Taipei

I was waiting for my final flight when I began to get chest pains along with pain running down my arm and had to figure out what to do.  Do I get on the plane and risk a heart attack on a 3 1/2 hour flight?  Was it really no big deal.  Well by the time we were boarding I was dizzy, nauseous and short of breath.  Made the decision easy and hey I figured - Vermont is always talking about Taiwan's healthcare system, now I have a chance to see it up close and personal.  So in a wheelchair, through customs, immigration, ambulance to some hospital somewhere.  The ER was hopping.  I was totally overwhelmed and sucking back tears (fear-for my health, disappoinment- my trip of a lifetime can't be aborted now, isolation- few spoke English and I didn't even have a Taiwanese dollar to buy a bottle of water, trepidation - was the needle sterilized that was in for my IV and what injection did the nurse just give me???  

Well it was morphine.  This experience wasn't surreal enough but now I'm zonked out on morphine.  Well, here's an interesting little known fact...Taiwanese sounds like English when you are flying high.  Seriously weird.  I attracted a bit of attention being the only farang in the place.  One toothless youngish guy kept walking by me saluting.  It got to be a bit odd so I tried to close my eyes or read my book when he walked by.  He then stood by my bed talking in a low threatening voice sounding like he was casting a curse on me- so creepy.  I tried to believe he was actually a Taiwanese Shaman chanting healing prayers but that took some imagination.

I decided that this was going to be a learning experience.  That I'd take something good from this.  I tried really hard.   I learned that all staff wore face masks, which makes it really hard to tell one person from another.  I noticed that loads of people appear to be suffering from the flu and staff didn't help people too much - that was left for family.  I noticed that after ten at night the crowd changes from poor screaming babies to drunks and prostitutes.  The change in clientele was pretty interesting but didn't seem to be the lessons I was searching for.  I finally got a doctor and nurse who spoke English well.  Got the tests to determine that my pericarditis wasn't severe enough to kibosh my trip and then I got the beginning of my lesson...The doctor was amazing.  He got my hotel while the nurse called the airline.  They both helped me check out and called for a "safe" taxi and walked me out to talk to the driver and the doctor gave me his cell number in case I needed anything more.  I hugged them both and was so moved by my vulnerability and their outreach.  Creepy shaman saluted as I walked out with a big toothless grin - looking far less threatening.  As I sat back in the taxi, listening to beautiful soothing Asian music I looked back to wave to the doctor and nurse and shaman jogged next to the car, proudly saluting the whole way.  This was lesson 1A - show your vulnerability and people will touch your heart (even a slightly swollen and achy one).  Lesson 1B was to come in the morning.

Some of my ER patients.  This place was hopping!

This person was next to me.  In my drugged state I thought it looked like Yoda was in for an ear-job.  She was fine in the end so I thought it was ok to publish this.  Still can't figure out what the heck was on her heard!