sicky wicky

Josiah's first big one. Thankfully, up til now, he has only had a few minor colds.

This started as a dry cough, then he proceeded to get more and more lethargic, then hacking all night long. Like, waking up every 30 mins-hour and crying because he couldn't go back to sleep because of his sore throat. Poor dude.

After very little sleep the other night, we decided to take him to the hospital yesterday morning. Then came a decision: trek 2-3 hours to the int'l hospital (more expensive than the US), the same trek to a cheaper hospital that has qualified translators, or try our luck at our local hospital--the cheapest, but no English at all. We decided to go with the latter and took a friend with us, even though she doesn't have English skills. She was still a huge help and knew how the system worked.

We started off in a waiting room with at least 20 other sick kids..and more coming in by the minute. I wanted a mask! (Actually, some people were smart enough to wear them.) Our friend stood at the reception desk almost the entire time, asking how many were in front of us. At one point, it was 20. Then magically, about 10 mins later, we got to go back. hmm?! :) As we walked down the hall, our friend peeked in doors to decide which doc to see. What was she looking for? The fewest people in a room. That's right, no privacy here. She found a room with only 2 families (the sick kid is usually accompanied by at least 2-3 adults..parents, g'parents, aunties, etc.) She pushed her way in while we waited in the hall.

When it was our turn, the doc listened to his chest, asked a few questions, looked in his throat, then sent us out. We then paid for something and I thought to myself, "Was that it? Did we just spend 2 hours here for that?" No. We then went to another part of the hospital where they draw blood. It was literally a teller window. I was so confused. At least the lady had on gloves. I was a bit scared because I had heard that the locals like to go in through the veins in the forehead. This freaks me out. I'm sure they have their reasons, but I'm not aware of them. Thankfully, this was only a finger prick. Whew!

Then we went back to the doc and called up our friends at SOS to translate for us. Praise the Lord for translators! She and the doc went back and forth and finally decided he had a respiratory infection. They then took us to the pharmacy where they gave us 4 different meds. Upon looking all of them up, 3 were legit and 1 was for Hepatitis C...odd. We only gave him one--a glorified cough syrup.

Total cost of the visit and meds: $30 out of pocket.

Last night, Josiah slept for 14 hours with only waking up a handful of times. Today, he was a new boy. He played and ate some food and even talked to us! He was a limp noodle the past 2 days..such a sad state. Although, I secretly liked all the cuddle time and how easily he fell asleep in my arms.

Glad to have my little man back! And thankful for the local hospital, even though it is a tiny bit scary.