Pix & Pricks

The now obligatory "happy with food" shot of the day

No, that's not the name of my new adult bookstore. Sickos.

Yesterday was Eli's medical exam and vaccinations. We spent a surreal hour and a half or so at a hot, cafeteria-style medical clinic positively overrun by adoptive families and their children. We entered the clininc and promptly sat down on some metal benches to wait for our guide to check us in. Ten minutes or so later, we got up and moved 15 feet into the waiting room proper, a big square joint with chairs around the outside edges and a Pixar movie playing on a big flat-screen plasma television. With no sound. And Chinese subtitles. I should note that this is a Chinese medical clinic, with all Chinese staff, nurses, and doctors. We got there early, first thing in the morning, so were moving pretty quickly. We had to hit four stations, and have Eli signed off at each one of them.



Station One: Vitals. Height, weight, body temperature, etc. The nurses here were really nice and skilled with the kids, somehow getting them to tolerate the strange equipment. If the scale is to be believed, Eli has gained a pound in the 5 days he's been in our care.

Station Two: Physical Exam. We go into a small cubby and a doctor checks hands, feet, limbs, spine, and abdomen, listens to breathing and heartbeat, and we're done. Simple enough.

Dr. Svengalao

Station Three: Ear, Nose, Throat. Here's where things start to get a little stranger. The female doctor in this room is roughly 194 years old. She is seated, facing a chair I'm supposed to sit in with Eli on my lap, dressed in a labcoat, full face mask, and shiny round metal reflector standing up from her forehead. She barely speaks English, and one of her own eyes appears not to be functioning correctly. Eli, already a bit put off by her appearance, begins to cry the second she puts the scope in his ear. He cries the whole time, but she manages to get the information she needs.

Which leaves us with Station Four.

Vaccinations.

The guide tells us that given Eli's immunization record he will require 5 separate shots today, plus a TB test, in order to meet the threshold for being granted a visa to the United States. Six needles in 60 seconds.

Naomi breaks into tears as we wait for Eli's turn in the chair.

We settle in to wait in a different area about 15 feet from where they are actually performing the vaccinations. This allows us to enjoy, in full, the screams and wails of the other children getting their shots for the 20 minutes or so we wait for our turn. We gut our way through that, talking and commiserating with the other family we will be paired with this whole week as we make our way through the final stages of the adoption. They are a great couple, also from New England, that we've been in touch with previous to coming to China. They're adopting a beautiful, giggly boy from central China, so only just arrived in Guangzhou with him the day before yesterday. We get to know each other a little better, and agree that shots are lame, and that there's no such thing as an enjoyable public restroom experience to be had anywhere in China.

Finally we are up. I have two critiques of the vaccination process. First, I think it’s universally accepted that medical personnel should use gloves when administering sharps. Second, when giving this many shots, better to do them all at once than in sequence.

That being said, I have to admit the nurse is pretty effective at doing what she does. She employs robotic precision and lightning speed in sticking Eli six times in less than a minute. He’s not happy about this and cries throughout, but stops as soon as we get up out of the chair and away from that area. Good kid.

We kill another 30 minutes waiting to see if there are any adverse reactions, and then walk on back to the hotel. Done with rigamarole for the day.

Now, by popular demand, here are a bunch more pictures for your ogling pleasure.

We went to a park today to cool off.

Success

One of many beautiful spots on Shamian Island

This last photo is of a t-shirt we saw in Beijing, of Obama dressed in Chinese communist gear.  The caption on the shirt reads "OBaMao".  I figured any Tea Party types would love this.  So to my friend Tim, if you're reading this blog at all, this one's especially for you you lovable little right-wing nutjob. 

But I'm not bringing you one.