Our little Pirate

We had only been in Vietnam for a week and a half when we had our first encounter with the medical practices of Vietnam. Before we left Australia Bella decided to have her ears pierced. For those of you who have never experienced Bella and needles; this was a monumental event. Her fear of needles is so huge that vaccinations are carried out only after massive planning similiar to any secret covert governmental exercise. But she did it - mind you only after trying to, unsuccessfully, convince the Beauticians to do both ears simultaneously.

Anyway we left Sydney with both ears pierced.

After only a few days she woke up one morning with a very swollen earlobe; being such concerned parents, we told her to continue to bathe it in salt water and that it would be fine. The next day it was so swollen that we could no longer see her earring. Off we go to the Pharmacy, no easy feat in vietnam, but we get cream. Two days pass and the swelling goes down. However the earring is gone! It has been swallowed by her ear lobe.
Well off we go to the emergency department of the local international hospital. The doctor was lovely, though Bella wasn't impressed when he laughed at her situation. He explained that he would give her a local then pull the earring out. I was very impressed with her - she didn't bat an eyelid. It wasn't until he got a needle out that she got concerned - the poor thing didn't realise that a local meant a needle.

Anyway they managed to give her the local, slit the back of her ear, pull the earring out together with the abscess that had developed, fill her ear lobe with antiseptic and put a bandaid on it. We were then able to go. Mind you when they told me the price was 1 million three hundred dong I nearly ended up in the hospital with a heart attack but then of course I realised it was about $60 AUD, so all was OK.

Two weeks down the track Bella's ear is fine - she does only have one earring and I think that is how she is going to stay - you must wonder what the Vietnamese think of the one earring blonde haired pirate.