Wait, What's Homeopathy?

At least they spelled my name right. Eventually.

A few days ago I was moving desks in my classroom and I bent over in a way that is apparently not how a body is supposed to bend over to move a desk. As a result, my thigh sent a nice, excruciating, stabbing pain to my brain. Fortunately, it was only for a few seconds, but it hurt like the pura madre. 

Then it was fine for a few days, until it came back yesterday, when I'd get the stabbing pain in the side of my left hip/thigh (where the tuxedo pant stripe would be, if I ever wore tuxedo pants). The weird thing was it was the left hip, but it only came up when I bent to the right.

I'm sure this is fascinating, listening to me kvetch about my stupid hip, but I'm kind of getting to the point.

I went to Atenas (the town with "the best climate in the world," according to their buses) because my sister-in-law's husband was also going to the doctor, so I tagged along. The doctor was a "normal" doctor, but also a homeopatho..ic..olo..gician?? Anyhow, I talked to the doctor, then he moved my leg, diagnosed some moderate cartilage wonkiness, and asked if I'd prefer traditional or homeopathic medicine, or if I wanted him to decide. I said I'd prefer he decide, since it was at that moment I realized I had no idea what in the world homeopathy was.

He decided on a mix of treatments, which included 5 pills from a pharmacy to help the cartilage (traditional), and some medicine (homeopathic). Sounded good to me. So I went to the waiting room while he prepared the medicine. While I was waiting, his brother (yeah, weird, I know), who had been hanging out and "assisting" with patients, gave me a cup of water and a pill. I took the pill, but now I realize I have no idea what it was. (Note to readers: please don't give me any roofies; you're on the honor system here.) Then the doctor's wife, the secretary, gave me two little bottles of medicine. 

"Take 15 drops of this, mixed with 15 drops of that, two times a day," she said. I must have looked confused, because she asked, "Do you understand?"

"Oh, sure," I said, "But what are these bottles?" 

"Medicine," she replied.

"Oh, yeah, of course, but what kind of medicine?"

"It's homeopathic. Why do you want to know what kind of medicine it is?"

"Hmm. I'm not sure. Curiosity, I guess."

"It's medicine. It's good medicine. Really good. It'll help you."

Well, how can you argue with that? 

I still don't really know what homeopathy is, but oh well. I also mentioned the story to a few people, and they all assured me that they'd had very similar experiences with homeopathic doctors, and that it must be a kind of secret club, like a Skull and Bones and Stethoscope. Anyhow, the medicine was pretty cheap (I think it may have even been free with the consultation), so we'll see how it works.

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