Day 115: 7/24/2018
I had planned my day but everything collapsed.
I got up, went for a morning run for 7.99K and found out when returning back home that P’Gluay could not go to work because of a health problem. He looked sad and lost when informing me. At that moment, I knew that something needed to be extremely wrong. He is a person who does not make a trip to see the doctor unless something is really serious and needs to call for the doctor’s attention. Today it was one of his toes that has been infected for an unknown reason and it has been gradually and increasing swollen and the pain has been on its rise for the past few days.
As a chef at a Thai restaurant, he needs to stand extended period of time daily. That has never been a problem until three weeks ago. He started to notice that his toe was swollen as if it was a bruise. Back then, the pain was relatively bearable and did not need attention. However, as time went by, it has never got better but rather has gone the opposite way. Today, it was extremely swollen as it has turned purple. To touch it means to cause him such a severe pain. P’Gluay then had to walk around the city with his flipflops for the first time in York.
At this point, we assume that the problem might have stemmed from two things. First, P’Gluay wore too tight shoes for a couple of times, and he wore a very uncomfortable unbalanced pair of shoes for a week to work. Walking in these shoes can cause extreme pain, especially when you do not realize it and then continue to wear them for an extended period of time. That was exactly the case of P’Gluay.
So, a major chunk of time was spent on figuring medical issues out from searching online for General Practitioners (GP), finding our how to register, going on site to obtain the registration forms, and filling out and submitting them at the same location. Unfortunately, after a long day, we did not get to see the doctor because it was required that we register first so that we can make an appointment the next morning. Thus, tomorrow morning, I will call to make an appointment at 8 am.
The impression with the health service providers in York has been positive to me. We were informed about the procedure on the phone and were greeted nicely when we went to the location. All the staff members looked friendly and happy at work. It seemed to be quite a nice working environment there.
With respect to my work, I tried so hard to figure my writing. Particularly, I currently have a huge problem regarding making connection and organizing the main paragraph of “dialogic teaching.” In other words, I have no idea have to “put them together” in a coherent way. In the meantime, I tried to work on another parts that are more straightforward such as the Data Collection section. However, not long after I started writing, I was faced with another problem. I was stuck at several questions; for example, what does each type of data contribute to the study? and how should I analyze each type of collected data? One thing that has become apparent was that my research design has not been completely developed and thus it is premature, full of flaws, and needs improvements in numerous areas.
One thing I am thankful for after starting writing it though was the fact that I still have time. Starting early allows me to work on it at my own pace. However, I have to admit that I am now very nervous and not sure whether my research proposal will be complete by the deadline.
My plan for tomorrow is to call the medical center tomorrow morning, go to see the doctor, work on my research proposal, and work at the restaurant in the evening.
7/25/2018 12.03 am.
