Health

(Second of three parts)

I spent two weeks in Shenzhen, China, in July ’06 during my husband’s 10-week stay on business. This is a huge city with nothing to brag about. There is a 5-story “copy” mall for those interested in purchasing fakes. I’m not a shopper.

We stayed in the Sheraton Four Points, which had outstanding service. At my request, I received two private cooking lessons with the executive chef as well as the specialty chefs. For each lesson of 1½ hours, the cost was RMB400 (about $50) plus the cost of ingredients — a real bargain. I even wore a chef hat and apron!

(First of three parts)

No one likes getting shots. Travelers are particularly averse to jabs. So why bother? Protection.

During a visit to our favorite haunts in France in September ’04, I awoke at 4 a.m in our suburban Paris hotel room with an emergency at hand. Pat, my wife of over 40 years, was suffering a crippling pain in her abdomen that called for immediate action.

The pre-dawn lobby of the Saphir Hotel (aire de Bercheres, on N104, Pontault-Combault) was deserted except for the night man. I told him my wife needed medical attention quickly and asked if a doctor was on call. He made two short calls and said, “They will be here in a few minutes.”

“Who?”

In case a traveler is injured abroad, medical care will be necessary and all initial care will be local. The quality of care can and will vary greatly, and if the trauma is severe, hospitalization and surgery may follow. Not every case demands evacuation; high-class medical care can be obtained in many developing nations. The difficulty lies in finding or making one’s way to such care when sick or injured.

On Dec. 7, 1997, the L.A. Times “Travel” section published a letter of mine entitled “The Price Was Right,” regarding a medical emergency that I experienced in Bilbao, Spain, after eating a bad trout in a restaurant and getting severe food poisoning.

In my letter, I extolled the virtues of socialized medicine for travelers to that country, as the cost to me was $0.00, even though the treatment included a doctor’s house call, ambulance, lab tests, x-rays, EKG and the care of physicians and nurses at a local hospital.

My method for avoiding intestinal problems when traveling involves a lot of little pink bismuth pills (Pepto-Bismol is one brand name).

For the past seven years, a new threat has made itself home on our shores: West Nile virus.

In the February ’06 “Ask Steve” column, Mr. Venables wrote about beating jet lag. I must take issue with his comment, “… over-the-counter melatonin or prescription drugs… help with the sleeping going over but don’t do much for your inner clock.”

I read Dr. Wagenaar’s excellent summary of medical websites in the February ’06 issue (pg. 93).