Day 11, Yoga School, Rishikesh, India, February 13, 2023

I had a terrible sleep and was awake an hour before my alarm so it’s been a very tiring day. I went to yoga from 5:30 until 7:00 and meditation from 7:30 until 8:00,  then took a tuqtuq to the hospital for an ultrasound. What a gong show!

I stood in line 30 minutes to get registered and pay $.85. People cut into the line continuously. I went back to room 21 and explained that I was there for an ultrasound. It was a different doctor so I was directed across the hall to room 18 to the surgeon. He didn’t get to his office until 9:30 and by then the waiting room was packed-

Once the receptionist moved into the hallway, people mobbed him trying to give him their form. He put them in the order he received them and that was the order of seeing him.  Once collected, he called us one by one, took our blood pressure, then numbered the form and that’s the order in which we saw the surgeon. 

I’ve finally remembered to take a picture of a typical lock on a door-

Once in the doctor’s office-

he felt my stomach and confirmed I had a hernia but I still needed to have an ultrasound. I went to counter number two and paid $12.90, then proceeded to the radiology area-

It was a zoo too and I waited about an hour to get in for my five minute appointment. There is no privacy – I was called into the small room while another woman was lying on the bed with her belly exposed and she no sooner was up that I was told to lie on the same bed. A woman did a quick scan and I was sent back to the waiting room. After about five minutes I received my ultrasound photos and report which I took back to the surgeon. By this time it was 12 o’clock but the surgeon had been called out to do a couple surgeries but would hopefully be back in an hour.  So I waited and people watched-

There was lots going on-

She crawled in-

Finally at 2:30 he arrived and everybody pushed towards his office door just like a first come first serve event.  After about 20 minutes it was my turn and he confirmed that yes I have a hernia, that I need surgery as soon as possible and that I should no longer do any yoga.  There is potential to get a kink in the area and that could cause gangrene and a bigger problem. I had no idea a hernia was dangerous as I have had this since Christmas time and just carried on with life as normal but after Saturday’s ashtanga yoga class it started to hurt and I thought I better get it looked at.

I have sent all my forms to insurance and now I wait. I hope CAA is as good as World Nomads. I also hope I hear soon and that they agree to send me home for the surgery. I do not want to have it in India because afterwards, I can’t lift anything for a while and how will I move with my backpack?  I guess I could lounge around in my room here at the school until 27 February.  It isn’t that I don’t trust the doctors here, I just would feel better being at home if I have to have surgery.

It is disappointing because it means I will miss Cambodia and Laos AGAIN!, I will be home for a longer part of the winter and I need surgery. That’s not fun.