a cultural difference, a sick husband, and a nervous wife.

i am quite confident that before ever coming to Peru, or for that matter before this year, I would never have imagined "expert rear end injection giver" being added to my list of skills on my resume. but i am starting to think i should probably add that now. especially after this past weekend. 


first to answer the question "Julie... you never studied to be a nurse, never came close, even dropped the dream of occupational therapy upon the first anatomy course.... what in the world are you doing giving injections??"


well, alongside buying lots of medication in pharmacies without prescriptions that we wouldn't be able to buy over the counter in the states... you can also tell them that you want "blah" ml of "such" medicine and buy a needle too. i first figured that out when i had a spree of migraines that nothing would relieve, until Julton came over with a needle. i didn't think too much about it  (since he himself is a doctor) until one day when Julton explained to me how to give one to our friend Gillian (when he wasn't around). Little did I know that would be my first but not last go at giving injections. 


Since we have been married I have given Julton a total of 5 injections. Why have I counted you may ask? Because they are that well etched into my memory that I can recall each and every one of them. The first one when I nearly cried along with him (he... has an irrational fear of needles? at least some kind of fear) when I thought I was giving it wrong and imagined him never walking again. I think I have blogged about that before. The other four... have all happen over the course of the past week. And each time I was nervous, he was nervous... thus I was even more so. I had to do breathing exercises not only for him but for my benefit too. It takes a special person to be a nurse, and I now appreciate each and every one of you more... because I am scared to death of putting a needle in someone. But maybe I would feel a little better about it if i had had some training and not my "patient" telling me what to do nervously. 


Over the past year Julton has been in a lot of pain for his teeth, specifically one tooth. He has been treated for it numerous times, and the pain just keeps coming back. So... this past weekend when it started bothering him again... he made the decision to have it taken out. It was a molar, farthest back. I reacted a little strong the first time he told me he wanted to have it removed asking and asking to be sure there wasn't another option. But he was convinced it needed to be done, he was tired of dealing with it over and over again. So Sunday morning he missed what I think was the first church service I have seen him miss since I have known him (not including when he was in his internship and had no choice) and we went out to get it taken out. Then I had to give him more injections. And today another... to help his stomach deal with all the medicine he's been taking. 


When you pray, please add him to your requests. I'm not so sure he is out of the clear (he had to come home early from work today... that alongside the missing church is something that never happens) please pray that this problem would pass!