THE DENGUE FILES - Bye Bye China

Read Part Four here. 

WEDNESDAY

Alex’s oxygen tube was removed and the EKG monitor was taken away. The little Christmas card still remained tied to his bed; however, I think now its purpose was more decorative vs. cautionary. 

I also noticed that I lost about 5 pounds so silver lining!  Possibly half of the weight loss came out from my eyes but I’ll take what I can get.

FRIDAY

After two weeks in the hospital, Alex was finally released to go home.  The IV’s were replaced with a bag full of pills of which he’s taking about 20 a day but when it comes to pills vs. needles, I think pills win out any day.  Now you know both what type of patient (wimpy) and what type of drug addict (stomach pump) I would be.

My bags have been packed and I’ve left China for good after living here the majority of my young adult life. It was a crazy stressful 14 days but Alex has recovered and joined me in New York, our Shanghai friends proved to be absolutely amazing, our families came through in the way that families always do during the darkest times and so, in that respect, what was possibly my worst Christmas ended up quite reaffirming in a warm and fuzzy Hallmark card way. 

We found out what we were made of, realized what we both had and now we both have a crazy China tale that trumps most others, so watch out social gatherings – Alex and I have total story swagger for 2013.  Ultimately though, if you think about it, what’s the point of living in China for so long really if you can’t have at least one near death experience?