The A.C. was finally installed last Sunday. YES! What a difference. Of course, my !@#?!! landlord made the installer drill the hole in my wall over a meter below the ac unit, so it doesn't look pretty. And it's running from my 2nd floor apartment to the compressor on the ground. Need some spray foam for around the hoses, but I don't know if they have that sort of thing here. Probably, but I've no clue how to ask for it, and Amy looked at me like she had no clue when I asked. I also don't know if the hoses should be packed away in the winter. Will they have water in them? If so, I figure that can't be good. I know nothing about AC. I've actually never had it before, except in other people's places.

On another note, I have started physical therapy. X-rays showed that I have a compressed disc between the L4 and L5. It's a long process here-at least for me. The doctor is the father of one of my students. He must have written that I am not to be charged any out of pocket fees. The first time, Amy translated, as she was kind enough to come with me. Second time, the women at the front desk kindly signalled no charge-saying as much, but not that I can understand. So, I don't know if they've said, no charge at all. Thrd time they laughed and waved me off with a scrip for pain meds I don't fill. They don't do anything. Yesterday, the fourth time, they had my scrip ready as I walked out and were saying goodbye before I had it in my hands in order to avoid the whole bit entirely. Not that I mind-they can have a laugh at my expense-because the doctor is not charging his daughter's teacher! Cool. Granted, co-pays here are much less than in the US, but still, nice benefit of being a teacher.

The whole PT set up is rather assembly line, unlike the limited experience I have had back home. Many people are in line and in various points of treatment. I start with heat on the spine, then electrical stim, then some sort of traction machine that is more like a long black torture device. I lay down on it. It has seprate pieces fitted together to support the different parts of the body. The part that my pelvic region is on isn't full wiidth. I lay flat, and one of the nice staff people-usually one particular woman, screws two curved peices onto the machine. She lines me up until my hips are in the right place to have these curved vices tightend on the side of either hip, holding me quite firmly in one spot. Velco straps are criss-crossed over my midsection. Something that sounds like a blood pressure monitor is pumped, and under my back I feel the pressure change slightly.

I should note that all electronic medical equipment that I have seen is labeled in English, sometimes with Korean overlay, but more often not. So this efficient woman who straps me in swings the monitor over that has a time graph, many buttons and notes regarding the pounds of pressure, and various other things all only in English, in front of me. The first two times she explained the whole thing to me in Korean while I waited patiently, grinning inwardly.

At this point, the slow torture begins, lasting 30 minutes. She turns the machine on and leaves. It begins to slowly apply pressure, which I can only just feel, while it slowly stretches me down the table with each round. One minute on, thirty seconds off. The first time the pressure was too high and my whole lower back/pelvic area hurt by the time I was out of the machine. When it finally finishes, it releases me, and when I am not prepared, my streched body, held in the vice, is forcibly brought back to the starting position. Let me tell you, if I haven't raised my back and feet to sort of slide with it, it HURTS. Ugh.

The torture device is followed by a session of chiropractic. The chriropractor usually does more electric stim first. From the point that I am on the black bed, I am in his area, and he sees at least one patient every ten minutes or so, usually more. The whole PT area is one large room, with 3/4 walls, so that from beginning to end you can hear ubiquitous cell phones ringing, fans whirring, the chirpractors table kirchunking with each hapless victim...er, patient. Actually, he is a very nice man and we manage to communicate sufficiently with my mangled Korean and his basic English. He knows more medical terminolgy than everyday conversational words. But, it works. Depending on wait time before treatment, and various points in between, the whole thing takes at least two hours.

Thus far this is no change with the treatment, but I have hurt for well over a year, so I think it could take a while for my body to get back to "normal." I am headed back for more torture today after school. Yippee.