Health Update

Whenever setting out on a new adventure, you can always bet that there will be some bumps and hurdles along the way.  Which is an excellent reason to be adventurous, in my opinion, because then you truly find out what you are made of, learn new things along the way, and create experiences for yourself that enable you to help yourself and others in the future.  This trip has been so very full of all of those elements. Stressful? Yes.  Fun? Not necessarily.  Interesting? Yes!  Gives you something to talk about?  Yes!  Shows you what great people you have in your life and reveals all of your blessings?  A definite YES!

When we got to Guangzhou on Friday, Vivian was a grumpy mess...had not eaten, refusing to drink, feverish, and vomiting/diarrhea. She was a total wreck, but just seemed like a little bug that we could fix. We opted not to see a Dr. in her province because they aren't western at all and we were encouraged to wait until we got here.  Saturday, the kids were scheduled to have their routine medical check-ups, which is required for the immigration visa.  I was relieved that we would get to take care of this so early in our week here since she was already sick.  Our guide from the province had given the guides here a heads-up, so they put Vivian to the front of the line and assisted us in getting a more thorough evaluation than is typical. Overall, she had 104 temp, they saw the mouth ulcers, and diagnosed the dehydration there and suggested we go to a hospital.

That's where is gets tricky.  Our agency does this on a weekly basis, year-round, and they see children in these situations all the time....not so for me!  My kiddos are all very hardy, rarely ill, and we aren't ones to run to the doctor for every little earache or sore throat...we usually let things run their course and try to use home remedies as much as possible.  So when someone suggested that she go to the hospital, I felt a little out of my element...in my mind that is a huge deal!  In my house, urgent care or hospital is reserved for someone lying almost comatose in bed and/or about to bleed out from some injury that might require stitches!  We just don't do it...so this news was alarming.

The next trickiness, is that our guide suggested we try to avoid the hospital as much as possible.  She described that the practice here in these Chinese hospitals is to hook one up to an IV (no matter what) with a most likely 2-3 day hospital stay (no matter the diagnosis).  This also was alarming and added a dilemma to the picture...is she really that sick?  can we wait this out?   As the guide described the situation, the first vision in my imagination was so ridiculous it almost made me laugh out loud (which I might have done, if I'd not been getting stressed)....I imagined a scene from the old t.v. show M.A.S.H where it's all dark and dreary, being treated in a tent, with very primitive resources and patients scattered all about.  I shook the image from my mind....of course it wouldn't be like that!..."but maybe not far from it" was all I could think about.

Our other option was to see a western doctor that our agency has a good relationship with.  He could get us imported meds, be way cheaper, and probably fix her up.  We opted for that.  His office was very small and old-fashioned, kind of reminding me of the Dr's office I went to when I was little.  He was nice (in a curt, Chinese manner), spoke decent English (but I think misunderstood some of my intent when I described symptoms and jumped on ones that I felt were minor, ignoring ones I thought were more significant), and mixed up the meds himself back in a little room.

In some way, I am convinced Vivian knew what was happening and was more agreeable to us trying to help her. Before the doctor visit, she refused all our attempts to give her medicine/drink.  After the doctor, she accepted the prescribed medicines and drank the little Pedialyte-type drink that he suggested.  She would only take it from a 5 ml medicine syringe, but nonetheless was finally drinking.

Poor baby.  Only wants to lay around and has no energy...will drop wherever she is.
Here she landed in the suitcase and fell into an exhausted sleep after arriving in Guangzhou.  

Yesterday, however, after a day of antibiotics and no longer having a fever, she cried non-stop and bunched up her little body screaming in pain/discomfort most of the day.  It was miserable for us all and she seemed to be getting more pronounced symptoms of the other things that concerned me.  She has ulcers on her tongue (which I believe is thrush and why she cries and spits food out), what I believe is a UTI which is why she writhes in pain/twists around her little legs , a possible ear infection, little bloody pin prick marks all over her body (what the heck!?) and severe dehydration from refusing food/drink (which has caused little cracks all over her skin, and actual layers of skin to peel off in large pieces on her little tush).  By 4:00, I was at my wits end!  Called the guides and told them we must do something.  They helped us call the Dr. (mind you, it's Sunday and he's at home)...he was a little curt, only concerned that she had no more fever/vomiting (which was curbed by meds) and wanted me to rub the bloody marks on her skin with diaper-cream!  I persisted more about the ulcers in her mouth and UTI and her screaming in pain...he seemed to get fed up with my questions/concerns and finally said, "fine, then go to the hospital."

I have already said, that at home, we don't go to the doctor much.  But, if this were happening at home, she would have been in the ER 2 days ago.  She has eaten absolutely no food for 6 days, because it hurts, is existing on Pedialyte, and can't move from pain/discomfort.

At 5 p.m. last night then, I had to decide.  Hospital or not.  Even if it resulted in 3 days hooked up to an IV, I had to go.  

So, when I posted requesting prayers yesterday afternoon, we were truly in the middle of a frantic situation and gathering up things to go the the hospital, not knowing if we would return in a couple of hours or a couple of days.  In the midst of tossing items in backpacks and thoughts of $$, with a screaming preschooler in my arms, I sat down at the computer.  Jason looked over at me and said "what the heck are you doing?!" In his and my children's minds, I'm a bit addicted to my computer/phone; so when they see me doing something on a device, they always assume that I'm just hanging out eating bon-bons or something.  For a second, I thought about replying "oh no worries, I'm just over here reading Yahoo news" but that would sound kind of mean. So, I quietly replied, "I'm writing about this...putting out the word for prayers."  He understood and finished up the prep.  

The rest looked/sounded something like this:  the guide "we must hurry before the shift change"  us "okay, 15 minutes, oh yeah, how much money do we need?"  him "not too much, maybe $200-$300?"  us "okay".  He then leaves to make a call, returns and says "ok, I have called the hospital.  they do not take your credit card, so you will need to take $1K dollars with you, okay?" Us "umm...hmmm...okay" Geez!  I had strategically planned out all the cash we would need for this trip, and with one week down/one to go, it did not include an extra $1000 for this little detour!  We would need to find more green-backs.  So after a little strategy and quick thinking with online banking, we were ready.  Went down to the ATM to get the money I'd just transferred, to find that it would only give us $500 daily limit, of course, just like at home.  So, plan B, returned to the room, scrounged the rest from the safe (the amount that would get us through the rest of the week and back home) and headed out again.  Only to think about the travel insurance that I bought.  I DID think to buy travel insurance, which you had to pay up front, but would hopefully reimburse us.  I felt like I should call to get approval or at least notify them to make sure we didn't have problems filing claims later.  So, returned AGAIN to the room, scouring email for the insurance policy and contact information.  All the while, Jason, little Vivian, and Lydia were waiting in the lobby with the guide.  STRESS!

As is typical with all insurance calls, I spent 20-25 minutes on the phone trying to get the woman to understand what was happening (on a non-toll free, International roaming rate no less!).  By the time I came back, Vivian was sleeping peacefully in Jason's arms and the guide said, "Ok, now I must tell you of the risks of hospital.  It is full of very sick people, with no private areas, so you will be exposed to many things.  I need to tell you about the chance that you will get worse things...it is very risky.  For example, N1H1.  If the baby or you get that, you will not be allowed to return to the US and will cost you much money for treatment.  Also, the medicine she already has is stronger than what she would get at the hospital. Our doctor gave you imported medicine and is stronger, except for IV, which would take about 3 days.  Are you sure you still want to go?  We could wait until Monday and visit the western doctor again"  Apparently, he and Jason had been having man talk while I was gone and were weighing pros and cons.  I know Jason was seeing dollar signs (which is understandable) and the agency guide was fretting about being responsible for our health (which is also understandable).

Right at that moment I wanted to scream and go home. Lydia was already crying because she was fearful of what was happening, we had nearly drained our account getting extra money in preparation for a stay (because the CC wouldn't work in the ATM), my baby had been screaming in pain all day long, and now they were suggesting that I just go eat some McDonald's and get a good night sleep?  Blaaaahhhhh!!!!  Vivian had calmed down a little because we had double dosed her with pain meds and her skin was not looking so red, but more creamy.  My head hurt, and I felt like just climbing in bed with her, not really caring whether we both woke up...that sounds terrible, but I felt so helpless and wanting to hide.

We did return to the room, Vivian was more comfortable and slept, we did eat at McDonald's (which I RARELY do), and I climbed in bed exhausted, just in time to read your sweet comments in my email.  That's when it occurred to me what was happening.  The prayers and positive intentions sent out by our friends were being heard and taken care of by God, preventing us from needing the dreadful hospital.  Vivian let us put her PJ's on without crying, and climbed into her little bed area with Lydia more peacefully than she had in 2 days.  She slept soundly all night while God worked to heal her little body by purging out all of the toxins in there.  Today, she is not in pain, has been drinking her Pedialyte, took ONE bite of banana (!), and has been sleeping somewhat peacefully (but refuses to leave my lap).

Today, I am in serious problem solving mode to make this all better.  If things get worse, I will hear NO more of hospital talk, but will insist on requesting a medical expedite from the US Consulate to get us back home asap.  No more messing around and following the rules here.  I sent Jason and Lydia off to see the pandas this morning and am working to remedy this oral thrush myself so that this child will eat!  I'm making a concoction of probiotics in her drinks, and alternating with tea tree oil on her toothbrush, to dab on her tongue.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your prayers and words of encouragement!  One, I truly believe that our requests on Vivian's behalf have been heard and that she is being slowly healed.  Two, your prayers have been such an encouragement to me and my stress level.  By the end of last night I felt like curling up in the corner of the elevator in a weepy heap and refusing to budge until they put me and my family onto the next plane bound for NYC or Chicago...but, I thought that might somewhat impede the forward progression of our adoption and Vivian's citizenship if they began to question my sanity, so I refrained.

Instead, I was so lost in my mind and thoughts that I forgot to get off the elevator on my floor...I didn't even realize it until the sweet Chinese woman I was with in the elevator got off and came darting back to the closing doors, hollering "10, 10, it's your floor....this is 10!!" into the small crack.  Geez...how embarrassing. I had to ride all the way up to the top floor and back down, the whole time wondering when I might have realized that I missed my stop.  With how tired I am and how my brain feels, I might still be on that lift, riding up and down all night....

Please keep praying for little Vivian to return to her sweet, smiley self...thank you!