"I'm In My Prime"
As might be remembered, back in January I tested "questionable" for tuberculosis. I had made arrangements with the doctors that after I arrived back from Europe I would stay in Kyiv for the necessary days to get retested, and if all went well, by Thursday I'd be on my way back to site to teach that Friday morning.
Sadly, that did not happen. In fact, I did test positive for this disease and hence was kept in sick bay for an extra night in order to obtain an x-ray of my lungs and to take a blood sample before putting me on the medication, which is to last no less than 270 days, or 9 months.
On that Friday, after getting my xrays done and talking to the doctor further about just what tb is and how it operates (only 5% of people who come into contact with the disease ever develop the fatal kind) and that it is not contagious, which I was asked numerous times by Volunteers in the office, I was unable to secure a train ticket home or anywhere in the vicinity of home or to my clustermate's site either. I was stuck in Kyiv.
The prospect of doling out an extravagent amount of money to spend the necessary two nights before being able to go home (no seats could be found until Sunday, as it is the Ukrainian spring holiday season--May Day and Victory Day falling within a week of each other, everyone and their babushka was heading out someplace more glorious than Kyiv) was even more devastating than the news of getting tb. Fortunately, I plead my case and was able to secure two nights at the hotel without worrying about the cash. Having a big red bump on my right forearm and a purplish-bluish-redish mark on my left didn't hurt either (one from the positive result, the other from the doctor extracting a blood sample).
From there I proceeded to visit my clustermate and a linkmate who also came down for the purpose of one last consumption party before consumption took it's hold on me. I made one of the most extravagent purchases here in Ukraine in the form of a 0.5 liter bottle of Malibu Rum and a 2 liter bottle of Coca-cola. Imported liquor is incredibly expensive here, so unless you want to drink anything but beer and vodka, it's pricey and tends to just sit on the shelf of your local grocery store or prodyctki, unless the occasion should arise.
I have already started taking the medication, and have rewatched the Hollywood Film "Tombstone" so that I could perfect just how someone inflicted with this disease should act and behave. Thankfully, just like at the turn of the 20th Century in the Western United States, Sanatoriums are still all the rage here in Ukraine, especially in Crimea. Perhaps I too can lay out in one all summer long, expecting visits from such prestigious guests like a former US Marshall. Or Sting. Or Bono.
In the meantime, I will attempt to fight lawlessness to the best of my ability, using my sharpshooter skills and sardonic wit.
Sadly, that did not happen. In fact, I did test positive for this disease and hence was kept in sick bay for an extra night in order to obtain an x-ray of my lungs and to take a blood sample before putting me on the medication, which is to last no less than 270 days, or 9 months.
On that Friday, after getting my xrays done and talking to the doctor further about just what tb is and how it operates (only 5% of people who come into contact with the disease ever develop the fatal kind) and that it is not contagious, which I was asked numerous times by Volunteers in the office, I was unable to secure a train ticket home or anywhere in the vicinity of home or to my clustermate's site either. I was stuck in Kyiv.
The prospect of doling out an extravagent amount of money to spend the necessary two nights before being able to go home (no seats could be found until Sunday, as it is the Ukrainian spring holiday season--May Day and Victory Day falling within a week of each other, everyone and their babushka was heading out someplace more glorious than Kyiv) was even more devastating than the news of getting tb. Fortunately, I plead my case and was able to secure two nights at the hotel without worrying about the cash. Having a big red bump on my right forearm and a purplish-bluish-redish mark on my left didn't hurt either (one from the positive result, the other from the doctor extracting a blood sample).
From there I proceeded to visit my clustermate and a linkmate who also came down for the purpose of one last consumption party before consumption took it's hold on me. I made one of the most extravagent purchases here in Ukraine in the form of a 0.5 liter bottle of Malibu Rum and a 2 liter bottle of Coca-cola. Imported liquor is incredibly expensive here, so unless you want to drink anything but beer and vodka, it's pricey and tends to just sit on the shelf of your local grocery store or prodyctki, unless the occasion should arise.
I have already started taking the medication, and have rewatched the Hollywood Film "Tombstone" so that I could perfect just how someone inflicted with this disease should act and behave. Thankfully, just like at the turn of the 20th Century in the Western United States, Sanatoriums are still all the rage here in Ukraine, especially in Crimea. Perhaps I too can lay out in one all summer long, expecting visits from such prestigious guests like a former US Marshall. Or Sting. Or Bono.
In the meantime, I will attempt to fight lawlessness to the best of my ability, using my sharpshooter skills and sardonic wit.
posted by Molly | 5:22 AM
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