Unforgettable - Part 2

               Let me preface this post with a few statements. 1) I attribute everything “lucky” or “fortunate” that happened to be nothing less than God’s care. The way that He provided for Hannah and I in China is nothing short of miraculous despite the difficult situations we found ourselves in. 2) Both Hannah and I learned so much through this experience, and God has really brought us closer to Him and closer together as a result. 3) At the end of the day, I am thankful for everything that transpired. Now, enjoy part 2 of the story.

Upon waking, I realized that going to the Great Wall was probably not the best idea for me. I was feeling better than the previous day, but I didn’t want to overdo it and ever have that feeling again. So after encouraging Hannah that she could go without me because, “What’s the worst that could happen?” she left me to try my best at eating, drinking, and sleeping. If I could rate on a scale of 1-10 how miserably I failed at all 3, it would be somewhere between Alan Rickman reading a scary story with the intent of putting children to sleep and Christopher Lee singing soprano. (If you don’t know these people, please take a moment to listen to their voices, and then this will no doubt be much more humorous.) Thankfully, Mom (to whom I am forever and eternally grateful) gave me the contact of my Aunt’s husband’s brother (otherwise known as a distant relation) and convince me to call him. I really wasn’t going to at first. After all, what can you do with a diagnosis of “Nothing’s wrong with you. Go see a doctor in your home country.” Of course though, mother is always right (read with as much sarcasm as you wish), so I called him anyway.

               I am so glad that I did. Not to spoil anything in this story, but if I hadn’t I might be rotting in a Chinese prison right now without my computer or wifi. And then how would you read this? He came right over, and traveled about an hour to do it. He took me back to the hospital I was at where he began reasoning with them in Chinese. Finally, someone to get through to them about how I’m actually feeling. It had about as much effect as my attempts the day before did: I believe the New Testament refers to it as “kicking against the goads.” Lucky for me, he had a contact in a different hospital that was very modern and could/would run tests on me. It’s not about what you know, it’s about who you know. This phrase could be modified in China to read, “Why did you even mention what you know?” Because of his contact, I was able to get in to the hospital quickly and seen by a doctor before even being registered. After ruling out scary things like malaria and dengue fever, they ran a panel of blood tests and did CT scans. Of course, they all came back with “Everything is perfectly normal.” The previous diagnosis of “Go see a doctor in your home country” never came though because “Why did you even mention what you know.” I am forever indebted to my relative in Beijing.

               They put me in a private room for the whole day and night while giving me lots of IV fluids to help my body fight whatever was destroying it. At this point, I had 3 doctors on my case. I felt a bit like a patient in the TV series “House” except my doctor wasn’t super rude and ended up not solving the case with a miraculous diagnosis and a magic pill to make me all better. Their best guess was that I had contracted some strange/undocumented/possibly new Southeast Asian virus and that I just had to wait it out. Normally, I would have been fine with this diagnosis. Americans don’t usually go to see doctors unless they are independently wealthy, have great health insurance, or are more than sure they are dying. Since the tests indicated I wasn’t going to die in the next 24 hours, I was fine with leaving. They just wanted to do a few more tests on me first though, just to be sure.

As I was being formally admitted into the hospital (I had spent the night in the emergency room) I felt my legs going numb. I was sitting in a wheelchair and thought it was a classic case of “I’ve been sitting on my butt too long and need to shift.” Shifting didn’t help though. The tingling spread to my arms as well and my vision started to blur and blacken. Having extensive experience as a child in the art of passing out, I realized what was happening and slid off the wheelchair onto the ground where the tingling quickly stopped and I regained full consciousness. At this point, Hannah and I were really scared. Apparently, my team of doctors were too. I was told later that they all proceeded to sanitize themselves as they sent me back to my private room to await instructions. Doctors being scared about what you might have is a little less comforting than waking up from your plastic surgery hearing, “Well, this is not my best work.” 

If that wasn’t bad enough, let me take you on this interlude to explain more of the visa concerns we had on top of my health. Our visas into China were a special 72-hour transit visa. This means that if you stay more than 72 hours, the infamous “or else” that plagues your mind with thoughts of the worst thing imaginable might come true. However, in order to get an extension on the visa, I had to be admitted to a hospital. At this point, I was only in the emergency room which apparently didn’t count as being admitted. The doctor’s note of “This guy is not well enough to travel” just didn’t cut it. I, however, was never admitted as you can find out by continuing to read.

               Apparently more doctors were being added to my case, and it started to feel a bit less like a TV show and more like something serious. Their best guess was that I had some form of hepatitis, and I fit most of the symptoms with the exception of jaundice. My eyes were a healthy white. However, jaundice is not always present, so they sent me to a hospital specializing in the liver and infectious viruses. I was going to get to ride in an ambulance! However, when the ambulance did finally show up, I realized that it was nothing more than a minivan with the seats taken out. It ended up being one of the worst car rides of my life. Being already prone to car sickness, the thought didn’t sit well with me to be in a hospital bed that wasn’t locked into the floor in a hot “ambulance” in stop-and-go Beijing traffic. (Not all countries have the respect for law enforcement and healthcare that America does.) But what could I do? I had just passed out from a sitting position and was in no mood to try it again.

               Well, I made it to the liver hospital alive. They did their own battery of tests including a CT scan of my abdomen and pelvis, a CT scan of my brain, a chest x-ray, an ultrasound, and several blood tests. Of course, everything came back “Everything is normal.” However, there was one thing that was off. My total bilirubin was about double what it should be, but it was considered by the doctors and discarded for not being responsible for my symptoms. So, their diagnosis was, “You don’t have hepatitis, so why are you here?” At this point, I could have told them any number of reasons like intense stomach pain, intense nausea, passing out from a sitting position, etc. But, having not eaten or drank anything for 48 hours, I didn’t really have the energy. After finally consenting to give me some IV fluids and stomach medication, they let me alone for a bit. When the doctor came in to check on me, it was clear that he didn’t believe me. He told me to eat food and see what happened. My last attempt had left me racked with so much pain and nausea that it just wasn’t worth it. Unbeknownst to me, I was on magic IV stomach meds. I took a few pinches of bread determined to show this doctor how wrong he was. After having no immediate reaction, he said, “If you don’t throw up in the next 30 minutes, try some more.” I didn’t throw up, and I was getting slightly hungry. Could he have been right? I then proceeded to eat the more Chinese prescribed “gloop” that they eat when they’re sick. After eating a can over the course of 2 hours, I thought I was done with the worst of it. Then the IV stopped. And so does part 2 of the grand China adventure.