Just before Eric left for work this morning I realized a few things:

1. It was Friday.
2. My head still hurt.
3. I had taken all but 2 of the Imitrex I had been prescribed.
4. The TMC would be closed over the weekend & for the Lunar New Year on Monday.
5. And if I was to survive the long weekend, I had to get those meds refilled.

TMC – Troop Medical Center: The on-base doctor’s office / pharmacy / lab / after-hours clinic.

Lunar New Year: The traditional day to celebrate a new year in Korea. It’s a family-focused holiday – not just for the living, but for their last four generations as well which are thought to still be on earth after their death.

So I sent Eric off with a copy of my ID card (a requirement for someone else picking-up your meds) & went back to bed.

Around lunch-time I got a call from Eric saying the pharmacy would not refill the Imitrex because I had been given a 15 day supply just 2 days ago.

I looked back at the pack I had been given – 9 pills.

(Hmm…not really sure how 9 pills are a 15 day supply.)

But the long & short of the story is that my wonderful, kind & caring neighbor, Cynthia, took me to the urgent care clinic.

I got to see Dr. I’m-in-a-Hurry again (although this time he was very nice – must’ve caught him on a bad day back in November) and as usual played  the part of human pin-cushion for fresh-faced Privates & the crusty-old Korean nurse as well.

Since all my symptoms scream ‘classic migraine’, I’ve not been given any tests – no blood work, no MRI.

Just the typical “let’s-see-how-this-does” round of ever-increasing levels of pain medication.

So today I got the cocktail – benadryl, toradyl…and a couple of other dyl’s I can’t remember…along with a new prescription for the next level up & orders to come back Wednesday to see the flight doc.

(They weren’t happy with my blood pressure.)

But then again, I wasn’t so happy that the cocktail didn’t really work as prescribed – it only lessened the pain….making me pretty dizzy & sleepy.

So as I walked out the door to their goodbyes of ‘I’m so sorry we can’t do more’…remembering how they all fervently promised that the cocktail would “immediately take effect” & “make me feel better”…I kept hearing Inigo in my head:

‘You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.’

A FAVOR TO ASK: Cynthia gave up a day with her husband…who’s been working mad hours & will soon be going off on his own month-long-away-from-home duty…to trek me to the TMC, scold me in true best-friend fashion for both not going in sooner & calling her earlier, cleaned my kitchen & brought me supper.

Would you please stop by her blog, Tribe of Stinson, and say hello & thank you for me?

*ADDED 2/13* – You can also email her at cynthia [at] tribeofstinson [dot] com. (Spelling it out this way keeps the email spammers away – just be sure to be the @ & ‘.’ back in there.)

Like me she’s somewhat new to Korea, still trying to adjust to life here, trying to find her blog voice & wonders if there’s anyone out there listening….you could help me repay the unending kindness she’s shown me.

Thanks so much!

I’m off to bed.