Lotus Root, Dried Octopus and Pork Shin

It is Saturday the 16th of August. I hate asking people for things, so fate being what it is, causes me to have to do the things I dislike the most. There will be more to this story.

So, morphine does not enhance one’s sense of humor I have discovered (actually, I repeatedly have discovered this, to be exact.)

Since I have been informed via email that I will be smacked upside the head for leaving people hanging after the last blog, I guess I better fill in a few blanks. Please remember that I think that the Chinese Government only allows cell phone calls to go through that they have time to listen to. You think driving in the US is bad in regards to people talking on cell phones; here no one needs a microwave oven since I am sure you could just stand on the street corner and wait a few minutes to cook your popcorn.

Okay, moving ahead from Wednesday evening where we wandered our way to Prince of Wales Hospital via taxi. Now, you have to picture a really sore rider who is gritting her way along a really noisy, busy city looking for a taxi to take us to the hospital. Since security is so tight there are cops everywhere. This may or may not be normally a good thing when you are a visitor to a new city; however it causes the taxi drivers to be less then helpful because they are only supposed to pick people up in designated spots (which they usually ignore, except when the jack-booted thugs are standing around to shoe them on, sorry Bill.) Now, my dearest has a pain threshold that is amazing; however it does not limit her ability in expressing her displeasure at the current process of walking for what seems forever. It also may just be that I am hyper sensitive.

The hospital is listed as “Prince of Wales”, I was told to ask for “Prince of Wales”, guess what, everyone but the Chinese call it “Prince of Wales.” It is a busy place. Every story you have heard about SARS, usually had its start here. They have a mask vending machine in the lobby, maybe I should be nervous?

Since it is now the 18th of August, I could relate dozen of humorous and not so humorous stories over that last few days Amy has been in the hospital, especially today when I took a taxi back to the hotel so I could get a shower and answer phone calls and emails. Wanting to just veg for half an hour or so while driving back I get the one taxi driver who wants to practice his English. We discussed horses, the NBA, is Washington DC a City or a State… thankfully he was a nice guy.

The long and the short of it is this: on Wednesday evening Amy presented with sharp knee/leg pain that while it was being assessed was accompanied by chills. Eventually after being attended to by a great staff at the hospital, as well as the US Team Doctor and the FEI doctor, a decision was made to place her on antibiotics. All this winds on for a few days before minor surgery was done to remove a hematoma (a bruise, in people terms) around her knee that was trying to get infected.

One of the menu items recently was Lotus Root, Dried Octopus and Pork Shin; yeah Amy is eager to come home. It is pretty funny to listen to her on pain meds, she usually has a conversation with one of our terriers (I am assuming that they are not actually talking back to her of course.)

I need to take the time to thank the people here who have been stopping by and checking on Amy, the hospital staff who are being patient with my lack of Chinese and generally understanding my half-assed, white-man sign language, our family who are getting pathetically little information from us in a timely fashion yet are remaining calm, the families of the two US Docs helping take care of Amy since they are spending a lot of time at the hospital, and the 7-Eleven clerks who clearly work more than a 40 hour week.

Time for me to go find the Outback Steak House around the corner to get something other than Lotus Root for Amy to eat…

Best wishes to all.

- Greg