Waiting in the Waiting Room

Hong Kong, China

Mike and I are sitting in the waiting room of the Hong Kong Baptist Hospital, waiting to be seen by our Chinese doctors. We have both been struck down with debilitating sicknesses that have necesitated our putting the Operation on hold while we are diagnosed and treated in Hong Kong. The OC is at a definite low point.

Mike's problem started the morning of our second day in Kunming. He had dry-swallowed his anti-malarial before he went to bed, then woke up with a stabbing pain in his esaphogas every time he swallowed. Over the next few days, the problem didn't get any better. It's at the point now where he can't really eat or drink anything significant before the pain overwhelms him. Most likely diagnosis: esaphogial ulcers. Yewah!
My problem started a day after Mike's, and didn't initially appear as severe. I had a slight cough that night. I had just spent the past two weeks taking a tour of China's smog-holes, so I figured I was just coughing out all of the debris that I had collected in my lungs. However, the next day, while we were taking a hiking tour around the Shilin Stone Forest, the sickness really began to assert itself. By the end of the day, the coughing was more prevalent, and I was starting to show a fever. That night, on the sleeper train to Guilin, the fever really took hold. By the time we made it to Yangshuo, it was clear that I was full-on sick. Plus, as usual, the infection started spreading to my sinuses.

Mike and I toughed it out in Yangshuo for a few days, trying to enjoy the beautiful scenery while we rested and patronized the local pharmacies to find cures for our ails. Unfortunately, the shallow inventory of the pharmacies and our meager doctoring skills were not enough to fully diagnose and/or fix our evil spirits. So, by our third day in Yangshuo, we decided to hit the first sleeper bus to Hong Kong, to get some real medical attention.
It was a long, hot, stinky bus ride, and my fever fluctuated the whole time. Eventually, we made it to Hong Kong, and found some lodging. We then immediately hit the hospital, and that is where we are now. I'm waiting for my turn with the good Doctor Lam.