To those of you who have been faithfully following my blog, I am sorry for the belated update but unfortunately I have have discovered that I am not invincible haha... Last night I went to bed late because I was still preoccupied by a very large aftershock we had just had, so naturally my nerves were a little frazzled...I woke in the middle of the night with a 103.1 temperature after experiencing an hour of excessive chills before I actually fell asleep in the first place. Upon awaking this morning I was dizzy, aching all over, and battling a headache with my fatigue as well as nausea...My wonderful neighbor watched my son so I could continue to sleep and I was ok until later in the afternoon when my fever spiked again to 103.6...Yes, I did call the doctor but could not get an appointment because there was no power on Camp Zama...Luckily, My fever has seemed to die off and I am only left with a very strong headache and fatigue.. I was so angry to be sick at a time like this. To be weak and powerless in an already stressful situation but I am only human afterall and not even I can stop mother nature from taking her course in these crazy times we live in...
Please note that of course I do not have radiation sickness. They've said although there is a "negligible" amount of radiation here, that it would not be enough to impact our health. I realize there is a great debate right now over whether other bases are overreacting compared to us, and there are some bells that can not be unrung but for all the basic precautions they've gave us, not once has anyone explained what exactly we are protecting ourselves from and as we all know, the nuclear crisis continues to get worse. I get it if you think there's nothing to worry about, but, it is better to explain and reassure if you want to avoid panic. Wikipedia will likely give you the most neutral information on symptoms and etc, So I've included the link to help educate on the possibilities anyone of us can face here.
**side note: The Fukushima nuclear plants are 170 miles from Tokyo and we are approximately 30 miles sw of Tokyo.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_poisoning
Many have reassured us that things are "fine" here and that we are "safe"...And we very well may be but I am no expert nor do I like trusting so much conflicting information. I feel like the military's instincts when it comes to families relies too heavily on their Cost vs. Risk Assessment of our lives and hate feeling like I'm on a waiting list for survival...and some believe this is all a big overreaction but there is NO overreacting when you're a mother but even I fear that I could be overreacting lol. It's a cycle of fear and instinct. I hear that most (on our base) are deciding to stay because the Army has no plans to evacuate but many soldiers have said that if their spouse wants to leave with their children then they will not stop them...I believe we may do the same very shortly...
To those who do not know: An hour before the earthquake hit last friday, I had received news from John that we were being reassigned to Guam and that we were to leave May 10th...Originally I was very upset that our tour was being cut short here because we are so in love with Japan, it's people, and culture. Who would honestly want to leave such a beautiful and peaceful place...I love the comforting thought that people can send their 6 or 7 year old child to school by themselves on a train with hundreds of other strangers and never fear for their safety...
A link to better explain the order and harmony here, both the article and short news video are wonderful proof of Japan's incredible spirit: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/japan-victims-show-resilience-earthquake-tsunami-sign-sense/story?id=13135355
So very soon I will be starting life again somewhere else overseas for 3 years. I know Guam is paradise for most but I'm the palest person I know and I haven't worn shorts in four years so living on a small island with year round temps ranging from 75-89 plus 80% humidity is not my idea of paradise lol....but it's a chance to start off fresh after this chaos...
We are overwhelmed with love and support from family and friends in the states and I must continue to express our endless gratitude to you all. As much as we are on the fence of leaving very soon, I must let my health recover first but of course I will continue to update everyone :).
Katrina is sympathetic to your Guam situation. She is pale as well and burns if she gets too close to a lightbulb. lol (don't tell her I said that). I'm glad I inherited enough Native American blood to let me tan in the sun.
ReplyDeleteAs always, we are praying for you and your family and the people of Japan.
Dear Lacey Marie: I’m an Oklahoma girl who lived at Yokota AB in 1983 with my husband and 13 year old son. He was a contracting officer at Pacific Stars and Stripes in downtown Tokyo and I was the secretary of the Squadron Operations Officer at the 302nd APS. We lived on base in a high rise building, 9th floor, which was built on rollers and swayed every time a tremor hit. We could see Mt. Fuji from our bed when it wasn’t too smoggy. We had a great time there.
ReplyDeleteWe saw your sister and heard your story on the local news, KOFR-channel 4. I was very touched by your circumstances and wanted to let you know that our prayers are with you. Watching the news leads me to believe that it’s not safe for you or your family to be there any longer. No one knows how this will turn out, but it’s not looking favorable. As for flight costs, you should be able to get a reduced fare or even better, free passage out of Japan because this is truly an emergency situation. You are not choosing to fly on a whim; it’s a necessity. Hopefully your base commander will set up something to evacuate before long. I would do everything in my power to leave if there’s any way you can. It’s not worth taking chances with radiation.
I’ll be following your blog and praying for your safety. My heart goes out to all the wonderful Japanese people who are having to, once again, endure a harrowing situation.