SICK

The unofficial cheer for the last three days has been:   Regurgitate, regurgitate, throw up all the food you ate.  V-O-M-I-T, Yay, PUKE!   Emily has been sick. Tuesday we went to breakfast and all was good.  By noon she and I had taken several more looks at that particular breakfast.  Since my wardrobe choices are severely limited it was alarming how fast I was going through clothing.  Emily, too.    It went rapidly from bad to worse.  She has diarhea and is vomiting.   Yesterday afternoon I think she was starting to feel better but began to keen and wail.  She was grieving and absolutely refused to take anything.  She'd put her little teeth together and let liquid dribble out the sides of her mouth.  No more diarhea but no wet diapers and no tears.    Naturally my personality of: "If in trouble or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout" kept me nice and calm - NOT.  Kenton and I were tag teaming with the older four and Emily.  Kenton went with the guide and kids to the Yellow River.  I got to go with the big kids and guide to Five Springs Park.  Frankly, this type of tourism holds little charm for the kids and less for their distracted parents.  Kenton is so sad/frustrated/somewhat angry that we have not been able to leave the city of Lanzhou.  His only request for this trip wasto get outside of the city and see some farming.  It was not to be.    This morning our lethargic, sick, still refusing to swallow baby went to the hospital.  It was teeming with people, enormous, efficient, and even had escalators.  (Sorry, that seemed odd in a hospital.)  They listened to our guide, listened to  Emily's heart (and whatever else they check with a stethoscope), looked down her throat (It only took four of us to pry her mouth open), drew blood (OH, was Emily ever MAD!!!) and gave us medicine for when/if she has diarhea again, and two more medicines for the vomit.    They did not tell us how to get her to take it.    So we came back to the hotel, got five sips of water down Emily's throat, and put her to bed per the guide's instructions.  You notice the guide did NOT stick around long enough to tell us HOW to get her to take that medicine.    Emily's still throwing up but no recent diarhea.  We're scheduled to fly to Guangzhou tomorrow at noon.  Getting everyone and everything to the next city is going to be a real trip.    The hotel staff is mad at us and not very gracious about all the puked on towels and bedding.  The other night after THREE request for more towels, we finally got them. If they hadn't we had decided to bring Emily down to the lobby for a physical demonstration of her prowess in Olympic projectile vomiting.    No offense to what is probably a lovely place, but aside from dreading a plane ride with a vomiting child, we are ready to blow this place and hit the road (to quote my Uncle Bob).    We would be so grateful for your continued prayers.