Losar

Today is Losar (the Tibetan New Year). We went to the Tibetan Cultural Center for a day of celebration with the monks and Tibetans. In the morning I went to the Kumbum Chamtse Ling Temple to offer khatas (traditional Tibetan white scarves) to Holiness the Dalai Lamas image and Takster Rinpoche (His Holiness' eldest brother) and to our teacher, Geshe Lobtin. The monks chanted prayers for the well being of every sentient being in the upcoming New Year. We also offered prayers, (smoke puja) for deities and threw tsampa (roasted barley flour) concluding with a traditional Tibetan Circle Dance.

I really enjoyed being able to participate in this celebration with the Tibetans. I could feel the joy, compassion and peace emanating from everyone. What a wonderful and beautiful way to celebrate for an auspicious New Year.

I took the above picture of the monks chanting prayers in the Tibetan Cultural Center before the sangha celebrated with lunch, dancing and singing.

To the Emergency Room

I have been taking the antibiotic ceftin (cefuroxime) for an ear infection. About 6 days or so after starting the ceftin I started getting hives on my chest and back. I have had this before with amoxicillin and I wasn't that worried about it since it has never progressed to anything more. I have fairly bad allergies in general and hives are a regular occurance for me so I thought it might not even be the antibiotic. However, this weekend I started getting more allergic symptoms including feeling dizzy or faint, coughing, headache and worsening hives. Yesterday afternoon I began coughing and wheezing and got so dizzy I was having trouble standing up. We packed the baby in the car and headed off to the emergency room. I was having a severe allergic reaction to the ceftin. The nurses in the ER started me on an IV. They gave me breathing treatments of albuterol and put me on oxygen. I took Benedryl and was also given solumedrol by IV. This attenuated the reaction and I was feeling better. However, I began having a dystonic attack (this is a temporary worsening of dystonia that occurs when I have other medical problems or a lot of stress). Severe dystonic attacks are called dystonic storm and can be life threatening. My dystonia got pretty bad last night. My left hip was rotated inward almost upside down, I also had back arching and retrocollis (head pulling back between shoulder blades) that was pretty painful. My left hand also balls up and my wrist twists inward. It can become very painful. For the attack I was treated with Baclofen, Ativan and Dilaudid for the pain.

For such an unpleasant experience, the ER personnel took care of things for me quite quickly. I was glad that they were so helpful and caring. I was home by late evening and luckily didn't have to stay overnight. The ceftin will continue to cause me trouble until it is out of my blood in a few days so I am taking benedryl and prednisone to keep the hives and coughing from turning into anaphylaxis.

Often when I am having a difficult time like I did in the ER, I try to remember joyful or beautiful experiences in my life. The picture is one that I took while on a horseback ride in the Bighorn mountains of Wyoming where my parents grew up. It is a place that reminds me of my childhood and my roots.