WELL. Thankfully I made it out of QMH on Friday afternoon, finally. I was discharged at around 4 in the afternoon. It took so much longer than expected. I had been told that as soon as I posted a good post-lunch number I could leave. At that point I was prepared to lie about my number to get out, so that didn't bother me. But when I finally posted my number, I couldn't find any of my usual nurses on duty. I think Friday must be big shift change or something. So I had to explain to a nurse who was unfamiliar with my situation that I needed my insulin pens, stat. I was already prepared to buy the needles at a pharmacy outside of the hospital, so wasn't going to let that keep me.
I was really confused why it was taking so long - I had seen the insulin pen the night before and I thought it was being kept with the nurses in the OB ward. But then it turns out that my pen had to be prescribed to me, and picked up in the pharmacy in another building. So I guess the pen they showed me the night before was just a dummy, or else not really intended for me. The nurse babbled something about their making a distinction between inpatient and outpatient use. But that doesn't make sense because the pens are personal - once you use it you can't share it with someone else. The hospital is so cost conscious that they only allow you once piece of paper towel each time, don't have any paper cups, and don't serve any napkins with the meals. If they had given me a full insulin pen just for inpatient use, I would have only been able to use it one or two times before it would have had to be thrown away, which I cannot imagine that they would allow to happen. And if it was really my pen and they were giving it to me, then why when it was time for me to be discharged did I need to go get a new insulin pen from an entirely different pharmacy?
Anyway, I finally managed to go to the pharmacy, pick up my pens, buy the needles (they managed to find a locksmith after all), and settle my hospital bill. The bill for 5 days and 4 nights of torture? HK$555, or approximately US$70. That comes out to less than the needles and glucose test strips that I had to buy and is about a quarter of the cost of a consultation with a private endocrinologist. Admittedly, that is pretty astonishing.
Jumping into the Uber at the hospital felt like freeeeeedom.
Now that we have (somewhat) put the saga of my hospital stay behind me, and I have successfully injected myself a few times (the first time was the worst), I'm prepared to discuss much better and funnier things.
Like Miss Lola.
Birthday Dress Rehearsal
She is almost 24 months, it is just 2 weeks away! She has been anticipating her birthday for a while now and last week Jovie made her a strawberry cake so she could "practice" her birthday. She did great - she sang happy birthday to herself, in English and Chinese, then blew out the (imaginary) candles, and giggled profusely. When Michael offered to cut the cake with her, she refused because she wanted the whole cake and couldn't bear to see it cut up. She loved the icing and pronounced the cake "so sweet". Her birthday party is being held in a room at Maggie and Rose with a transportation theme, which we fully expect her to love because it should consist of a lot of ride-on vehicles. Hopefully she has fun and doesn't decide she wants to do something else on the day (very much known to happen when she makes up her mind).
I Cry!
So far, Lola has gone to a few assessments for kindergarten for next year. At the first one we went to, she refused to go up the stairs because she was panicked that Michael wasn't coming with her (they only allow one parent in the classroom), then refused to go into her assigned classroom (she liked that the classroom next door had buses), then cried when they closed the classroom door in her face. Needless to say, it could have gone better. But at the second one we went to, she sobbed her eyes and heart out as soon as we approached the threshold of the door for kindergarten and kept beseechingly pointing to the (completely closed and shuttered) indoor playroom, saying she wanted to go there to play. I could not, through any force of will, power of persuasion, bribery, or physical force, get her to stop crying or to calm down. She finally made a very shy and shaky appearance at the end of her 25 minute assessment, with about 2 minutes left, and answered in a monosyllabic whisper some simple questions from the teacher. So that made me think the first assessment actually went swimmingly well. When we got home, Michael asked her, "Lola! What happened?!" She said cheerily, "I cry!" And he said, "But why, Lola? Why did you cry?" And she chirped, "Because! I want to go home!"
Where Lola Goes 'Bleeaaargh'
Last weekend we planned to go to the American Club on Sunday afternoon/evening as is our custom now. We had gotten into the car and were about halfway there when I noticed that Lola had suddenly gone very still and was swallowing and acting a bit odd. Then suddenly, without any warning, she opened her mouth, gagged, and threw up all over herself, her car seat and the car. She was bewildered by what was happened and started crying about halfway through, her little hands coming up to touch her mouth in shock. She is generally a very healthy baby and has only thrown up violently once before, when she was much younger and coughing so hard when she was sick that she threw up all of her milk. Michael pulled over as quickly as he could and we got her cleaned up quickly, hurriedly reassuring her all the while. Thankfully we had a spare change of clothes (diaper bag packing for the win!) and she calmed down pretty quickly. We still don't know what caused it as she had no fever and didn't present any other symptoms - my only thought was that she hadn't been eating well and had too many fruits and foods with acid (passion fruit, banana, strawberries, plums) in quick succession. Later, we asked her, "Lola, what happened?" And she said, "I went 'Blaaaaaaargh'" and made very dramatic (if not quite realistic) noises that was very much akin to her barfing.
On "Borrowing" Things
Lola is really quite shameless when it comes to approaching strangers for things that she wants. She is super gentle and polite about it, but she won't let embarrassment or uncertainty get in the way. When she saw an older girl and boy playing basketball at the public playground in Wan Chai, she went right up to them (never mind that they were in the middle of a game) and asked if she could play with their ball. And another time, when three boys were playing soccer in Victoria Park, she went right up to them (never mind that they were in the middle of a game) and asked if she could kick their ball. Then when she came to visit me in Cyberport last week, she was obsessed with all of the scooters and bicycles that all the older kids were whizzing around on. We told her she had to ask permission first. Undaunted, she went right up to the little boy, reached out her hand and said, "Please, may I borrow? I want." She was refused. Undeterred, she found another pair of siblings and said the same thing. This little boy was much nicer and let her try his scooter. She then saw a tricycle in another part of the park and tried to take it. We told her to ask, which she did, very nicely, and was granted permission. Lola got in, looked at us and said, "I want to take it home."
"I'm a Little Shy"
The foregoing is also what makes this anecdote quite amusing. Lola will repeat or mimic anything we say, including, to Michael's great amusement, saying, "Mama, what's your deal?" or "Daddy, what's your issue?" She also tattles when Michael says "Oh my God." I'm sure it will be less amusing when she picks up his curse words or our bad habits, but for now it is pretty hilarious to hear her say and apply words or phrases she picks up. She has this knack for using them in exactly the right situation, I don't know how. When we were at the park and told her to ask for permission before using the tricycle, she murmured sweetly, "I'm a little shy." We burst out laughing at that. She is shy, but perhaps not in the situation of asking for toys that she wants. She must have heard us say that before when she clams up in front of strangers, but how did she know to apply that phrase right then?
"You Stand Here. You Sit Here. You Hide Here."
Lola loves telling us where to go. I think I've mentioned if we are in her way she will issue commands like a little battalion commander - "Mommy go to sleep," "Daddy go to work," "Tita/Auntie go to the kitchen." Well in addition to that, she also likes to tell us where to stand. When we were at the park, she placed Michael and me next to each other and essentially commanded us to stay in the spot she directed. Then she ran away from us and doubled back around to run toward us. The funniest of all of this is how bad she is at hide and seek. She loves to play "hiding," but refuses to hide and instead runs out toward the seeker giggling. And when it's her turn to seek, she will first point to the exact spot that she wants you to hide, never mind that it defeats the purpose of the game.
I was really confused why it was taking so long - I had seen the insulin pen the night before and I thought it was being kept with the nurses in the OB ward. But then it turns out that my pen had to be prescribed to me, and picked up in the pharmacy in another building. So I guess the pen they showed me the night before was just a dummy, or else not really intended for me. The nurse babbled something about their making a distinction between inpatient and outpatient use. But that doesn't make sense because the pens are personal - once you use it you can't share it with someone else. The hospital is so cost conscious that they only allow you once piece of paper towel each time, don't have any paper cups, and don't serve any napkins with the meals. If they had given me a full insulin pen just for inpatient use, I would have only been able to use it one or two times before it would have had to be thrown away, which I cannot imagine that they would allow to happen. And if it was really my pen and they were giving it to me, then why when it was time for me to be discharged did I need to go get a new insulin pen from an entirely different pharmacy?
Anyway, I finally managed to go to the pharmacy, pick up my pens, buy the needles (they managed to find a locksmith after all), and settle my hospital bill. The bill for 5 days and 4 nights of torture? HK$555, or approximately US$70. That comes out to less than the needles and glucose test strips that I had to buy and is about a quarter of the cost of a consultation with a private endocrinologist. Admittedly, that is pretty astonishing.
Jumping into the Uber at the hospital felt like freeeeeedom.
Now that we have (somewhat) put the saga of my hospital stay behind me, and I have successfully injected myself a few times (the first time was the worst), I'm prepared to discuss much better and funnier things.
Like Miss Lola.
Birthday Dress Rehearsal
She is almost 24 months, it is just 2 weeks away! She has been anticipating her birthday for a while now and last week Jovie made her a strawberry cake so she could "practice" her birthday. She did great - she sang happy birthday to herself, in English and Chinese, then blew out the (imaginary) candles, and giggled profusely. When Michael offered to cut the cake with her, she refused because she wanted the whole cake and couldn't bear to see it cut up. She loved the icing and pronounced the cake "so sweet". Her birthday party is being held in a room at Maggie and Rose with a transportation theme, which we fully expect her to love because it should consist of a lot of ride-on vehicles. Hopefully she has fun and doesn't decide she wants to do something else on the day (very much known to happen when she makes up her mind).
I Cry!
So far, Lola has gone to a few assessments for kindergarten for next year. At the first one we went to, she refused to go up the stairs because she was panicked that Michael wasn't coming with her (they only allow one parent in the classroom), then refused to go into her assigned classroom (she liked that the classroom next door had buses), then cried when they closed the classroom door in her face. Needless to say, it could have gone better. But at the second one we went to, she sobbed her eyes and heart out as soon as we approached the threshold of the door for kindergarten and kept beseechingly pointing to the (completely closed and shuttered) indoor playroom, saying she wanted to go there to play. I could not, through any force of will, power of persuasion, bribery, or physical force, get her to stop crying or to calm down. She finally made a very shy and shaky appearance at the end of her 25 minute assessment, with about 2 minutes left, and answered in a monosyllabic whisper some simple questions from the teacher. So that made me think the first assessment actually went swimmingly well. When we got home, Michael asked her, "Lola! What happened?!" She said cheerily, "I cry!" And he said, "But why, Lola? Why did you cry?" And she chirped, "Because! I want to go home!"
Where Lola Goes 'Bleeaaargh'
Last weekend we planned to go to the American Club on Sunday afternoon/evening as is our custom now. We had gotten into the car and were about halfway there when I noticed that Lola had suddenly gone very still and was swallowing and acting a bit odd. Then suddenly, without any warning, she opened her mouth, gagged, and threw up all over herself, her car seat and the car. She was bewildered by what was happened and started crying about halfway through, her little hands coming up to touch her mouth in shock. She is generally a very healthy baby and has only thrown up violently once before, when she was much younger and coughing so hard when she was sick that she threw up all of her milk. Michael pulled over as quickly as he could and we got her cleaned up quickly, hurriedly reassuring her all the while. Thankfully we had a spare change of clothes (diaper bag packing for the win!) and she calmed down pretty quickly. We still don't know what caused it as she had no fever and didn't present any other symptoms - my only thought was that she hadn't been eating well and had too many fruits and foods with acid (passion fruit, banana, strawberries, plums) in quick succession. Later, we asked her, "Lola, what happened?" And she said, "I went 'Blaaaaaaargh'" and made very dramatic (if not quite realistic) noises that was very much akin to her barfing.
On "Borrowing" Things
Lola is really quite shameless when it comes to approaching strangers for things that she wants. She is super gentle and polite about it, but she won't let embarrassment or uncertainty get in the way. When she saw an older girl and boy playing basketball at the public playground in Wan Chai, she went right up to them (never mind that they were in the middle of a game) and asked if she could play with their ball. And another time, when three boys were playing soccer in Victoria Park, she went right up to them (never mind that they were in the middle of a game) and asked if she could kick their ball. Then when she came to visit me in Cyberport last week, she was obsessed with all of the scooters and bicycles that all the older kids were whizzing around on. We told her she had to ask permission first. Undaunted, she went right up to the little boy, reached out her hand and said, "Please, may I borrow? I want." She was refused. Undeterred, she found another pair of siblings and said the same thing. This little boy was much nicer and let her try his scooter. She then saw a tricycle in another part of the park and tried to take it. We told her to ask, which she did, very nicely, and was granted permission. Lola got in, looked at us and said, "I want to take it home."
"I'm a Little Shy"
The foregoing is also what makes this anecdote quite amusing. Lola will repeat or mimic anything we say, including, to Michael's great amusement, saying, "Mama, what's your deal?" or "Daddy, what's your issue?" She also tattles when Michael says "Oh my God." I'm sure it will be less amusing when she picks up his curse words or our bad habits, but for now it is pretty hilarious to hear her say and apply words or phrases she picks up. She has this knack for using them in exactly the right situation, I don't know how. When we were at the park and told her to ask for permission before using the tricycle, she murmured sweetly, "I'm a little shy." We burst out laughing at that. She is shy, but perhaps not in the situation of asking for toys that she wants. She must have heard us say that before when she clams up in front of strangers, but how did she know to apply that phrase right then?
"You Stand Here. You Sit Here. You Hide Here."
Lola loves telling us where to go. I think I've mentioned if we are in her way she will issue commands like a little battalion commander - "Mommy go to sleep," "Daddy go to work," "Tita/Auntie go to the kitchen." Well in addition to that, she also likes to tell us where to stand. When we were at the park, she placed Michael and me next to each other and essentially commanded us to stay in the spot she directed. Then she ran away from us and doubled back around to run toward us. The funniest of all of this is how bad she is at hide and seek. She loves to play "hiding," but refuses to hide and instead runs out toward the seeker giggling. And when it's her turn to seek, she will first point to the exact spot that she wants you to hide, never mind that it defeats the purpose of the game.
No comments:
Post a Comment