WARNING: If you have a delicate constitution you might not want to read the following, at least not while you eat hahaha...
Suprise, suprise, the plane didnt stop in Alaska as scheduled. I didnt even know China Air was capable of flying straight through. It will save me at least a half hour which is saying a whole lot on a 15 to 16 hour flight. At the moment we should be over Japan.
When I left the South Bronx at 6PM on the 22nd I dosed with 1 bottle of methadone (220mg) for the first time in 24 hours. Then, as soon as we leveled off at 2AM on the 23rd I took a second bottle (220mg) with my meal, chicken congee, peach yogurt, grapefruit and orange sections and warm water- Chinese arent big on real juice or milk, the latter because of the Lactose Intolerance that affects most East Asians. You wont find farmers making cheese or yogurt, etc.
One of the many things I have picked up in my travels around the world is a nasty case of H. Pylori, a stomach bacteria that causes most ulcers. In 2011, as discussed in my other blog, I had a life threatening bout. I was so weak that standing up made me literally pass out. Just walking 3 meters to a sink was enough to make me sleep for 20-odd hours.
I couldnt eat for more than 3 weeks. I only replenished with ginger ale, half to 1 can per day. One day I was able to get down some broth from a liter of Wonton Soup. During that time it was July and August and so hot, well you get the idea. One night I dreamed I was swimming in a lagoon, in cold water but then I awoke parched as hell, my body's way perhaps, of telling me I needed to rehydrate. Noone was there at that time so I got myself up out of my bed which was itself like a stinking wet rag from all my sweat. Standing there swaying I was only faintly lucid. I somehow made those 3 meters and discovered why I was probably having that dream. The faucet had been left running full blast as a cook broiled hamburgers in a skillet which at that point was unattended, a terrible habit that that cook had.
I gratefully drank my fill but then when I turned to walk back I passed out. My arm hit the skillet handle which flipped the skillet into the air and the hamburgers flew through the air along with the grease. By luck I was only slightly burned on one arm. When the cook returned she summoned help and I was carried back to bed.
The cure though was much worse. They prescribed a regimen that includes 3 drugs that come bundeled together, at $400 US per day for 8 days. I took the first course. An hour and a half later my face was in a loo wretching. I didnt stop for 9 hours. Doctors tried to convince me to change the Antibiotic in the regimen but I had had it. At its worst H. Pylori had me vomiting dhiarraraea- most do not even know that is possible. Having feces hurled out of my mouth over and over for 10 minutes paled in comparison to that 9 hours of wretching. And on that note, we are 2.5 hours out of Tapei at this point so they are serving our second meal. Yummy! From vomiting dhiarraea to Chinese food!...
Suprise, suprise, the plane didnt stop in Alaska as scheduled. I didnt even know China Air was capable of flying straight through. It will save me at least a half hour which is saying a whole lot on a 15 to 16 hour flight. At the moment we should be over Japan.
When I left the South Bronx at 6PM on the 22nd I dosed with 1 bottle of methadone (220mg) for the first time in 24 hours. Then, as soon as we leveled off at 2AM on the 23rd I took a second bottle (220mg) with my meal, chicken congee, peach yogurt, grapefruit and orange sections and warm water- Chinese arent big on real juice or milk, the latter because of the Lactose Intolerance that affects most East Asians. You wont find farmers making cheese or yogurt, etc.
One of the many things I have picked up in my travels around the world is a nasty case of H. Pylori, a stomach bacteria that causes most ulcers. In 2011, as discussed in my other blog, I had a life threatening bout. I was so weak that standing up made me literally pass out. Just walking 3 meters to a sink was enough to make me sleep for 20-odd hours.
I couldnt eat for more than 3 weeks. I only replenished with ginger ale, half to 1 can per day. One day I was able to get down some broth from a liter of Wonton Soup. During that time it was July and August and so hot, well you get the idea. One night I dreamed I was swimming in a lagoon, in cold water but then I awoke parched as hell, my body's way perhaps, of telling me I needed to rehydrate. Noone was there at that time so I got myself up out of my bed which was itself like a stinking wet rag from all my sweat. Standing there swaying I was only faintly lucid. I somehow made those 3 meters and discovered why I was probably having that dream. The faucet had been left running full blast as a cook broiled hamburgers in a skillet which at that point was unattended, a terrible habit that that cook had.
I gratefully drank my fill but then when I turned to walk back I passed out. My arm hit the skillet handle which flipped the skillet into the air and the hamburgers flew through the air along with the grease. By luck I was only slightly burned on one arm. When the cook returned she summoned help and I was carried back to bed.
The cure though was much worse. They prescribed a regimen that includes 3 drugs that come bundeled together, at $400 US per day for 8 days. I took the first course. An hour and a half later my face was in a loo wretching. I didnt stop for 9 hours. Doctors tried to convince me to change the Antibiotic in the regimen but I had had it. At its worst H. Pylori had me vomiting dhiarraraea- most do not even know that is possible. Having feces hurled out of my mouth over and over for 10 minutes paled in comparison to that 9 hours of wretching. And on that note, we are 2.5 hours out of Tapei at this point so they are serving our second meal. Yummy! From vomiting dhiarraea to Chinese food!...