After 9 months in Korea, some things have become second nature.

Like bowing anytime I say hello or thank you, thinking of dollar amounts in won instead of US dollars and listening harder to conversations because understanding broken English can be difficult.

But Friday, I was caught off guard.

I made a phone call to 121 (pronounced one-two-one) - the hospital unit up at Yongsan in Seoul.

Expecting to hear a Korean voice on the other end, I suddenly heard a lilting Texas drawl,

“Radee-awlogee – Gewd afternewn, ser or ma’aaaam, how maih I help yew?”

And I was home.

Military voices are a hodge-podge of north, south, east & west…with hints of Spanish, German & Hangul thrown in here & there. So I don’t hear too many Texas accents anymore.

Shoot, I even gave mine up years ago in an attempt to crawl up the corporate ladder. But when I’m really tired, my drawl will come back out.

[And people never fail to point it out.]

But It’s amazing what a friendly voice can do – my shoulders relaxed first, then my eyes teared up.

I didn’t have to listen extra hard to understand what she was saying. I didn’t have to speak slow & clear to make sure I would be understood in return.

And with those realizations, came the next…

Life here is hard. You work hard at it everyday & over time you just stop recognizing how much harder you work at everything.

It just becomes second nature to do the extra work.

So there I was on the phone, near tears, talking to a woman who sounded like my Aunt Terri…and suddenly I wasn’t quite so scared to be asking for an appointment to get an MRI.

AN UPDATE

Yes – my head still hurts. And for those who’ve been asking me about what’s going on, here’s the current run-down:

• My head began hurting Feb. 2nd….yes, 20 days ago.
• Burning, piercing, pounding, constant never-ending pain.
• All my symptoms point towards a classic runaway migraine, except for the fact that it’s been 20 days.
• I’ve been to the medical clinic on base twice, been to the urgent care clinic once.
• I’ve seen three separate doctors.
• I’ve been prescribed increasing levels of pain meds – none of which work.
• I’ve been hooked-up to an IV migraine cocktail – which didn’t work.
• My blood pressure has been hovering around 150/108 with a 109 pulse rate.
• This last doc debated whether or not to hospitalize me on the spot.
• Instead he had blood drawn, put in “asap” referrals for an MRI & Neurology consult and presribed me hospital-grade pain meds…all of 6 pills.

That was Wednesday of last week.

I had to wait two days for the referrals to be in the system to try to make the appointments & when I got a hold of Neurology first, the detached voice on the other end of the phone informed me I couldn’t been seen until March 23rd – more than 28 days away. But suggested I call back Tuesday to see if there was a cancellation for me to get in earlier.

Which brings me back to the woman at Radiology.

While it was a great comfort to talk with her, their schedule couldn’t get me in until March 15th – even though the referrals say “asap”.

As she went to book it, I heard her say, “Oh no….I’m so sorry.”

And while I can’t tell you why she couldn’t book it – an OPSEC issue- I can tell you she essentially penciled me in & told me to call back Tuesday as well.

That would be tomorrow.

OPSEC – Operation Security: A blanket Army term that essentially means ‘loose lips sink ships’. The old WWII saying meant to keep family & friends from unintentionally giving away key information about military operations. Something we have to be extra careful about here.

So if I could ask a favor…

I really need to get in sooner than next month & if you would keep my in your thoughts & prayers, I would appreciate it.