You think you’ve heard it all…
There was something I noticed earlier in the week. I didn’t ask the student about it until yesterday.
Hey Kim, can I ask why you’ve got the band-aids on your face?
Well… my mom didn’t like my moles so she took the off.
Holy shit!
I used my well-practiced skills of masking my surprise and asked her a few questions. I know that the Hmong don’t necessarily believe in Western medicine and they have some of their own remedies. I’ve heard of them doing some odd things with hard-boiled eggs. But other than that, I don’t know anything about Hmong home remedies. I do however, know about mole removal.
I kept thinking about Kim throughout the day and told a few other teachers. We talked about the scarring that could happen and if I should tell someone and who that person would be. I thought about how this was done, what my experience was like, and what ramifications Kim might face.
Today after my lesson, I had Kim come back to the office. I still had the “wound care” instructions from my mole removal. I gave her the paper that detailed cleaning the wound twice per day and the various signs of infection that could occur. This other part might sound odd, but I showed her one of my scars from my mole removal (don’t worry, it wasn’t in a weird place). After 6 months, you can easily see where I’m still healing.
From what I can tell, Kim’s mother did this without any sort of drug to numb the area. I don’t know what exactly was used to take off the moles. I told Kim about my experience and that moles need to be checked for cancer, etc. I later talked to our school nurse to ask her what should be done. She thought that what I had done so far was appropriate and I should keep an eye on her. At this point, what’s done is done.
I’ll keep watching Kim to see what happens after the band-aids are removed. I’m really curious about what other Hmong home remedies are out there. Hopefully most of them are as harmless as setting a boiled egg on some part of the body.
March 6, 2010 at 3:52 pm
Very common here in Fresno. I see all sorts of things. I don’t think the cocaine enemas are being done, though, any more after a little boy died.
March 6, 2010 at 4:21 pm
Cocaine enema? Geeze! I haven’t heard that one before. I figured that you’d have a similar experience. It’s always interesting to compare with you.
March 7, 2010 at 9:32 am
As more generations of the Hmong are born and raised here, their health care has become more mainstream. We are even seeing Hmong health care professionals now, although it has taken almost 30 years for this to happen and still in very small numbers.
I see many students in the hallways with the patches of fabric on their faces and throats for illnesses. They also use the little string bracelets, believing they have some magic power.
For a few years we had a shaman living behind us and I had to call the police when he tried to kill a pig in the backyard. I could deal with the chickens, but the pig was the last straw. He had a small building by our fence where he burned incense or such. That has since been dismantled and I believe the shaman has died. The house is now owned by a nephew who seems very modern American.