My Summer: Sun, Stars, Swine.

My Summer: Sun, Stars, and Swine.

By Olivia Robinson

Think back to elementary school. Remember when “what did you do this summer” only had a few answers? Kids went to camp, to the pool, maybe to another state or Costa Rica. I never, ever had an interesting story to tell. Well, now I do. This summer I flew out of the country without my parents for the first time, ate Chinese cafeteria food, saw the 2008 Olympic stadium and (oh yeah) got swine flu and ended up in a hospital in Beijing for 10 days. I wasn’t sick enough to need a hospital, and they never actually gave me medicine. I had to stay there so I wouldn’t infect others. That is the Chinese government’s method for combating H1N1 flu. In the US, we use Tamiflu and stay at home for 7 days.

My experience in was frightening, but it was mostly boring and frustrating. By the time I got out of the hospital, I hadn’t had any symptoms for at least 6 days. Even the ward doctors knew we weren’t sick. But, according to Chinese protocol, we had to test negative for the flu virus before we could be let out.

I was in China as part of a student trip, organized and mostly paid for by the Chinese government. We traveled to Beijing and later to the Tian Jin province. Our group had 21 people, 6 from BCC, all from this area. After one of our group members tested positive for swine flu, we were loosely confined in the boarding school complex, while nurses came to check our temperature several times a day. We stayed there for about three days.

When more people started getting sick (including my roommate) we were moved to a 4-star quarantine hotel. The lobby looked beautiful, with marble floors and a garden. I never got to go upstairs, because right before we got into the hotel, I had a fever. I was going to be moved to a hospital. I was really scared, just because I had no idea what to expect. A bus drove me to a small fever clinic. Not exactly the nicest place. It had peeling paint and bad food, but a decent toilet and a comfy bed. I was so exhausted; I collapsed on the bed and slept 12 hours.

Meanwhile, my parents were terrified at home. They had no way to reach me through the hospital, the nurses didn’t speak English, and I wasn’t answering my cell phone. When I woke up I saw that they had sent me a fax, and I called right away. I found out that another kid from my group, Schuyler, was in the same fever clinic as I was. Later, I got a call from the American embassy, and although they were very nice, they couldn’t get me out.

Later on the second day I was moved to a shiny, all glass modern hospital, which served KFC and Pizza Hut. I had a phone in my room, so I could talk to my parents as much as I wanted. One of my mom’s co-workers, who lives in China, dropped off a laptop and tons of DVDs. At this point, I was mostly bored. I had a British roommate, and 3 other kids from my group were in the rooms next door. We would ask the nurses to send food or DVD’s between our rooms. I was there for about 8 days. I was the second to last to leave the hospital; the last girl left the morning after me. Then we could get on with our trip. The Chinese government even extended the trip for 9 days for anyone who wanted to stay. The thing the group did after everyone got back? Shopping. Lots of shopping.

Everyone is so worried about swine flu, but the actual flu is not bad. I just felt sore and tired and had a fever for 3 days. And, even with the Chinese and American government’s preventative measures, it is spreading fast. My advice: stay home, get rest, take Tylenol, watch TV, and be glad you live in America.

If you want to know more, check out the journal/article (published in The New York Times) that my mom and I wrote while I was in the hospital. That’s a different account of how I felt at the time, and how my mom felt. It’s online in the Health section of the Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/28/health/28flu.html

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