A visit to the hospital...

Last Wednesday night was a long night. A little background from Micah's mom and then a Micah interview...

Micah got a cough on Wednesday that triggered his Reactive Airway Disease.

While giving a breathing treatment, we blew the converter. Thankfully, the store was still open and we could exchange it for a better one. It still smelled like burning plastic all night and Micah did not respond to the treatment. We also blew the power and our heat was already out :). Thankfully, the power came on, Aaron got to meet the neighbor and I found my glasses trying to fix the heat!

Thursday morning we set out to find the Dr. we (Wendy) took a taxi to a doctor's office recommended by a friend. They were booked and said there were more doctor's offices along that street. We went to the next one. They were booked. The third one was booked, but slipped us in at the end as "an immediate and necessary." Whew. They gave us registration forms--I had no idea what any of this was, but started realizing it was a nationalized health care thing. I called my pediatrician friend when I realized I didn't even know this doctor and was she good? My friend called me back and was able to confirm that this would be a good GP to register with!

So, we waited for about an hour for our appt. and the doctor was great. She said that Micah was under breathing duress, wrote us a letter and called us a taxi. We went to a children's hospital (maybe each hospital specializes--not sure on that one) I realized I hadn't paid or asked about it--so, I asked the cab driver and he said, "Lady, this is England, health care is free and so is the hospital)" I have talked a lot with taxi drivers about health care in England (as we went back and forth) and it's not really free--you pay a lot in taxes and you can actually get insurance which ensures you get better care, private rooms, etc. Need to check more of that out! The hospital is Alder Hey, if anyone wants to check it out! It was nice to not have to worry about cost in the middle of a crisis. Wish the U.S. could come up with a compromise--no health care system is perfect, but we should never give up revamping until it works well!

We got there and got directed to the A and E -- Ambulatory and Emergency. The nurse realized his oxygen levels were low and he was admitted right away. By this time, Micah's Dad had come from class, so I went home to get girls from school. It turned out that Micah had to stay in the hospital, which I was glad so he could get care, but sad because he was so sick. We have never seen him in such breathing duress! :(

The amazing thing was that he was seen that very night by our friend and neighbor from church, Dr. B who was a missionary in Malawi! We didn't have to explain anything to him about our situation beyond the details of the attack and he was able to recommend a treatment that we can use without power in Uganda and that Micah has responded well to. We are so proud of Micah--he can be shy, but he was brave and took immediate ownership of his hospital stay and treatment. He likes it better than the mask he usually does, but at least we have both options of inhaler and nebulizer.

Micah thinks...

Were you scared when you got sick? No!

What did you think of the hospital? I was surprised that I had to go to the hospital. It was kind of cool and fun.

Why? Because I didn't have to get any shots or get stuff that hurt. I got to go to a room and it had a TV and the back of the bed could move by remote control. I got a lot of good food.

What was on your finger? This thing that could count my breath. I called it my finger flashlight 'cause there was red light and at night it was like a flashlight.

What did you keep saying? This is the life? why? because there was a TV, really good food, my bed and my dad was there watching TV with me!

What about the staff? The people that were there were really nice. The cook wanted to take me home because she liked my accent.

Anything else? nothing.

So, he ended up only staying one night and was at school on Monday--wow! We do thank God for grace and peace and for lots of people praying!