FCA CENTRAL FLORIDA

Imagine stepping out of a cab into an old war hospital compound in
the middle of a misty evening in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, standing amongst people who  do not speak English, and trying it figure out which hospital door to enter.  We entered a hospital room, filled with empty beds, handed over an envelope enclosing a translated letter from an AEA Clinic doctor, and Megen's chest x-rays to one of the two women in the room.
Not knowing if we were in the right place, we were scared, lonely, and confused.  We communicated through our hands and through our faces.
We were escorted to an outdoor area where people registered their sick children into the hospital.  Not knowing what to do, we sat down on a bench with Megen all bundled in our arms, and we were stared at, as if we were aliens of some kind.  We waited and waited, then our name was called;  through motions we knew we had to pay some money, and then wait some more.

A hospital staff member then escorted approximately 10 families with children in ill health along the outside of the compound buildings.  The
lighting is poor, and one is trying to miss the puddles of water and patches
of mud.  Families are assigned to several buildings along the path.  We
continue with the staff member, past the outdoor septic tanks, to the last
building.  We climb to the second floor, and await our next direction.  Numerous families are in the hallway, curious as to the new arrivals to the floor.  We were curious as well, as to what to do and what we were doing.

Very little English is spoken;  Megen's chart is looked at, medicine (in a
packet) is given to me to give to Megen, and a shot is given.  We
are asked what room we want --$8/night, $20/night, or $30/night.  Through
limited English, we are told that there is no difference between the $20
and $30 room.  We decide to take the $20 room.  We are escorted and
followed to our "deluxe" accommodations.  The room has a bed for the adult, air conditioner, crib, table, 2 folding chairs, cabinet, bathroom with a sink, open shower, and a toilet.  The smell is indescribable.  Imagine this room with ants, plenty of them-in the crib, on the bed, in the bowls on the table,all over the floor, in the sink, etc.

We close the doors to speak to each other, finally alone to express our
thoughts about the night's events-yet, we are not alone; there are
no curtains on the door windows.  Others are peering in the window to
see who we are and who/what our child is (a boy or a girl?).  Feeling
helpless, drained and scared, we develop a plan of action.  Just two weeks before, I was preparing for the trip to adopt my second daughter.  I thought, "I can handle this; I've done this before," for my husband, Bernie, and I
returned from China in April 1996 with our then ten month old daughter, Moli.  Here I was in the process of preparing for my trip to HCMC with my sister, Julie, in July 1997.  (Due to changes in the procedure in HCMC, we were required to travel twice to Vietnam; My husband went to Vietnam in May '97 to hand in the dossier, and to visit Megen-then six weeks old- in the orphanage.  My sister and I were preparing for the second trip.)

We were in a small travel group of two families-another family and
us.  We had contact with the other family before we went, and we got along
well.

On July 2, 1997, Megen was placed into my arms approximately four
hours after we arrived in HCMC.  We were able to take her back to the hotel and then bring her to the G & R Ceremony the following day, her third month birthday!

Our worries began that first night.  Megen had a bad cough, and
wasn't eating very much.  We called Bernie, and had him call the family doctor to see what the dose was for a baby under ten pounds.  Two days later was the first of  three visits to the AEA Clinic, which staffs European doctors.  On our third visit, Megen was diagnosed as having bronchial pneumonia.  She had a chest x-ray showing liquid in her left lung, she had lost one pound in four days, had a fever, and did not pass an oxygen test.  The doctors highly suggested to us to take Megen to the Vietnamese Pediatric Hospital (Behn Vien Nhi Dong 2, in HCMC) immediately, for they could not keep her overnight in the clinic. They did not have the equipment to take care of her, at such a low weight, and in her deteriorating condition.

During that first night in the hospital, Julie went back to the New World
Hotel, arranged for a translator, called our family, packed our belongings
for the hospital stay (clothes, hygiene items, food, etc.).  The translator
assisted us with translating questions, in particular how to administer the
medicine.  One of our MAPS representatives came, ready to assist,
as well, but she had to leave the following day for Nha Trang.

The following day, the hospital doctor told us that Megen had to
stay in the hospital for a week to ten days; however, not wanting to make a
change in travel plans, and wanting to get Megen to more modern facilities,
we wanted to leave earlier, and get Megen out when her health allowed us to.  (The AEA doctors would not allow us to fly out, due to her low oxygen
intake; yet we could not have left the country anyway, since her passport was still being processed.)

Feelings that we encountered were shock, fear, nervousness, frustration,
abandonment, and misunderstanding.  Help from our agency, MAPS,
was limited due to various commitments their staff had.  There was one staff
member still left in HCMC who visited us, took us shopping, and helped complete the rest of the adoption paperwork needed.  She was available for us part of the time, since she also had another family whom she had to assist.  We saw her almost everyday when she was available.

My sister, Julie, and I arranged a rotating schedule as to who would stay
with Megen.  In the Vietnamese hospitals, a family member is tostay with the child the whole time.  There isn't the supervision, as there is in
the American hospitals.  You bring in your own food, give the child
their medication, and take their temperature-you are practically the
nurse.

On the shifts back to the hotel, we were able to take a shower,
eat, sleep, and fax the updates back home.  We ordered plenty of room service so that we could charge the food we ate.  We had no idea as to how much the hospital bill was going to be-the hospital only accepted a payment of cash-Dong.  In the end, we spent $331.62 for a six night stay at the Vietnamese Hospital and $389.08 for medical expenses at the AEA Clinic.

Tips that we offer are:

1)  If traveling alone, have another family member apply for a
visa; in case of an emergency, this would save a couple of days; they could
travel right away.
2)  Listen to the professionals; the European doctors at the AEA
Clinic were there for us and were wonderful!  We were able to have a
Vietnamese Physician, employed by the AEA Clinic, who was aware of Western medicines, come to the hospital for a consultation during Megen's stay.  This was conducted diplomatically, and required a cash payment of $100.  The doctor wrote out a receipt which was accepted by our insurance company.
3)  Allow yourself to vent and cry.
4)  Keep yourself in communication with others, your family, your
agency, etc.  We rented cell phones, and hired a translator for the times
we were at the hospital, when MAPS was not available, in particular for
discharge, and dealing with money issues.  The hospital doctor did speak some English.  We saw the doctor approximately ten minutes each morning, except for Sunday.

Have a list of possible translators, who are available 24 hours a
day.  We had stayed at the New World Hotel; the business office was very
helpful in arranging a 24 hour translator, and the rental of cellular phones,
with the ability to make international calls.
5)  Bring extra cash in case of an emergency.  At the AEA Clinic
you can charge services; however, at the Vietnamese hospitals, they only
accept cash-Dong.  Have all receipts translated into English, along with
the diagnosis.  Due to Megen's life-threatening illness, we were able
to get most of our money back!
6)  During medical procedures, make sure all needles, tubes, etc.
are new or sterilized.
7)  Your child's needs come first.  You came all that way to adopt
him/her-don't risk their lives by not giving them what they need.
If we had put Megen on a plane while she was sick, and without her
treatment, we could have lost her, for she wasn't able to take in the oxygen at levels other children her age/weight were able to.

Items we brought that we were so glad that we did:

1)  sheet-we used it on the bed in the hospital
2)  flashlight-the hospital lights had gone out for approximately
20 minutes one night
3)  books-we had plenty of time to read
4)  a small music wind-up toy for Megen-she enjoyed music
5)  a portable bouncy chair-Megen liked to sit in the chair!
6)  Rubber gloves-for cleaning the hospital bathroom, etc.
7)  Plenty of antibacterial wet wipes-we brought plenty, but we
began to ration them during our hospital stay
8)  Standard notebook paper-we had to jot down feedings, diaper
changes, temperature, etc. for the doctor and for us to note Megen's
improvement.
9)  Syringes-we didn't use the needle; we used the tube to
administer the liquid medicines
10) Snack food-plenty of instant food for our stay in the hospital
11) Lysol wipes-we used plenty for the toilet seat!  We ran out of
them and wished we had more!

Items we needed, but didn't bring:

1)  non-aerosol bug spray-there were plenty of ants in the
hospital.  We couldn't find non-aerosol spray at the grocery stores in HCMC.
2)  A better Vietnamese/English phrase book-ours was limited for
what we needed.

Life has its ups and downs, and no one said parenthood would be
easy.  Enjoy your child; they are precious.  Respect your child's culture.  At
times it's hard to see positives in a difficult situation; however, there
almost always is a silver lining.  We were able to live the Vietnamese culture
first hand for parts of the day, and one truly begins to understand the
isolation others may feel when they can not speak or understand your language.

Megen has had a few more chest x-rays and blood tests.  She has
been given a clean bill of health.  I am very grateful to the AEA Clinic, New
World, MAPS, and to the staff at the Vietnamese Pediatric Hospital, for all
their help and care for Megen.  I am indebted to my sister, Julie, who
volunteered her time to come with me to Vietnam.  Without her, I truly could not have made it sanely!  She was and is a Godsend.  Megen is a tremendous blessing in the life of my family, and we are so grateful for all the help and support we received.