Traditional Mid-Year Hospital Stay

So a lot's happened in the last month! Most notably, I was hospitalized for 12 days after I went in to see about this "cold that just wouldn't go away."

 Turns out it was acute tonsillitis! And while I was less than thrilled about the mandatory 3 days of IV antibiotics, you can imagine my reaction when I was informed I also had acute hepatitis (though luckily not viral). The doctor hypothesized that my long-term fever and few weeks popping pills to relieve symptoms had aggravated my liver and spleen. Every other day we did more blood tests and every other day I was told I'd need to stay longer!

The first few days were beyond miserable, but after a week I was feeling so much better that I  started to enjoy the meditation time. The 6 month mark is good timing for a little break and bedrest. I made friends with some of the patients and their families who were immediately concerned I wasn't eating enough. They would bring me oranges and chocopies and mime eating whenever we passed in the hallway, while expertly maneuvering our IV bags to avoid collision. The nurses would slip me cookies and juice. One nurse made me a sandwich! Another little girl started visiting my room when she came to see her grandmother down the hall and we drew pictures and played cards.



By the end I was almost sad to go. I had gotten used to the visitors, the pill regimen, the meals delivered to my bed every 5 hours (like magic!). Even the 6am wake-up to take blood samples no longer phased me! 12 days in a hospital and it's like the outside world no longer exists!









Of course, it also helped to have such a fantastic girlfriend to bring me food and bottle after bottle of 100% juice from organic grapes etc... 

Or take over entertaining my guests when I got too tired.






I made my nurses a card when I left illustrating all the their contributions to my wellbeing: shots, IVs, pills, juice and sandwiches. They were so friendly despite their extremely limited English and constantly tried to cheer me up. "Fighting!" they would say with a fist in the air as they came to administer a shot in my butt. Another nurse told me I could smell her rosemary plant if I felt stressed because it always makes her feel calm. They were the sweetest. They laminated my card and put it on the wall.



And magically, what began as a nightmare, became something really great: a time to reflect on my time in Korea, meet fantastic people, and give my body a little break. I hope I never forget the experience. It also made me appreciate walking around unattached to an IV bag a lot more! The first thing I did on my first weekend out of the hospital was go to the beach. The weather's starting to be really nice!