Irreplaceable Irene

On a day like today, when I am feeling a little extra blue about my situation, its best to concentrate on the wonderful people in my life.  Irene is a friend I met here in Taiwan.  She has been here about two years because of her husband coming here to work.  They lived in California for years, but both have childhoods involving living in some part of China such that they speak Mandarin fluently.  They, and their boys that are Jesse’s age, accepted an invitation to dinner here just over a week ago and we had a very fun time getting to know one another.  At that time we began making arrangements for Irene to come over for lunch and to help me order books from a Chinese website this last Tuesday.  That would have been the Tuesday after I crashed, so the Sunday after I crashed I sent her an email saying I was injured, but would still like to order the books.  Irene showed up yesterday around noon with the card in the picture above and a hug. Her love in action didn’t stop there.  She graciously answered some of my questions left over from my ER visit.  Then she had some ideas of her own.  She had gained extensive experience with the medical system here when her husband had a serious accident  sometime after their arrival.  She used this knowledge to give me valuable input on what to be prepared for and how to make sure forms are satisfactory for insurance purposes, and in English.  She helped me understand the  clinic schedule and site map that had been given to me. Amazingly, nearly the exact moment we were done getting all of that done, the surgeon called to talk to me.  He asked me if I spoke Chinese and sounded quite disappointed at my answer as he labored on with the details.  I had to interrupt to give him the good news that Irene was there and could speak Chinese.  It turns out they had had a bed open up for that evening and could I be there for a consultation by 3 PM.  We decided to go.  Greg could make it home from work and Irene would go with us. First, she called a nurse practitioner who had helped her before.  This person outlined some very good things to ask the doctors about the procedure, such as who would be in the operating room, and encouraged us to ask for copies of the images taken in ER.  She also told us she would help if we wanted to make arrangements for a second opinion. Irene was invaluable during the appointment.  She asked for every detail from the doctor, whom she spoke to in Chinese about half the time.  He would talk to us well in English for a while and then resort to Irene to get the fuller meaning across.  She took notes like a board secretary, in a combination of both English and Chinese.  Then she guided us around the facilities to registration and medical records departments until we had all the recommended information.  When she got home, she emailed me a typed and translated transcript of the doctor’s visit.  Wow. The doctor had said it was reasonable to wait a couple of more days.  Mostly we will be looking to see if there is any change in how my mouth opens.  He operates on Wednesdays.  I have a follow-up appointment with him Saturday morning. Meanwhile, I went ahead and called the nurse practitioner this morning to ask about that second opinion.  She called her contact, who managed to get me an appointment this afternoon at 3 PM at a private clinic!  They were both surprised that it was so easy and said I “must have someone looking out for me.”  That made me cry a little. So, I’m leaving in a few minutes to meet Irene at the clinic.  I called her this morning while she was in the middle of a meeting.  She said she’d come.  Now you know why Irene is irreplaceable. story continues here