Medical Trip: Shanghai

We arrived home from Beijing in the wee hours of Sunday morning, and Monday afternoon I was back on the road, or more accurately, back on the train. This time with Lindsay, taking WX to see orthopedic and neuro specialists at Shanghai Children's Medical Center. Our facilitator for this trip was the Baobei Foundation (www.baobeifoundation.org). Baobei specializes in helping children in orphanages who have spina bifida and the many challenges that come with it.

WX is just the sweetest and smartest little 5 year old boy. He has been waiting for weeks for our trip in the huo che (train). I booked a sleeping compartment for the three of us, and it was a lot of fun. WX could not stop grinning until he finally fell asleep. He was bouncing up and down with delight and yelling "huo che" at every train that passed us. The only time he wasn't was when he was playing DS with Lindsay.
WX's SB has left him with uncorrected clubfeet, an inability to walk and some other challenges. I wanted the Baobei specialists to evaluate what, if anything, might be done to help him walk and also to improve his spine which is very twisted. WX's back problems are very complex, and again there were no easy answers. The orthopedic doctor was uncertain at first look what improvements were possible, but he took x-rays and a CT and will do some additional evaluation. While I won't be here to follow up, I do hope that there will be some options to improve WX's quality of life.

We had planned to be in Shanghai for at least 3 days, depending on the outcome of the visit. Since we were able to complete everything in one day, I made plans to travel back late the following afternoon. But, we made the most of our short stay in Shanghai! First, we went to Wal-mart, which may not sound like much to YOU, but wow, it was fun. It isn't the same as in the US, but it had more western items than we have seen in a very long time. Even CHEESE. :) Later we went to the Great Mall, filled with western stores and restaurants, and a kids' play place, similar to Chuck E Cheese. I can say with pretty good confidence that WX has never had so much fun in his life. Lindsay is the perfect companion for places like this, and she is so patient with children with disabilities, I was glad I brought her as my helper for this trip.

Since our train was not until 3:20pm on Wednesday, I took Lindsay and WX to the Shanghai Aquarium in the morning. It had been highly recommended, and it did not disappoint. It is a great place and easy to see in a few hours. After a quick lunch, we headed to the Bund, the grand promenade of colonial Shanghai. It's still a gathering spot today, although mostly for tourists. It's a great place to see the stunning architecture of Shanghai, both from the colonial period and today. Add in beautiful weather and bingshiling (ice cream) and it was about as good as a day gets. (Huge thanks to Kim, an expat and Baobei volunteer, who loaned us her driver for the day. He was great, and we were able to do a lot more than we could have using public transportation.)

Then we headed to the station for the "fast train" back to Zhengzhou. We arrived in Zhengzhou at 10:30pm and then took the midnight bus home to Jiaozuo. Guess what? The taxi drivers know when the buses arrive, too! There was quite a crowd waiting for us, so 5 minutes after we arrived we were heading up the 93 steps to home.