HOSPITAL STAY

Well, I (Annalicia) ended up having to stay in the hospital for two nights this past week. Phil and I went in on Tuesday evening because I had a high fever and kidney pain. Luckily, a hospital is only about four or five blocks away from our apartment. We were hoping they'd prescribe antibiotics and send me home. That didn't happen. Instead, they sent me to the emergency room and ended up telling us that I needed to be admitted for a kidney infection.

Being sick in a foreign country where you don't know the language is definitely an experience. Phil and I had to bring our Taiwan travel book to the hospital. It had phrases in it like: "I'm sick." and "I need a doctor." and "Is there a doctor available who speaks English." That actually worked pretty well and to our pleasant surprise, most of the doctors spoke at least a little bit of English. There were definitely some confusing times, though. For example, after doing an ultrasound, my emergency room doctor told me my kidney was sweating. I had never heard of that happening, but at that point I felt so sick I didn't care what it was doing as long as they knew how to make it stop! I found out later that my kidney wasn't perspiring...it was swelling. :)

I felt the care I received was really good, but didn't always know what was going on because of the language barrier. The people from my school were very kind and helpful, though...they filled out paperwork for me, talked to my doctors and nurses for me, brought me food, etc... The hospital facilities were brand new, but the rooms were very simple. I was in a room with two other ladies. There was no TV and no internet access. So, I slept a lot, read a lot, and Phil and I played hangman! :)

There were always a lot of people in my room because the two other ladies had a lot of family visit. They all seemed very kind, but I was not able to communicate with any of them beside saying simple phrases and smiling a lot. There were times they thought I knew way more Chinese than I actually do and they'd go on and on, hoping I'd understand. After they'd finish I'd try to communicate to them that I was sorry, but I had no idea what they said. Often, they'd say, "Ok, ok ok..." and then start up again, speaking slower and louder and trying to use different phrases. Being a native English speaker from the US, I had never been in that position before, so it was a good experience to have. I could tell the intention of their communication was very kind, though, and I appreciated that. These people in my room were also very curious about me. They'd often peak into my area and look at me. Sometimes they'd smile, sometimes they'd wave, and sometimes they'd just stare. :)

What surprised Phil and I the most was how inexpensive the medical care is here compared to the US. The cost of staying two nights in the hospital, an emergency room visit, X-rays, ultrasounds, blood tests, antibiotics, pain medication, etc... was only around 375 US dollars...FOR EVERYTHING WITHOUT ANY INSURANCE! The day after I got out of the hospital my director helped me get my Taiwanese medical insurance setup and with that, the hospital reimbursed most of what Phil and I initially paid. So, in the end, we only ended up having to pay around 35 US dollars for all the care I received....INCREDIBLE!

For those of you who knew I was in the hospital, thanks for thinking of me...know that I'm feeling much better now! (Sorry, no pictures! :) )