He tried rest, ibuprofen, and a heating pad, which all worked some, but didn't completely fix things. I encouraged him to call the French physiotherapist, who is the closest we come to a chiropractor in Phnom Penh. Apparently the physio was out of town, and then Nathan didn't really want to call, so they never connected.
Meanwhile, his back was still bothering him. Senin kept telling Nathan about this miracle worker from Sihanoukville who made her nearly lame elderly aunt walk again and helped open up all of Senin's blood vessels and made her feel terrific. Saturday morning (10 days ago that is, we're still getting caught up) and Nathan's back was hurting him and Senin invited him to come to her house to get fixed by her famous masseuse. Much to my surprise, Nathan seriously considered the idea, and then said yes. I learned later he did it largely because Senin had been talking about this guy for days, and he wanted to get her off his back (pun intended).
So, that's how we came to take an impromptu trip to Senin's house, located about 15 minutes outside of Phnom Penh. We had both been curious about Senin's house for a while and were happy to have an invitation to go.
We spent most of our time on the second floor porch of Senin's aunt's house, a very large and nice traditional Khmer style house. (The car is ours.)
Here's Nathan getting fixed by the miracle man.
Here's Senin with our kids plus her daughter, Srey Leya, who is just a few weeks younger than Ellie.
Ben liked relaxing in a hammock.
And lots of Senin's relatives, including this uncle, loved watching the kids.
Senin's aunt had about 7 machine-operated looms going weaving krama, the traditional red and white checked scarf. They made a racket, but they worked unattended, and it seemed like a very easy way to make a comfortable living.
After two or three hours of treatment, Nathan said his back felt somewhat better and we all went over to Senin's house (which is tough to see here behind her wall) for lunch.
Ellie and Srey Leya had a great time riding on a bike together.
2 comments:
I hope the miracle worker was actually able to work a miracle...or at least give a little pain relief for Nathan :). By the way, we just got the photos--LOVE them! Thanks :)
This is so interesting. What a slice of life for us to see! It's fun to see Ellie and Ben playing with others and enjoying hanging out with friends. We're getting such a wonderful education from you guys - thanks so much! I sure hope Nathan's back gets better. It doesn't sound good to be in that much pain (bet it doesn't feel good, either!) Keep us posted on how it goes.
Love,
Mom
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