Surgery

It's 2:20am and I just got back to our room after signing anesthesia release papers written completely in Chinese. Mom just started surgery and I will be up for another 3 hours or so waiting to hear how it goes.

The whole day was a whirlwind. Yesterday a rumor started amongst the Korean patients at our hospital that inspectors from the Olympics Board would be coming to our hospital today and that we were under orders not to leave our rooms or speak Korean in the halls in case the inspectors should take note. This was unbelievably scary to me and so a long and emotional conversation between my mom and I ensued. I told her I felt very uncomfortable with our situation here and I really wanted to pursue other options. We talked for a long time about how each "option" that was out there really wasn't a feasible one. We slept on it.

This morning, to avoid the inspectors altogether I suggested we leave the hospital and go to the mall downtown for lunch. As of this morning, my mom was still 3rd (she got pushed back one) on a list of only type B kidney patients. Considering there are only 3 or 4 days till the Olympics hold, the Choi family decided this morning that we were definitely going home empty handed this time around. We told our interpreter over lunch that we will be going home on June 29th and my dad said that he expected me to leave for SF as planned on July 1st.

Then around 4pm, while still at the mall, we got a call from the hospital telling us to rush my mom back to the hospital as soon as possible as two kidneys for Type-B patients had become available and she needed to sign papers and pay for the operation as soon as possible. 5pm is bad traffic time in downtown Tianjin so the ride back to the hospital was unbelievably long and incredibly anxiety-ridden. When we arrived, we rushed to reception, paid for the surgery, signed a lot of papers, and my mom began a series of tests and prep. Then we were told to wait for 6 hours until the compatibility tests began at midnight. They were prepping three patients for two kidneys so that they could find the best possible match.

At midnight we received word that the severe thunderstorm that had started around 7 had delayed the arrival of the organs and that surgery would not start until around 3am, if it happened at all.

At around 1:30 a nurse came and told us that my mom would be going upstairs for surgery in just a few minutes and that the other candidates would not be going ahead tonight, one for lack of tissue matching and the other for an unknown cancellation. She was quickly whisked away on a stretcher and we piled in the elevator together. Before I could even say good luck, I was taken off at the 12th floor and taken to a tiny conference room to sign off on the anesthesia application, which was written completely in Chinese. Luckily we had our interpreter with us and he explained that it was normal procedure. By the time we could get back up to the 13th floor where the surgery is happening, all the doors were locked and we were told we weren't allowed in.

So now I'm back in room 505. Dad's visa into China can't be approved until Saturday so he will come then and stay as long as necessary. So for now, it's just me and it's a little scary to be honest. Our interpreter is waiting it out on the 1st floor.

It's 3am and there's about another two hours left. Please keep her in your prayers and thoughts.

Love,

Minna