Sun Byung Won

On Monday, after our 7th doctor's visit with 4th different doctors, 2 IVs, and Sara's 16th day of being sick, she was finally admitted to Sun Hospital here in Daejon. Now, to fully understand this, one also has to understand a little bit of Korean medical care. We have a normal pediatrician that does general care, prescriptions, and immunizations. These clinics are common in Korea and are similar to outpatient clinics in the US. However, a major difference is that these clinics do not really do any lab work at all and little testing other than basic exams. Therefore, it is quite common for people to go to the hospital for care. The hospital can run more tests and do lab work. Although we had previously gone to another area hospital for that purpose, they did not seem to want to run many tests and seemed convinced she was getting better. To us, she seemed to be up and down in cycles and on day 16, she was extremely lethargic and obviously not feeling well. Ultimately, we decided to switch doctors. Upon hearing the length of illness and observing symptoms, she immediately admitted her to the hospital to gather blood, stool and urine samples in addition to running x-rays on her abdomen.

The previous virus seemed to have run its course so the diarrhea stopped and now that seemed to have turned into constipation. Basically she was all backed up with gas and stools. And she was extremely weak and run down. They put her on an IV for four days. The first 36 hours she was allowed nothing but water and the IV to clear her system. Then we introduced formula and then food gradually. As of Friday, the doctor seemed to think we would stay at least until Sunday and then decide from there. In a surprise move, the doctor came in at 10 AM and said we could leave at noon.

So we are home now! Praise God for His goodness and faithfulness. We were blessed with a fantastic room at the hospital. They called it the VIP room. It had a sitting area with a couch and computer and a kitchenette in addition to the bed area. Although the room was nice (much nicer than the 6 person rooms down the hall and most other rooms I have seen in Korea), we were quite happy to come home. Sara took a 2 hour nap when we got home which was great because she had not been napping very well with the bright lights and the distractions of the room. We are also glad to be able to care for Kacy at home--we had been relying on friends and family to care for her much of the time!

Although Sara is definitely not 100% or even close, it is nice to see little signs of her progress. For example, she took about a 15 minute bath this evening and played the whole time. She loved it. She has not enjoyed playing much lately as she has had so little energy. We will continue to monitor her progress and take things slowly. We have another check up with the doctor next week.

Despite seemingly difficult and worrisome circumstances, we truly are blessed. We appreciate your continued prayers as Sara gains her strength back in the coming weeks. May God bless and sustain you as He has us.