A bad week!

I wish my blog could have been happy and positive all of the time but life is not like that and bad things happen. They say things happen in threes so maybe our week of bad things will be the end of them for the time being.

Ron got word that one of our heart patients at Xijing Hospital died. This is the first patient we have lost at this hospital. It is the second best heart hospital in China and has excellent surgeons. But even the best cannot perform miracles and sometimes cannot save a life. It is sad to lose a child. The parents had high hopes that finally their child had a change to live and now their hopes are dashed to the ground.

We also got the sad news that Ha Ha and his mother have been burned. (Ha Ha is the child we brought to the U.S from April, 2007 to April, 2008 for burn surgeries at Shriners' Hospital in Cincinnati.)

Details are unclear as to how it happened. It seems that some container burst and threw hot water on them. I would be speculating to say she had build an open fire in the floor to keep warm and had a container of hot water on it. Jackie, our worker, said the container is cheap and known to be defective. I asked Ron if it could have been some type of hot water bottle she had filled to warm up the bed but he didn't think that was the case. I made sure the stove in their kitchen is built up and in a separate room off the back porch so he would not likely get burned there. When I have more details of what actually happened, I will update the blog.

There's the danger of infection and gangrene setting in if they are not treated properly. Medical care in the local hospital is poor.

It appears that Ha Ha's mom, like many peasant women, have no common knowledge and without education, she is careless and unaware of the many dangers raising a child. It is such a shame that the little children have to suffer from the ignorance of their parents.

I have fought a bad cough and bronchitis for the past 10 days and it's still not over. I do not have a fever and there's little congestion, but I have a sinus drainage and the coughing is almost non-stop, in spite of using cough drops, cough medicine, chewing sugarless gum and sipping water. I've consumed three gallons of water in just the past five days. Ron took this infection at the same time but he is only occasionally coughing up congestion from his lungs. My coughing is totally unproductive and seems to be more related to my dry throat and dry bronchi due to Sjogren's Syndrome. After a cold, I usually go through this phase.

I have had very little sleep this week, so Ron gave me l/2 of a sleeping pill last night. I've never taken a sleeping pill in my life. I slept seven straight hours but I have a little feeling of drousiness today as a result of the pill or the cough syrup. It is extremely cold with a strong wind blowing so I will not attend the Chinese group meeting today. I'll give my body another week to regain strength.

Someone wrote and asked me if I had anyone to call in an emergency. I have been so miserable, I thought to myself, I would not call anyone in an emergency. I have a better place to go to and the way I feel, it would be a welcome relief. I'm not afraid of dying; I'm mostly afraid of living!