I'll try to sleep and see how it goes tomorrow. Deacon Yang in our English ministry is a physician with a heart the size of Korea and he will look me over if I still have pain.
So, they finally discharged me after about 3 hours in the strangest Emergency Room I've ever stepped foot in. "All the tests were clear, no problems, can't find anything wrong. That will be $70 please." (You'll all be glad to know the pregnancy test was negative too
) Overall, there's nothing they could do for my pain and I'd just have to go to a day clinic next week if it persisted.*** since I'm telling it in reverse, you might think I was alone in my adventure, have no fear, my friends were close-- my friends and church would never let me go-it-alone!***
Looking out the window of my little corner "bay" in the big room full of interesting sick people and their families, I treasured up all the new sights and sounds of this adventure (and finished planning my Bible study for tomorrow). Every 20 minutes or so a new little (or not-so-little) face would peek around the curtain wall to see the white girl sitting in her bed. I couldn't blame them, I was people watching too (ever so sneakily through the reflection of the dark windows
)My friends left to find some dinner after the need for an interpreter was passed and I was just waiting for the next tests. The chest x-ray was not too exciting; but the tech got to ask his one English question "where are you from?" Then my bed was wheeled back down the narrow hall, where after some jockeying and arranging, they landed me in slot 4 of the B section (not where I was b4 =). I got as comfy as I could -- this hospital knows what kind of blankets to use: big, fluffy, and warm! Since it hurt to lie down, I sat there waiting, watching people, reading, texting on my phone, and wondering why no one has figured out a way to warm the IV liquid on the way in so that it doesn't freeze your arm.
It didn't take long to find a nurse who spoke a little English and they quickly had my vital signs recorded, my pee in a cup, and an EKG readout. Giving medical history in broken English is a skill I hope to never have to perfect-- it's hard! While a nurse is taking a blood sample and affixing an I-V, the doctor is trying to ask all these questions and I suddenly realize how much I use my hands for charades to make things understood--universal sign language.
When we finally found the Emergency room (the only part open on a Saturday evening), I was given a bed in the triage section. There were some mementos of previous patients on the sheets: hair, lint, bandage tape... nothing visibly contagious, but strange to see after my years of candystriping and living in germ-aware America.
I knew it would be an adventure as soon as Sue and I walked through the front doors while Yunmo (pronounced Yoon-moe) parked the car. Patients wandering around with lots of family surrounding them, very open wards and gathering rooms where healing happens right out there for everyone to see... "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto!" We're so secretive, quiet, and protective about all this hospital stuff in the states, but here, it's far more open and do-it-yourself.
It would almost seem best to get sick on the weekend (no work to get out of to see a doctor), but since the clinics and Dr. offices are closed, it means you have to take a trip to the hospital. We were told by the doctor in our English ministry that our best chance at finding English speakers was the Catholic hospital in Uijeongbu. Yunmo knows where it is, so when Sue mentioned our plans to him, he got on his white horse (little black car) and came to the rescue! (his shining armor was at the cleaners
) Don't get all excited, this is not a romance story.The pain was getting worse so that it even overcame my normal resistance to doctor/hospital thinking. So, I called Sue back (she was out running errands) and told her I thought I should go to a doctor instead of going to dinner. She said she would go with me and in the course of our phone tag, Yunmo found out what was going on and offered his car as a taxi.
Following a LLLLOOOONNNNGGGGG Friday (school, tutoring, prayer service, and the midnight-4am shift at the school lock-in), I was feeling sore and tired all day while grading papers and doing little things around the house. After making plans with Sue to go for dinner in a couple hours, I got up to get myself ready-- yes, I spent most of Saturday in my bathrobe
-- I realized that it wasn't just some back muscles that were sore, it was my whole chest and over the next hour, my lungs were threatening to mutiny with every inhale and exhale. When it hurts to breathe, you find out how often such an action is really necessary-- wow!
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