Challenging Week, More to Follow

It's been turbulent recently. My son seems fully recovered from the flu last week, but the entire island is on red alert for Enterovirus which has caused 7 deaths and over 100 severe cases. Taiwanese fishing ship hit by Japanese Coast Guard near the Diaoyutai islands. Chien-Ming Wang got hurt and is to miss his first possible All-Star Game or even the whole season. I am worried about the first, provoked by the second, and sad about for the third. Peace for everyone!

A Night of Fear

My son had fever last Friday midnight, and was taken to the hospital for examination and treatment. The temperature got higher and higher even with medicine, and the period of rising showed no signed of improvement. Finally, his temperature began to drop on Sunday night, and we were so happy - not knowing what to happen later.

At 2 am Monday morning, he began to cry in a loud and strange voice not similar to his usual voice at all. He refused contact from anyone, even his mother who could always conform him. We measured his temperature, and the reading was below 36 degrees. I thought that the instrument was broken, but we took him to ER anyway because we have no clue what's making him so uncomfortable. Surprisingly, his temperature was really very low. He was suffering from hypothermia. It could be caused by many reasons, including the medicine he was taking. The hospital did blood and urine tests, used lamp to keep him warm, and his mother was holding him all the time. He finally fell asleep around four o'clock in the arms of his mother.

We were kept there for hours. The doctors and nurses changed shift. Many ER cases kept them busy all morning. At 11 am, the pediatric doctor on duty came to us and said that his tests were all normal, and he could not tell what was the real reason for his hypothermia. Since they could not do anything more and my son looked okay, he suggested that we took him home and keep a close eye on him. We should take him to the hospital right away if he shows any sign of hypothermia again.

Now one day passed. His temperature is still not as high as should be, but high enough (around 36) to keep him home. He was not eating as much as usual, but still very energetic. We hope that it will be alright very soon.

Yoshi Sick on His Corrected 1st Birthday

June 6 was the date my son was predicted to be born, so last Friday was his birthday by corrected age. That night, he began to have periodical fever which gradully increased to 39 degrees. We took him to the hospital on Saturday afternoon. The pediatric resident doctor on duty for ER determined that it was caused by some sort of virus, so he reminded us things to note in case of any severe complication. His temperature was still rising periodically, but was not over 39 degrees. However, last night it reached 39.4 around 4 o'clock and the prescription was not showing any effective result for controlling his temperature. We took him to the ER again early in the morning. It was the same resident doctor again. He was so kind to explain the situation to us and then asked the clerk to refund because there was no further treatment. It's a challenge but good to meet good a doctor.

Wen Jiabao on Facebook

This is Wen Jiabao's page on Facebook. The prime minister of China, the emerging power rising from the east. It is an interesting timing to see his page on a place like Facebook. We all know this year is an important year for China to renew its image to the world, by hosting the Olympics Games in Beijing. Unexpectedly, there seemed to be more negative news in this year than ever - snow storms, Tibet conflict, and the huge earthquake that caused over 60,000 deaths.

Summer, Insects

Summer means insect season. There were fireflies couple weeks ago, a butterfly stayed on our French window last week, and last night a giant grasshopper. It fun to have so many insects volunteered for a close-up observation for my son. However, there are insects that I'd rather not see at home - mosquitoes! But, I guess they won't listen since they're not on my payroll.

Great Taiwan Portrait Blog from an 18-Year-Old Girl

Saw a great blog from an 18-year-old girl. Born in a poor aboriginal family, she overcame thousands of harsh challenges to educate herself. Unlike others in her condition, she never blamed anybody but dedicated to help others even when she was just a child. Here is a blog to let you see the people of Taiwan through her eyes. Please visit http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/i2taiwan/. To know more about her, here is another site from her offering free online learning for young students.

Ma made cover of Time

Ma Ying-Jeou is listed as the top 100 "The World's Most Influential People" by Time magazine and his photo is on the cover. Hu Jin-tao, leader of China, is also on the list and is much higher ranked than Ma. However, his photo was not on the cover. This is interesting.