Day 10, Yoga School, Rishikesh, India, February 12, 2023

Sunday is our only day off and I enjoyed every minute of it. I had hoped to sleep in but I was awakened at 4:20 by a bad/good dream. I was in a golf tournament and waiting for my group to arrive. Meanwhile, I was called into an office for a telephone call and all of a sudden I was in India. It was my mom on the phone, very frazzled. She was a bit incoherent and crying and obviously upset. She was trying to tell me something about dad and all I could think was that he had died and then all of a sudden I heard his voice in the background. What mom was trying to tell me was that dad had stumbled and found a lottery ticket under his chair and they had won 10 million dollars!  I did not get back to sleep after that!

I had a leisurely morning, washed some clothes and then decided to go to the hospital. I have had a small bulge above my navel since the middle of December. Dr. Google tells me it’s a hernia and I think I got it from chronic coughing at that time. It hasn’t hurt or bothered me much except sometimes I feel bloated. This week however I have felt a burning sensation around the bulge and I have had a lot of diarrhea. I am keeping it at bay with Imodium and don’t know if it’s part of the hernia or what or if I’ve just had it with the food.  Come to think of it,  I haven’t taken Imodium for 30 hours.  Anyway, I decided to get it checked out.

Walking to the main street to find a tuqtuq, I walked very closely by a young heifer who had about two inch horns. I did not see she had a young calf beside her and she butted me! She knocked the phone right out of my back pocket but luckily she didn’t hurt me. Cows are everywhere and sometimes it’s hard to avoid them but she was just protecting her calf. I’m going to make a wide detour around cattle from now on, that’s for sure!

Nirmal Ashram Hospital is about 4 km away and fairly modern looking. I had to register and pay $1.33 to see an emergency doctor. I walked into room 21 which had four occupied beds and many people milling about. As I waited, the room practically emptied. The doctor had me lie on a bed and he pressed on my stomach and agreed that it was a hernia but he suggested I come back tomorrow morning at 9 AM for an ultrasound. He wrote “cancelled” on my registration sheet and my $1.33 was refunded. I contacted my insurance to make sure I am doing things properly and will go back to the hospital tomorrow for the ultrasound. I’m a bit torn because I only have another six weeks until I go home and I would really like to complete this trip but at the same time I don’t want to endanger myself. I will wait to see what the ultrasound shows.

On my way home, we crossed a dry river bed-

There was a lot of traffic and going was slow.  I don’t know if that’s a typical Sunday in the neighbourhood or if it was because it was a beautiful day.  I found a Burger King but it only served chicken and veg sandwiches so instead I ate chicken momos which are dumplings and very delicious at a nearby Thai place. I spent the afternoon lounging in my room, reading, playing scrabble and drinking coffee.

I’ve had a good day and I’m hoping for an excellent sleep so I can face the gruelling week ahead.