Sick Kids

OK.  I've set my timer for 30 minutes, after which I will post this and go to sleep.

It has been one week today since Quinten was admitted to the hospital with a high fever.  It started to come down Friday, and they stopped giving him drugs, but they didn't want to send him home until Monday, because when they release patients on the weekend they frequently come back and need to be readmitted through the emergency room, which is, I guess, a major bummer for everyone involved and not worth the minor advantage gained by taking your family out of an environment full of sick people and health care professionals who don't necessarily have germ theory grilled into their minds.

Last week Maxine and I stayed with Horyon's parents, while Horyon spent every moment outside of work in the hospital with Quinten.  Friday, Saturday and Sunday night Maxine and I stayed at home, got some laundry done, caught up a bit on cleaning up the kitchen, and I cooked a nice chicken soup, which made me feel tons better.  Maxine whined at first because there were onions AND green onions, but I had deliberately left them large enough for her to eat around.

Sunday we hung out at the hospital with Quinten and Mommy, then Horyon's parents took Maxine and I to a meat restaurant.  Maxine ate quite a bit, as did I.

That night Maxine had a tummy ache.  I gave her a Tums, and we both got to sleep by 9:45, pretty early for us.  And this morning she felt crummy.  Vomited twice, and had a fever.  So she got admitted to the hospital instead of Quinten being released.

Right now (almost 11 p.m. my time) Horyon is there with both kids.  The sofa is pushed next to the bed, the kids have their IV drips going, and it is cozy and warm, and just a bit stuffy.  Today was a Yellow Dust day. (Comes from China, fun stuff, coats everything and makes you sneeze.  The Korean Herald said today was the worst yellow dust day of the year.)  That always makes things more fun.

Some people have asked me about insurance for the kids.  We are all insured through our work, though there have been complications.  Nothing that keeps the insurance from working though.  Since Maxine and Quinten are both officially Korean citizens, they are automatically insured by the state if we do not have insurance for them.  Neat, huh?  And though I have issues with the hospital, at $120 per day after insurance picks up the lion's share, I can't complain.  Not out loud, anyway.  Well, not out loud to them, anyway.

Here's one characteristic of a Korean hospital:  everyone gets the IV drip, all the time.  You see patients standing outside having a cigarette with IVs, though not so much from this hospital as it is a pediatric hospital. Quinten has had an IV into his hand (switching hands every three days for the past week.  He has become quite clever at untangling himself, and they have the entry bandaged up so that he can't pull it out or mess it up.  At least he hasn't so far.

They put the IV in Maxine's right hand.  She was pretty upset over how it impacted her coloring, but quickly got over it with some positive reinforcement from me.  She still gets tangled, but she's learning.

Speaking of Tangled, Mom and Dad sent Maxine the video "Tangled" and it arrived this weekend.  Maxine and I watched the whole thing together.  First time in a long time for us to do that.  It was a lot of fun, had me laughing out loud in many places, though not usually the same places that made Maxine laugh out loud.  Thanks Mom and Dad!  They also sent me some bicycle stuff.  Don't know when I will be able to use that...

I brought them both fresh coloring and sketch books today.  Looks like Quinten may be heading down the same artistic path as Maxine, except that he seems to prefer methods that make more noise.  Hmm....

I have gotten a lot of support from friends and family back in the states, and my coworkers here have been great, too.  Of course, when you're a teacher there is not a whole lot that other people can do to make your job much easier.  In the end it is you up there either teaching or making a fool of yourself.

My half hour is almost up.  I need to remember to bring some shoes for Horyon.  She lets Quinten walk around diaper-less sometimes, and today he peed on her shoes.  I usually tell her that it's not a good idea to leave him diaper free, but today I kept my mouth shut.  See Mom, I'm learning something!