Monday, January 10, 2011

January 10, 2011 Accutane and Arnold

Dear Home,

The problem with keeping secrets about things is that you can't tell anybody, even when it's really exciting, inspiring, and encouraging. Just know that miracles are happening right now, and it's the best thing that ever happened to me. =)

In other news, Elder Higginson's finger is healing well. He cut it washing a knife at a member's home a while back, and we spent all that evening driving back and forth from the hospital. At first, we were just going to fix it ourselves, but we felt like we needed professional help. Medical treatment is free here, if you're in the right circles, and we have health cards now, so we thought 'what could it hurt?' As it turns out, Elder Higginson's Health Card had expired at the end of the year, and there apparently was some kind of problem when he 'renewed' it a month or so ago. So we thought 'well, that's just great. We'll HAVE to fix it ourselves now.' So we bought some bandaging stuff and did the best we could, but it wasn't good enough. With the advice of trusted, wise adults and mission leaders, we went back to the hospital, worried that we'd be costing the mission a fortune, but knowing that something needed to be done. After a long while, Elder Higgionson's finger was properly medicated and treated, and we were all free to go home. But the fun didn't end there. Elder Higginson very diligently sought information as to the status of his health card. Why wasn't it renewed in time? We don't know, but it's renewed now, and the hospital was told to back-date his coverage, so the mission won't be charged and arm and a leg.

Now we get to MY medical issues! xD I told you all that I'm on Accutane. I was prescribed it on December 8 and was given a month's supply. Elementary School math will tell you that I'm out of Accutane by now. I have been for the whole weekend. Here's what happened. On Friday, we were going to get my prescription renewed, but we missed our bus, got there way later than we wanted to, and were told that the line was so long that the earliest we could get in was 6 oclock. We had and appointment at 6 that evening. =/ The next day, their hours were from 9am to 6pm. We had back-to-back appointments all day until that evening. The day after that was yesterday- Sunday- So we couldn't get in then either. We're going into the clinic tonight. A member is giving us a ride there. We'll be let into the clinic almost immediately after it opens. In the meantime, I've been enjoying a break from the annoying side-effects. =P

Wanna know the really bad news? Accutane is expensive, and even though I have a working health card, it doesn't cover prescription medicine. Good news, there are very generous members in Winnipeg who donate money to the mission for whatever expenses the mission may have. Still, I don't want to be cutting into the money that could be better spent in other ways. Sister Paulson (who's in charge of the medical stuff) told me not to worry about it. I still will. But, by the end of my mission, I'll have saved up enough money out of my monthly allotment to pay the mission back for the Accutane. That makes me feel less-bad about the situation, but, in my opinion, it still stinks.

Good news: Accutane works! I've been taking it for a month now, and there is a noticeable difference! How do I know? I've been getting compliments from multiple people that I've never gotten from anyone before my mission (back when my acne was bad). Apparently, without the acne on my face, people think I look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. I don't know how true that is, but I've heard it enough times from enough people to think there must be some truth to it. Coincidentally, I've been working out a bit harder lately- goodness know why.

But that's about all the news that I have for the general body. I still have an Email or two to send out to individuals, so I'd better get on that. I'll write to ya'll again next week!

Love, your (apparently) good-looking missionary, Elder Andrew Robarts

PS I'm happy. ^^

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