Medical Exams

Today was my mid-service medical examination with Peace Corps. I also got a dental cleaning. The whole process begins with like an hour long consultation with the doctor where I just talked about my current health and all the health issues I've had in the past year. The big thing that I had to talk with her about was my weight loss. I went from 166-170 pounds to 145 pounds. I have never been this light since I was a junior in college.

I'm not sure what caused my weight loss, but I'm not the only PCV to lose a lot of weight. Most of the males in Georgia have lost anywhere from 10-25 pounds. I can only speculate on the reasons for all the weight loss. 1) I don't get to exercise enough. Before leaving I was a bit of a gym nut. I was seriously there every day, and so I put on a lot of muscle. In Georgia I am not able to keep up with my regular exercise routine and therefore I lost the weight (unfortunately most of it being muscle). 2) My diet is considerably different. This is a biggie, and also interacts with reason 1. In Georgia there's a lot of bread, cheese, tomatoes, and potatoes but meat is a bit more elusive to get. While in the states I'd have a meal made up of primarily meat really often. I don't get nearly as much meat and therefore not enough protein. 3) I'm not eating enough. It is true that there are days I don't eat as much as others--especially after being sick. Really my host family won't let me get away with only eating a little and therefore I seriously doubt this is an issue. 4) I have a parasite. I'm awaiting tests to see if that's the case. 5) I'm always sick and suffering from diarrhea. Also a strong possibility, but was mostly last year, and caused much of my weight loss in the first place.

In the end I think it's probably a mixture of 1, 2, and 5 (but mostly from last summer). Today I treated myself to a nice dinner with some friends where I dropped about 30 lari on Veal Fajitas. They were amazing, but again there are other things I can/should buy besides really expensive food. Well, that's it for today. Oh, as for the dentist I still don't have any cavities in my adult teeth. So go me!