Prince of Wales Hospital

Well Bubba caught yet another cold. I am still in the process of deciding how I feel about the doctors here and giving Josiah all the medicine they love to perscribe (4 prescriptions for his last cold). I decided this time to let it "run it's course." At 2:30 am Wednesday morning this was no longer feeling like the right decision. It was the worst of Josiah's fourth sleepless nights and he was waking up every 10 minutes shrieking because he was having difficulty breathing. Even when I let him sleep in our bed and on my chest (his favorite) he was inconsolable. He was miserable, I was miserable (I had now caught the same cold). So all three of us stumbled into a cab and went to the emergency room.
We were seen right away and the doctor urged us to admit Josiah to the hospital. We were reluctant, but a chest x- ray revealed all the junk in his lungs we had been listening to. It was around 4 am when we were whisked up to the pediatric ward where Josiah was poked and prodded, taking every sample and measurement you can imagine. It was a relief to be in his room where Josiah was given his first breathing treatment and oxygen. His lungs were cleared and he finally had the relief to sleep. Not so much for me since the chair they give the parents looks like a reject from a 3rd grade classroom. At one desperate moment I tried sleeping in the crib with Josiah, that lasted about 3 minutes til the nurse caught me. (:
We were there the whole next day, quarantined to our room. We were both going a little stir crazy, but managed to enjoy all the quality time together. Josiah's usual compulsion to squirm after 1.5 seconds was gone, so we had some great cuddle time. By 5:00pm the pediatrician released us for a home stay, provided we return in the morning. We did the next day and were discharged with an inhaler to use at home. The most amazing part to me is that the entire experience cost us $20 US, that's without insurance. Yep, that's the medicine, x- ray, specialists visits, ER, food, our own room etc. Next time you need to be hospitalized come visit us in Hong Kong!