And we ate like kings…
First thing this morning Dr. Ma came in to visit Brayden. Again, Brayden tracked the light from side to side with all the lights on in the room!! All of the staff was very excited, so that made our day!!! Brayden seemed to have a headache this time. He has been screaming pretty much all day, so I’m afraid it is a pretty bad one. We decided to go ahead and take him to PT hoping it would calm him down a bit, but it was pretty intense. He seemed very uncomfortable. I can’t even explain the difference in therapy here compared to at home. It is like an hour or so every single day. 40 minutes of that consists of stretching him into positions I can’t even describe! The other 20 minutes he spends in a stander for weight bearing. I wish I could pack up these little Chinese men, and take them home. They are so good! Heck, the salary they would make at the interlocal would seem like a million bucks to them!
While at PT, Cathy from California asked if I would like to go with her to the RT Mart to get some things for a going-away party for our friends Alicia and Chris from Vegas. Brylie and I bundled up and headed out with Chris, Cathy, and Tonya from New Zealand. This was my first time in a cab, so I must say, I thought I was going to have to check my drawers when we arrived at RT. It is like Joplin with no traffic signs or lights at rush hour!!! Wowza! So the fish floor at the RT Mart was at it’s prime today! Smelling as disgusting as ever. If I could bottle that smell, I would sell it as a diet drug. One sniff of that odor, and you won’t want anything to eat for hours! Anyway, we were trying to find a nice gift for a caregiver, and as we turn down the aisle toward the ideal gift, we get a gift of our own. Chinese Grandpa is holding a plastic bag while Chinese Grandson pee pees in it right in the middle of the aisle!! I could not believe it. I don’t mean like finding a corner or anything- I mean right in the middle of the aisle, pants around ankles and all! Gramps then proceeds to tie up the bag of potty, sticks it in the cart, and away they go!! We all were rolling, but managed to finish our shopping for the party. On the way out, we stopped at KFC. They serve soft-serve ice cream sundaes there- a lot like McDonald’s at home, so Brylie and I picked one up for Daddy and Brayden, said a prayer for our safe return in the taxi, and headed back to the hospital. Cathy and I had so many groceries, that we couldn’t carry them all up to the rooms, so Brylie and I sat on the curb guarding the sacks while Cathy went upstairs to retrieve Brylie’s stroller to use as a cart. Now let me tell you, Brylie and I got a lot of stares! I’m sure not too many Americans sit on the curb of a hospital surrounded by groceries in the freezing cold!
Not long after our return, it was time for Brayden to go to accupuncture. A lady from New Jersey mentioned that they got accupuncture for her husbands drooling, and it made it stop completely. We thought we would give it a whirl- what could hurt worse than accupuncture in the head- under the chin should be a breeze. WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!! Martin stuck that needle all the way into his tongue from under Brayden’s chin and started to twist it. Brayden came unglued and so did we! We made him stop immediately!! I don’t care if Brayden soaks a million shirts a day- I don’t ever want to do that again! We felt really bad for him.
The big going-away party started at 3:30. I couldn’t believe how well it turned out. Giovanni, the Australian-Italian, cooked spaghetti and potatoes. He cut up all the fruit we bought and made really nice fruit plates. He used to have an Italian pizzeria and restaraunt, so he really knows how to cook! How lucky are we! Hence the title- “We ate like kings!” It was really nice to hang out with all of the families. The amazing part was that all of the doctors on duty joined us. They brought their own camera’s and asked for pictures with everyone! That is certainly not the kind of service you would get in the U.S.!!! Really the staff is so kind!
At evenings end, our friends from Vegas came down to hang out with us for awhile. We are certainly going to miss them! Good news though- Alicia is in a wheelchair- paralyzed from the waist down from a motorcycle accident when she was 16. After 6 treatments, she can feel her kneecaps move when she did the electro-therapy! This is amazing bc the docs say that most spinal cord injury patients don’t see results until about 6 months after treatment. Such amazing things going on here! Still can’t understand why people in the US don’t demand that we provide this treatment at home. It is America for crying out loud!!!
Hope you all have a great Tuesday! Good night from China!
18 comments April 22nd, 2008
