Ocean of Morality
  • Blog
  • Family
  • Relatives
  • Countries
  • Gallery
  • Guestbook

Drip, drip...

22/12/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
JD finishes a three day course of IV drips today. After a fever earlier this week, we took him to hospital for a blood test. That indicated a very elevated white cell count, and the doctor strongly advised an intravenous antibiotic drip. JD has been in fairly good spirits since then, mostly at the thought of three days off school. We are hoping he will be OK to return to his class tomorrow as he has important end-of-term exams next week.
0 Comments

Flashback: This day in ...2006

26/10/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
Another in my occasional series of "Flashbacks" looking back at blog entries made before this Weebly version started.

My trip to the VSO Conference in Beijing started smoothly enough with a 3 hour car ride to Simao shared with teacher Li (man), teacher Li (woman, no relation) and Ms Wu (very recently promoted to the Local Education Bureau). After a night there, we flew (45mins) to Kunming and met Sun Kang, a leader from the Provincial Education Bureau. He speaks great English and in conversation gave examples of how unlucky he’d been on recent trips (in Indonesia for the tsunami, in Vietnam during riots, in Thailand for the coup, etc). His jinx continued as our flight to Beijing was delayed by 1.. 2.. 3.. and finally 4 hours. At the airport we took an hour to find a taxi which then ran into a midnight traffic jam(?) and took another 2 hours to get us to our hotel. We finally arrived at 2am to find our rooms had been double-booked. And then I tripped and broke my ankle...!
Picture
At first I thought I had just sprained my ankle and continued to limp around for the three days of the conference. My talk on the first day went OK, and I learned a lot from the other talks (although some Chinese speakers were rambling a bit and, filtered through a translator, it often made it quite hard to follow ...and I was taking minutes). On the last day, VSO suggested it might be wise to see a doctor while I was in Beijing. He x-rayed the ankle as a formality though he suspected a sprain. But the x-ray came back showing a fracture, so on went the plaster! Crutches in tow I managed to get through the two flights and a 3 hour car ride back to JiangCheng, hopping up the 86 steps to my flat. I’ve been confined to quarters for at least this week - very frustrating when I had planned to finally launch my training here. Teams of Education Bureau colleagues are bringing me food, clean washing, bottles of water etc. So I’m trying to put my independent nature aside and allow myself to be “cared for” and “fussed over”!
Picture
0 Comments

Luck of the gods?

4/8/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
A really mixed day today. Jiajia, JD and I visited the Bamboo Temple with a friend of ours - Du Laoshi - a 40 minute drive up a mountain on the outskirts of Kunming. We had a good look around, including the famous 500 detailed statues of monks in various poses there. Then  we joined the monks and worshippers for a vegetarian lunch.
Picture
Afterwards, we decided to walk on to a park. But after five minutes, JD suddenly decided to run across the road, getting hit by an SUV!
Picture
​Thankfully, JD only suffered scratches and bruises and was keen to keep on. The rest of us, including the driver, were a lot more shocked, and we decided to head back to the temple and the car. JD said the gods kept him safe because he'd donated a few yuan to them in the temple. I'm wondering whether they arranged the crash because of the meagre cash amount
But, after a rest and a thorough check-up, we did drive on to the park and JD enjoyed a few hours of fishing (including catching a 20cm long shrimp and nearly catching a yellow garter snake). 
Picture
Picture
After returning to Kunming, we found a car wash for which Jiajia had a free ticket, and enjoyed a large dumping meal while the car was cleaned inside and out. A day of ups, downs, acrosses, insides and outs.
0 Comments

Cut and dried

22/7/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
Well my cataract operation is all done. No pain exactly, but more uncomfortable than I'd been led to believe. I stayed overnight in the hospital afterwards but I was up and about this morning. The staff were really good - professional and caring - and they asked for a group photo before I left as I was the first foreigner they had treated. My wife was a star too, braving heavy rains to translate for me and bring me food! Two weeks of "20 eye drops a day" now, plus I'll need new glasses!
Picture
0 Comments

Eye eye

20/7/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
I spent 9 hours doing various tests today in preparation for a cataract operation tomorrow. 8 eye tests, blood test, blood pressure test, ECG, chest X-ray, you name it! Jiajia was really helpful and patient as usual but it was a tiring process. The operation is tomorrow morning.
0 Comments

Lay in? No, inlay!

6/7/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
I've had four dental visits over the last three weeks - two fillings, an x-ray, a clean and two "inlays" - a procedure in which a scanner builds a 3D model of your teeth [see below] in order to 3D print a small but precise resin shape that fits exactly into a gap between the teeth - a gap which apparently has been attracting decay! Not cheap or quick, but state-of-the-art. JD had a check-up too, but no problems for him!

Picture
0 Comments

Eye don't know

30/4/2021

2 Comments

 
Picture
Dilated eyes, making it very hard to ride home on an e-bike in bright sunshine!
I've been noticing my left eye getting more and more blurry over recent months. Then last week I had a half hour with quite limited vision in the eye except for a floating zig-zig shape!? So Jiajia and I went to a hospital last week to see a recommended eye doctor. I was given a battery of tests and finally told that my left eye had got significantly worse from 7.0 degree to 15.0 degrees over the last two years! But they couldn't say why - just old age - and had no suggestions for improving it or avoiding further deterioration.
Picture
Picture
So the next day we went to a different hospital and another recommended eye doctor. He looked at the previous scans and did a couple more tests before declaring that my left eye has a sizeable cataract and needs an operation sometime in the next few months. Jiajia and I felt this sounded like a more believable diagnosis but we are now left wondering why the first hospital had such a different conclusion. Meanwhile, I'm left with some blurred vision and the odd headache.
2 Comments

Viral spiral

2/2/2020

0 Comments

 
COVID19 continues to spread through China (and some other parts of the world). Being in Kunming, we are quite far from the worst areas, but we still wear masks outside, have to go hunting for markets selling vegetables, and make do without buses, parks and the subway.
Picture
If I'm honest, I think the dangers are being over-exaggerated in our neck of the woods. So far, there have been 70 infected people in our Province of 46,000,000, so the chances of bumping into someone carrying the virus are incredibly small, let alone getting close enough to them to actually catch the infection. But science and facts often take second place to fear and rumors, especially here it seems,
0 Comments

Needs mask

26/1/2020

1 Comment

 
Picture
We flew back to China late today. The recent Coronavirus infection is spreading quickly and we had our masks ready as we arrived (as did all the other passengers). Our Province is far from the origin of the outbreak but that hasn't stopped the locals here panicking:  supermarkets have been stripped of food, parks are closed, roads are empty and we are getting strident, but largely pointless, texts from JD's school and my University (eg "..if your throat feels dry, drink some water..."!!)
1 Comment

For crying out loud

10/10/2019

1 Comment

 
This little fellow has been causing me a lot of grief over the last month or so. I've never quite known what it is in China that gives me allergic reactions at this time of year but, after a tip-off, it seems "ragweed" is probably the culprit. It's common in Kunming (ü
​), its sprays pollen out every Sep/Oct (tick) and it causes tears, repeated sneezing and sore throats in those affected (tick).
Picture
So if you see tears running down my face as I say goodbye to JD at school each morning, it's not sadness. If you hear me shrieking as I wake up it doesn't mean I've had a bad dream. And if you spot me swallowing hard before talking to my class, it's not a sign of nerves! It's blummin' ragweed!
1 Comment

Tum fun

16/1/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
JD was sent home from school last Friday with a temperature (and an official form telling us he was seriously overweight!?). His fever continued over the weekend but his main complaint was stomach pains. He  had a poor appetite too but no other symptoms. By Sunday the fever had gone, but he had started a cough and was still saying his tummy hurt. The cough is now less, but he is still not eating well and gets very sleepy for no real reason.

Picture
So we took him to the hospital yesterday to get him checked out. After an ultrasound and a blood test the first doctor we saw diagnosed him as having, "an infection and bubbles in the stomach" while the second doctor said, "no infection and mild constipation". So we're still none the wiser, to be honest...!

0 Comments

Wig awaiting wellness

12/1/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
Ma-in-law has been weeping and screaming this last week, "unable to get out of her bed" due to a bad back. I've made multiple trips across town to her 7th floor flat in response to phone calls requesting, "a glass of water from the kitchen" or "help to walk to the toilet" etc. She seems somewhat improved now since Jiajia returned from her business trip and a couple of her friends visited and gave her some attention. I'm sure she has some pain but Jiajia and I are both convinced she makes the most of it. There are clues such as the medicine she says she has been taking being on the table in the living room (how does she take that if she can't leave her bed) and signs of cooking in the kitchen. My five-year diary shows this is the third year running she's "gone ill" at this exact time, perhaps knowing that I am off work (term is over) and Jijaia is away. Suspicious timing!

0 Comments

Sea fire of my mind

6/4/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
I've had my very own "Sea fire of my mind" the last few days, with a fever, headache, sore throat, stomach upset and extreme fatigue. I've slept for 32 of the last 38 hours. My "Green Body" is not well!
0 Comments

Cathy come home

14/4/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Lovely to meet up with Cathy yesterday, a friend for about ten years since I moved to Kunming. She and her boyfriend were up in Kunming for some paperwork business and came to the house here for lunch and a chat. Cathy lives in JingHong, a 45 minute flight away, in the sub-tropical south of Yunnan, where she runs an English language school called "Cool School" (my original suggestion for a name). JD enjoyed playing with her, despite him still suffering with a week-long cough and sore throat.

0 Comments

Catarrh

12/4/2017

1 Comment

 
Picture
JD has been off school all this week with a nasty cough and occasional fever. It caused particular problems on Monday with Ava in Shenzhen and Mother-in-law in ChengGong, leaving me to look after him, despite having four university lessons, to teach. Thankfully, I was able to postpone the lessons even though it causes the University staff ridiculous amounts of paperwork. It is the first time I have missed a class in two years there, so they understood. Ma-in-law was back on Tuesday, allowing me to do my normal lessons, and Ava flies back today which means I can complete the catch-up classes. JD meanwhile seems full of energy even though his cough shows no sign of improvement.

1 Comment

Off for a cough

16/1/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
JD's been coughing for nearly 3 weeks now and so, after a particularly bad day earlier this week, we kept him off school and took him for yet another visit to the hospital. After a blood test, he was diagnosed as having a "mycoplasma bacterial infection" which requires two weeks of anti-biotics. So he's been at home for most of this week, which put a stop any of my personal work/play plans! Fortunately (I think?), his cough hasn't affected his energy levels, so we've been able to go out and play, visit a museum, go to a park, catch a local train, go on shopping trips, etc. And he's shown a fast improvement since going on the meds, so h0pefully he's back to school next week.

0 Comments

Go out? No, gout

27/7/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
I finished my final full term at Robert's School last Saturday, teaching for 8 hours in my socks. Yes, after over a year without any problems, my gout unexpectedly flared up on Saturday morning, leaving my right foot red and swollen. As ever, I've no clue  why it has returned. I downed a lot of medicine to keep me going and, two days on, the swelling is down and I can walk again without hobbling. However, this morning I woke up feeling really dizzy - something I've not experienced for 2-3 years now. I'm hoping it's not related to my blood pressure as it was before. I'm thinking it might be the result of carrying JD around Green Lake on my shoulders yesterday. Maybe I trapped a nerve or something? I just hope it passes soon as I was really looking forward to getting some exercise done this holiday, and running/skipping with a swollen foot or while the world is spinning before your eyes isn't such a good idea. Fingers crossed.

0 Comments

22 and counting...

13/5/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Monster of a word, spotted at the hospital this week!
0 Comments

So pain, no gain

11/5/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
It's my fifth weekly visit to the hospital for the "shockwave" treatment on my elbow. Regular readers may recall that each visit entails receiving 3000+ ultrasonic shocks to my right arm, of the kind usually used to pulverise kidney stones. It takes place in the aptly named, "Pain Clinic". The idea is that the blood vessels regrow stronger, eventually overcoming my aching "tennis elbow". So far, no real improvement, to be honest. But this is the last session before a 2 month rest to allow for some healing. Then, the doctor says, maybe more treatments will be necessary.
0 Comments

Sitting on defense

9/5/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
These posters have gone up around town, advertising the "Kunming Defense Hospital". At first I thought it was a military hospital (though a very small one, from the photo), but the name apparently comes from a poor translation of the road where it is located - "Defense Road". For me it is still something of an oddity that hospitals in China feel the need to advertise to attract patients!
0 Comments

Relative pain

13/4/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Back to the hospital this morning. JD had a simple, but painful, procedure on his "jiji" (as they call it in China!), and I had the first of four treatments on a new hospital machine which, they assure me, will cure my tennis elbow in four visits. After two unsuccessful years of trying other treatments, I can only hope. I was told its English name is a "non-invasive rectilinear ballistic extrinsic shockwave machine"(!). It's similar to the ones they use to pulverise kidney stones. It is supposed to gradually induce blood vessel growth. All I know is it was jolly painful at times though not, I suspect, as painful as poor JD's visit!

0 Comments

Who nose?

23/1/2015

 
Picture
Jiajia's been suffering from a hacking cough for over three months now and, despite two CAT scans and two courses of antibiotics, it remains as bad as ever. We went to another hospital yesterday for more tests - asthma and allergies this time, hence the amusing nose and mouth appendages! We returned for the results this morning, and a junior doctor said she thought it was a sore throat!? The expert doctor we had hoped to see (a friend of a customer, of course) was in a  meeting. So back again this afternoon to see him and find out if it shows anything. As Jiajia said on the drive home "I don't think the doctors have a clue". I tend to agree.

P.S. Jiajia's been diagnosed with tuberculosis. That's put the cat amongst the pigeons in all sorts of ways. Watch this space!

The tooth finally comes out

17/1/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
It was just last week that Jiajia told me she'd had toothache for a week or so and was finally ready to see a dentist (she hates dentists and never gets check-ups). Then, the next day, she was chewing on a prune when three teeth suddenly fell out! Yes, three! And none was the one causing pain. Unknown to me, my wife  has a row of false teeth and so the following day we went to the dentist (a customer of hers, naturally, so free treatment!) to have the teeth refitted and a filling put in the painful one. Later, I asked her how she came to lose three teeth at once but she claimed not to remember! Hmmm. Biting off a beer bottle top perhaps or losing a punch-up? My wife is a woman of mystery.

0 Comments

KongLong

3/11/2014

0 Comments

 
"KongLong" - just one of the many words JD has learned to say in the last week or two ...."dinosaur"! He also surprised me the other day by saying "dao" when he saw a knife - not sure who taught him that. He can also say, "digger", "bulldozer", "crane", "mixer" ...guess where his interests lie! Then, when I suggested to our Nanny in Chinese yesterday that JD might like some "xiangjiao", JD immediately jumped up and shouted, "banana!". That's the first time he's clearly "translated" one language to another.
Picture
For those following the family's health situation, basically we've all got hacking coughs; JD, Nanny, Ma, Ava and I. Mine is the remnants of pneumonia, while everyone else's is apparently a regular (if very tiring) cough. That's not stopped all the women downing antibiotics though. They are wildly overused here - bought over the counter and taken (seldom a full course) for any slight cough or cold. Highly inappropriate but, try as I might, they will not be convinced.
0 Comments

Hallo'ween? Goodbye'een!

31/10/2014

4 Comments

 
Picture
The cough and cold I had last week didn't improve and a CT scan a few days ago confirmed a diagnosis of pneumonia. So I'm currently on a course of antibiotics. And they're not cheap! £7.50 for a box that looks fairly substantial but only contains three tiny tablets. I need to take nine! The timing is really annoying too, with Halloween weekend being the busiest of our school year. I usually give it 100%, dressing up, screaming and shouting in the corridors and scaring the pants off all the students. I've already prepared my outfit and lessons for this year, but I'm starting to realise I won't be able to go in (and my students will miss all the fun). I still have a hacking cough and I'm getting exhausted after climbing a flight of stairs or standing up for too long. Really frustrating, but I think I need to go with head over heart. It's an infection that kills 4 million people a year around the world, after all!

4 Comments
<<Previous
    paul hider

    Author

    Paul Hider lives and works in Kunming (SW China) and regularly updates this blog about his life there.

    Past blog entries

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009

    Tags

    All
    April Fool
    Basketball
    Birthday
    Blog
    CAL
    Car
    Cataract
    Cemetery
    China
    Chinglish
    Chippenham
    ChongQing
    Christmas
    Competition
    Construction
    Cooking
    Cop15
    Countryside
    COVID
    Dali
    Dancing Lady
    Dave & Esme
    Den
    Dentist
    Disaster
    DnD
    Dorta
    Druncle
    Earthquake
    Ebike
    Education
    Everton
    Exams
    Exercise
    Family
    Film
    Fishing
    Flashback
    Food
    Forest
    Fossils
    Friends
    Furniture
    Games
    Gardening
    Geese
    Gym
    Halloween
    Hamsters
    Health
    Heijing
    Holiday
    Home
    Homework
    IELTS
    IKEA
    Illusion
    JD
    Jiajia
    Kindergarten
    Kunming
    Language
    Laos
    Lattitude
    Leaf
    Lego
    Lexulous
    London
    Ma
    Mandarin
    Merton
    Minority
    Molly
    Mountain
    Movie
    Museum
    Nancy & Family
    Nanny
    Neighbourhood
    New Flat
    Olympics
    Painting
    Parents
    Park
    Party
    Paul & Crystal
    Pets
    Podcast
    Police
    Pregnancy
    Primary School
    Private Tuition
    Random Travel
    Relatives
    Renovation
    R.I.P.
    R.S.L.
    Running
    Schools
    Shenzhen
    Shopping
    Ski
    Sport
    Spring Festival
    Sri Lanka
    Swimming
    Temple
    TESOL
    Thailand
    Theme Park
    Traffic
    Training
    Transport
    Travel
    TV
    UFO
    UK
    University
    Vietnam
    Violence
    Visit
    VSO
    Water
    Weather
    Wedding
    Wildlife
    World Cup
    Xishuangbanna
    YUFE
    Yunnan
    Zoo
    Zoom

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.