born without a spine.
• I remember the tattered street kids as they shoveled in the simple plate of rice we placed before them. I can almost feel the surge of their excitement as we attempted to hold them back in line waiting to accept the meager gift bags we had prepared for them.
• I picture the smile on the face of the small child, naked from the waist down, sitting on the floor of a roughly constructed shack up on stilts...wearing a ball cap I had just put on his head.
• I try to imagine the weight of the loads the women carry to market (balanced on opposite ends of a bamboo pole) in an attempt to help support their families.

These people deal with the bugs, rodents, malaria, dysentery, etc, etc. all the time. I just did it for two weeks...two precious weeks that have truly changed my outlook on life.

I don't mean to sound like I am on a "soap box" or walking around like I have been struck by lightening but I just know I am different. My focus is much more outward. Even as we make plans to do some traveling around the United States, I am continually searching for ways to help others as we do it. I hope the new HIPPA laws do not prevent me from visiting veterans homes for the elderly. I want to see if there is a niche there for my big heart.

All of life is an adventure,

Embrace it, Enjoy it, Appreciate it and Share the Love

Linda