We're Gone

We left. We flew away from Korea again. I love that country, I truly do, and the way we left SUCKED, but I was glad to leave.

David's father passed away as soon as we got there. Like, the second week we were there. It was a horrible sort of symmetry, since he lost his mother the first time we lived in Korea. We had to leave our pets behind, which caused a ridiculous amount of drama that really shouldn't have happened, and a lot of that happened while David was dealing with his dad's death and funeral arrangements. Since I couldn't drive there (Pyeongtaek has a bizarre love affair with strobe lights on the road) we couldn't leave the post often. We couldn't explore. We only ever saw the PX, the commissary, the library, the church. We explored when I had a friend kind enough to offer to take me along or if David happened to have enough energy to go out on a weekend, so mostly we did nothing. I experienced none of the Land of the Morning Calm. I take that back. Aiden and I experienced a lot of their medical facilities. 

It turns out Aiden needs more than they can handle in Korea. Crohn's exists there, but they seemed to be uncomfortable with treating him. His doctor, as well as our primary care manager, recommended we return to the states for his medical management. I was relieved when I heard that, and guilty to be relieved, and stressed because I knew that meant we'd need to be prepared for a lot more doctors' visits.

I had to wear all of this in order to stand outside of the room while Aiden had his PICC line inserted. That's right. OUTSIDE the room.

Aiden's PICC line.

Most days weren't hard. Some days were.

I'm not going to go over the frustration we experienced dealing with Korean hospitals. For the most part it wasn't bad, but the bad parts were awful. His gastroenterologist was a good man who did truly care about Aiden as a person, and wanted to make sure he was healthy, but his communication (I don't mean communication in English, I mean things like he didn't tell me when Aiden had a perforated appendix, just that he needed surgery immediately) was ... Is there a word stronger than horrendous? Deplorable? Non-existent.

Interesting fact: Literally none of the nurses ever told us their names. We ended up asking the doctor on the right in the top picture what his name was because we just always called him "the younger doc."

After 10 days in the hospital in Korea (I do want to say we had some truly amazing nurses) and zero food or water Aiden was flown back to the states, and by an absolute miracle the whole family came with him. It was a medevac situation even though he was ambulatory since he still needed an IV and he'd been having some weird issues with his blood pressure, so we flew back on a KC135. The crew were all amazing, and honestly the flight wasn't bad, just suuuper cold. He spent another five days in the hospital, but he was able to share Thanksgiving with us, which was something I hadn't even allowed myself to hope for. 

I love how this shot on the runway looks like paparazzi took it. 

The girls got to sit in the cabin with the pilot during take off. DURING. Not like, go meet the pilot and get some pin-on wings. 

He's getting amazing care here while we wait to find out what the next steps will be. We might be stationed here, we might not. David might stay in Korea for another 6 months, or another 18 months. If that's the case we'll move to Utah. All I know is that for now the five of us are living in a hotel room, so it's a good thing that we love each other. Also, since Aiden has to take medication every six hours, meaning we get to wake him up in the middle of the night for a dose, it's a dang good thing the girls sleep like the dead! Speaking of dang good things, my dang good father is letting us use his vehicle while we figure things out. He's amazing. 

So hello again, United States. It was a weird five months away, and a weird reunion. I'm feeling less like tearing things to pieces, but it would be nice if maybe the weirdness would smooth out in the next couple of months.