Faith and I got our medical kits in the mail. We have made our appointments with a Medical Doctor, Dentist, and Vision Specialists. I got LASIK eye surgery in Jan 2003. So I have to do a follow up with my Dr. We both are on the fast track to get our documents done. We are going to be traveling and leaving Austin May 18.

I got my blood drawn for all the blood tests that need to be done. I fainted or better described is, I passed out. Four vials looks like a lot of blood. Well my body fell victum to nausea and light-headedness. The ice packs and smelling salts came out and I returned.  Peace Corp here I come. Later I heard an interesting theory about passing out. The Vagus nerve, which has control in slowing the heart rate, can be stimulated in certain situations (getting blood drawn), which can cause a person to pass out.

Faith has a dental appointment and I am going to get a third molar or wisdom tooth extracted on Friday. My dentists have been urging me to get it taken out for a decade. Well, I am 31 and am finally doing it. Dr. Eggleston in Austin is going to do the surgery. We are going with a local numbing. If I am not comfortable he will put me asleep. Recovery time will be 3 to 4 days, if I don’t get a dry socket.

Well, I did not get a dry socket and I recovered in 4 days. I did not need any pain medication after surgery. Instead of popping pills, I cut tofu into quarter-inch slabs and held them on my jaw. A slab lasted about 20 minutes and it could be reused a couple of times. When it got hot I put it back into the frig. I did this for two days. I had the luxury of lying in bed Friday evening and all weekend. I also put an umiboshi plumb in my mouth the first 24 hours. It is a natural antibiotic. I had slight discomfort leading up to day 5. After that I had a mild sensation that reminded me I had a wisdom tooth taken out. Looking back I would have keep tofu on my jaw for 3 days and taken it easy. I felt well enough to started doing physical chores around the house. I recommend lying around and being waited on hand and foot.

Faith got all of her vision and dental work done. We got our physicals done and mailed them off to the Peace Corps. Balls is in there court.

While we were in California we both got letters from PC indicating we needed more blood tests. I had five values out of range on the blood test taken in April. Faith had a few out of range values also. They were very interested in my low Red counts. They wanted my B12 and Folic levels tested. We got more blood tests done and my values were better, but still out of range. My Red and White counts are in the lower range of normal. When we got back to Austin I saw my Hematologist, we did B12 and Folic Acid tests. My values are higher than last year but still on the low side. He submitted a letter stating that I am in good health and my abnormal levels are normal for me. My levels are slightly higher now, but mainly they are consistent. In my opinion they will keep going up. Time will tell. We submitted our new blood tests. The ball is in there court.

In my opinion, my blood levels are low because I have been pushing my life in a direction that is not satisfying. Basically I have been living a lie. So, I will go on vacation for a while to figure out what direction to go in.

T