Two nights ago, Jumong (an ex-Everest guide, who now works as the travel agent for The Mountain Fund) came to our door, offering a good deal on a flight that goes to Everest. Two other girls, Kelda and Anne, and I immediately bought our tickets, and the next morning at 6 am, were sitting with Jumong in a tiny taxi headed towards the airport.
After numerous body searches, we boarded a tiny airplane with 15 other passengers (not one of them white), and took off. Five minutes later, we came out above the clouds and immediately saw Langtang (above.) Then, a few seconds later, the entire range came into few, with thousands of craggy, rocky peaks everywhere, and some of the world's highest and most famous mountains directly in our line of view.
Everest is huge. The stewardess was completely right when she said that it puts all other mountains in its shadow. Looking out across the range of other Himalayan mountains, none are as prominent or as supreme. But that's to be expected--it is the biggest mountain in the world. So, after many pictures, the plane turned right around, and we were down, back in Kathmandu in time for breakfast (French toast and milk tea.)
After breakfast and laundry, we made our way to the hospital, where Joyce and I did our rotation in the ward. The day before we had noted a man with a disease known as Koch's Abdomen, something we'd never heard of. Today, the doctor was in, so we asked about it--Koch's Abdomen is another name for abdominal TB. The man had TB in his abdomen and lymphnodes, keeping him from eating or retaining any nutrients. Despite being TB, this type isn't as contagious, as it isn't in his lungs, and they had him on the DOTS treatment, a treatment endorsed by the World Health Organization.
In a lot of cases, doctors (including the physician at Helping Hands) will begin the DOTS treatment with one drug, and then add in other drugs a few weeks later, to ensure that the patient will be treated. If the DOTS program is badly installed, though, the patient has a chance of becoming resistant to not only one TB drug, but many.
The book Mountains Beyond Mountains tells the story of Paul Farmer, the creator of Partners in Health (PIH) and the founder of many health clinics in Haiti and Peru. A good percent of his work is dedicated towards work with TB, especially multi-drug resistant strains (MDR) of TB. MDR often occurs when the patient forgets or is unable to complete the full course of drugs for the disease. It happens frequently in third world countries with many different types of antibiotics, because often, the patients come from rural areas where their customs hinder them from being able to fulfill the drug course.
So, hopefully that man comes back for his drugs.
After numerous body searches, we boarded a tiny airplane with 15 other passengers (not one of them white), and took off. Five minutes later, we came out above the clouds and immediately saw Langtang (above.) Then, a few seconds later, the entire range came into few, with thousands of craggy, rocky peaks everywhere, and some of the world's highest and most famous mountains directly in our line of view.
We could get up to take pictures, and the size of the plane allowed us to wander into the cockpit for a better view, and a quick chat with the pilots. The hostess came to each of us, pointing out the peaks and directing our cameras for better pictures. At one point, she had us all sit back in our seats, and then coming to each of us, she quietly said, "You see that one? That one with the perfect triangular top, that puts all the other mountains in its shadow? That's Everest. And the one on its left is Lhotse and on the right is Nuptse."
Everest is huge. The stewardess was completely right when she said that it puts all other mountains in its shadow. Looking out across the range of other Himalayan mountains, none are as prominent or as supreme. But that's to be expected--it is the biggest mountain in the world. So, after many pictures, the plane turned right around, and we were down, back in Kathmandu in time for breakfast (French toast and milk tea.)
After breakfast and laundry, we made our way to the hospital, where Joyce and I did our rotation in the ward. The day before we had noted a man with a disease known as Koch's Abdomen, something we'd never heard of. Today, the doctor was in, so we asked about it--Koch's Abdomen is another name for abdominal TB. The man had TB in his abdomen and lymphnodes, keeping him from eating or retaining any nutrients. Despite being TB, this type isn't as contagious, as it isn't in his lungs, and they had him on the DOTS treatment, a treatment endorsed by the World Health Organization.
In a lot of cases, doctors (including the physician at Helping Hands) will begin the DOTS treatment with one drug, and then add in other drugs a few weeks later, to ensure that the patient will be treated. If the DOTS program is badly installed, though, the patient has a chance of becoming resistant to not only one TB drug, but many.
So, hopefully that man comes back for his drugs.
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