Alex had been at preschool barely one week before getting sick when we went to the library (see post of September 07 2008) which meant she was off from school for half of the following week. We had initially thought that she had a bad case of gastro from something she had eaten (especially because she'd been eating morning snack, lunch and afternoon snack at her new chinese preschool) but as the week progressed it became clear that her mosquito-bite-ridden legs were actually developing into a rash. Her teachers had been concerned enough about the mosquito bites to call Linlin and ask about them though upon reflection perhaps they had seen the start of the rash and something had been lost in translation?
In any case, we had been busy applying repellent to her and were frustrated that she appeared home on the Thursday with what seemed to be several new bites (boy does she take after her mum - mosquitos LOVE her!). Well the next morning at 2am, Sebastien started vomiting - and continued vomiting. All over me usually. Poor kid was comfort nursing which only meant further vomiting of pretty much just bile in the end. And I was getting sore! Then Alex woke up and was COVERED in a rash - head to toe! 
So then we determined that a visit to a doctor was in order. Only in China, you visit a doctor in hospital. So we enlisted the aid of Linlin who took time off from work to take us to the best hospital in Xiamen.To cut a very long story short - we visited two doctors, one for each child. One doctor determined that Alex had a shellfish allergy and was prescribed a steroid injection, claratyne for kids and calamine lotion (though the only thing she was scratching were the mosquito bites barely visible through the rash). We were told to have her avoid the wind in Xiamen and that she was also experiencing a typical reaction that many people experience when they first arrive in Xiamen. The other doctor said that Sebastien was suffering from a cold or had a bowel problem and offered to admit him for an IV - which I quickly declined. He was prescribed rehydrating salts (though he wasn't dehydrated) and a live (yogurt-like) bacteria in tablet form. Both doctors said that neither child was contagious (though I thought that they both suffered the same thing - a virus - and that they'd likely been contagious before). We took the prescriptions down to the pharmacy area of the hospital and Linlin submitted them. We then had to wait for what felt like an hour for them to be filled. Then we collected all of the items and paid what seemed a pittance for them. The steroid injection we then took to the "Injection Room" where nurses wait around to inject prescribed medicine into patients. Using Linlin as translator we ascertained what basically would happen and she even went back to the pharmacy for us to obtain the packaging for the medicine which we were able to read the chemical name of what it was we were meant to inject (which helped me make the choice to do it). I was nervous but the needle was new and unopened and I watched them do the injection. After thanking Linlin we went home. Sebastien was a mess - lethargic and still regularly vomiting - but Alex was fine, though spotty.
And that's the short version!
After all the mayhem, we had a call from Cherry at the university to say we had to get our attested marriage certificate (which we had just received from Australia - another long story: thanks so much Aunty Chelle) and front up at the Entry and Exit Bureau to finalise residency paperwork TODAY or we would be fined (note that this call came late afternoon) and all of this with two sick children. Nothing like stress to keep you on your toes!
Finally Brett's work was having a dinner at a local restaurant to which the entire family had been invited - so I stayed home with Sebastien still sick and Alex went with Brett. One benefit of going was that we learnt that we do, in fact, have guanxi (connections) as one of the professors of WISE is married to a high ranking official in Xiamen and she pulled some strings for us to see a special doctor for Sebastien at Zhongshan Hospital in the morning.
So with Linlin's help again we went in on the Sunday as Sebastien was still vomiting. We paid the money, took the receipt to the doctor's room and put it in the pile to wait our turn. Meanwhile we borrowed a thermometer from a nurse to find out Sebastien's temperature (a mercury thermometer - wouldn't you know it - that we broke when it dropped onto the tiled floor...which Brett cleaned up). In the end Sebastien had stool and blood samples taken, though I was hard pressed getting them to accept a sample of the diarrhea in his nappy/diaper - they wanted a "poop on command" performance! Although he had a couple of blisters at the back of his throat (we were mindful of hand, foot and mouth disease) he was diagnosed with a virus that should run its course over 3-5 days. I was convinced that he was suffering from the same thing as Alex - the timing worked as did the similarity in symptoms. I was hard pressed to believe that Alex had a shellfish allergy and a virus fitted better, though her rash had improved dramatically following the steroid injection and a couple of doses of Claratyne. A comment that this doctor made (that I thought was great) was that it was obvious to her that Sebastien wasn't dehydrated - after all, he was crying (tears down his cheeks after having his mouth forceably opened to check his throat). And so we went home to ride out this virus with the proviso that we could return if it hadn't resolved after 5 days. We were getting sick of changing bed linen - Alex had only vomited that one day, mainly because she then hadn't eaten - at least properly - for the week afterwards. Sebastien was comfort nursing as often as he could which whilst it was keeping him hydrated, meant more vomiting more often though usually smaller amounts. So I set him up on the floor at the end of our bed:
Getting sick in another country isn't fun. Getting sick in another country where you don't speak the language isn't fun. Having children who can't communicate with you get sick in another country where you don't speak the language isn't fun. I don't recommend it.
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