Doctor, Doctor, Give me the news

Given how frequently we seem to arrive at the Brighton Family Health Team it is remarkable to me that today marks the first time that we have had to seek medical attention. Even more remarkable is it is for Owen and not Aiden!

Owen had a mosquito bite on his hand which he scratched and scratched. I didn't think much of it, my legs look like I have chicken pox from all the bites and subsequent itching. Sadly Owen has inherited the yummy taste to mosquitos, and a low tolerance to bites, from me. Last week I noticed the bite  was looking more like a wound and less like a mosquito bite. At the same time he developed a raspy cough.

Right now the cashew nut tree is in bloom and it drops these amazing pink blooms everywhere, so I thought Owen must just be sensitive to it and thus is coughing  from allergies. However by Thursday the bite had tripled in size and now there was another lesion on his nose and on his elbow. I emailed the Cuso doctor in Canada for advice, he advised we get to a clinic.

Linda, a fellow Cuso volunteer, had been to a doctor here, so we called her for advice. The doctor she had been to also happened to be a pediatrician, so at 8:15 a.m. Brent and Aiden headed out to see Dr. Lowe. The clinic is maybe a 10 minute drive away, so they were the first ones there. Initially I was told (by the secretary) it opened at 8:30, and when they arrived they found a sign that said 8:30 and another that said 8:45. Neither was right it opened at 9:00. They were in and out within 30 minutes and a text home to find out what Owen's asthma inhaler contained.

Diagnosis. Impetigo. So a vigorous hand washing and sanitation campaign has been started! We have antibiotics and a cream for Owen. The doctors visit $80 XCD and the medications $90XCD. Which by Canadian standards is very inexpensive (less than $100 Canadian) but if you consider my salary is around $1200 XCD and my Hydro bill was $330 XCD you would quickly realize even this modest expense would be difficult to afford for many Grenadians.

Brent was really sweet and asked the pharmacist about my Chickungunya- it is really bad right now, with stairs being almost impossible to manage. It requires a shuffle to the edge and then I can ease my left leg down followed by the right. My colleagues were quite concerned about me Friday, but not so concerned that they couldn't poke a little fun too! Brother Saul was counting the stairs for me! But now I  have some over the counter medication  to try to relieve the joint pain so hopefully I can face stairs with confidence soon!

Here's hoping everyone will be better by the time my mom arrives in 9 days!

Surprise- Penguins in Grenada!

Tonight we went to see The Penguins of Madagascar with the boys, a real treat.

There is one movie theatre for the whole country located about 15 minutes from our home by car. It was even in 3D!!

There were lots of little ones with moms and dads. At the very opening of the movie (don't worry I won't give anything away) it starts with snow falling and swirling. The little guy beside us literally jumped out of his seat yelling "SNOW! Mom snow!" It was so beautiful. 

Wonder is a characteristic that is most associated with children and it is an absolute shame that we lose this wonder.  Wonder is defined as "a feeling of surprise mingled with admiration, caused by something beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar, or inexplicable." We live in a world where too often we utter the phrase "Well nothing surprises me anymore." or "hardly a surprise". If we just reflect on this for a moment we will realize how disturbing this is.

In Grenada it is really easy to be filled with wonder. The sound of the rain coming pouring over the mountain as it progresses towards our home is beautiful (and helpful, if you are lucky you can pull clothes off the line). The rainbows everywhere make you feel like you are in a painting. The colours of the ocean and the roll of the waves are mesmerizing.

I know when I go to work in Canada I catch this feeling when I stop to watch a plane taking off, to me it is awesome, breathtaking and beautiful. It has purpose, drive and a destination. Then I go inside and find no beauty there, little sense of purpose, drive or a destination. But it is there, it just doesn't go zooming by me.

When I get back to Canada I need to remind myself to find wonder and if I can't find it, make it. If you find it lacking too look for surprises, something beautiful, unfamiliar. These things are all around us, we just need to reconnect with them.