Taiwantremors - The Hogans in Taiwan

Friday, August 21, 2009

Only In Taiwan

So apparently at this hospital, when you go to the ER you are actually going to the ERR... Or the Emergency Room Room...

Need I say anything more with this picture?

Jevin just barely fit in the clothes they had. In fact only two outfits. These pictures were taken by Josie. She was bored.... VERY BORED. I gave her my phone to play with and she figured it out... with a little help, she figured out how to use the camera and took a gizzillion pictures...
The picture at the bottom is Selina. She is the one that finds models... Now that all the foreign babies I know of are too big... if anyone has any leads on foreign babies that are between 6 and 14 months, give me a dingle and I will get you in touch with Selina.

Jevin's Hair before his Show

From my cell phone....
Jevin's hair before he had his show (in the bumble bee costume).

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Jason is in the Hospital

Well... Perhaps I will let Jason come back and correct the details but for now I will write them as I understand them.

On Saturday Jason pointed out two lumps in his neck. They hurt... but not that bad.... But by the middle of the night, they were throbbing and causing intense pain. He went to ER. Basically the doctors gave him meds and said there was nothing else they could do and sent him home.
On Sunday, he was unable to sleep as a result of the constant throbbing pain. He went back Sunday night. This time he notified his neuro doctor and that doctor notified the ER doctor and things went a little better for meds and attention.
On Monday, he was admitted.
The doctor said, "You have swollen lymph nodes and a migraine. The lymph nodes may be infected. There could be surgical implications. Do you have a family history of CANCER?"
That "C" word got my imagination going... Terrifying...
On Tuesday, after a consultation with dermatology and a surgeon, it was decided that he would not need surgery and that they would treat it with meds. So for the next two or so days, they will observe whether the medication is working or not.
They did come to us today and say that they suggest that he uses a special drug that is not covered by our heath care. We would have to pay outright for it. It is quite expensive.
Also today, my new supervisory, Cathy, came to see Jason. She had gone to the principal and told him that Jason was in the hospital. She brought a red envelope from the principal. Principal Lai was so generous. His gift will pay for the special medications.
Isn't it strange how things just seem to work themselves out?

Josie's New Bike

Showing off her new pink helmet. It is amazing to see so many kids not wearing helmets...

Coming in to park and play for a while.

On this particular day, we rode to get breakfast and just stopped at the elementary school to ride around for a bit. It was nice. There were no other people, except for one jogger (jogging the wrong way on the track...) so she was quite free to go fast and slow and in circles without any chance of hitting anyone. This also gave her some experience with her hand breaks... VERY IMPORTANT, especially with new shoes on...

Friday, August 7, 2009

B-Day Dinner

We took Josie out to Chili's for dinner. She had Pizza. Jevin had everything. It was a good night. The kids got bears from a make-your-own-bear story. As you can see, when they passed out on the ride home, both were hugging their new best friends.

On the way to B-Day dinner

So our birthday dinner for Josie was delayed slightly by a traffic jam... Why was traffic so jam packed...? well, there had been an accident. The first car was flipped upside down... Note the driver by the side of the road...

The second car was cut in half... Again, note the person to the right.

The third car had its back window smashed out.

And the truck that caused all the problems went over the mountain...

So in an effort to explain what had happen and to rationalize the whole event, we tried to figure out what happened. Jason suggested that the truck had lost his brakes and hit the other three. From start to finish the accident path was one kilometer long.
The next day, Jason was talking to our friend Winston. He said that he had seen it on the Chinese language news. Six people injured but amazingly no one died!!! What a miracle!