Crusin’ on Crutches… How to Get Around Shanghai with Semi Mobility (Part II)

(This is a two part post. Click here to read part one.)

I know it’s been awhile, but I’m back! Unfortunately, I’ve had internet issues (mostly due to the recent APEC conference and simply living in China) so, I was unable to post anything on this blog for a while. Besides the internet, I had a pretty busy month of school stuff which has recently slowed down (only to pick back up again in a few weeks due to Christmas).

In terms of my recovery, things were going well for a while, but I’ve become discouraged recently. I feel as if I’m not progressing and I miss doing dancing and other physical activities. I tried hopping on one leg today and I honestly got two centimeters off the ground :( On top of that, I spoke with one of the physical therapists yesterday who told me to expect another two to three months of recovery! I guess I was a bit disillusioned (and I’ll be honest, even lied to) about this procedure. What I thought was going to be a nice and simple procedure, is turning out to be quite difficult.

Instead of feeling sorry for myself, I’ve decided that I really need to commit myself to doing my recovery exercises more and making a true effort in being a bit more healthy. Hopefully I can make my goal of getting out of mainland China for the Chinese Spring Festival come February.

So, I won’t waste any more time, here is Part II…

      5. China is not really made for people with disabilities

This probably should be number one on the list, but it’s no secret…China isn’t really a comfortable place if you have any kind of physical disability (and I would even add a mental one). Despite the glitz and glamour of Shanghai, China is still a developing nation that is still trying to get other parts of the country up and running to 21^st century standards. While the center of the city may have more elevators, ramps, and even handicap accessible restrooms, outside of that, you may have to conquer loads of stairs, uneven sidewalk (pavement) and crazy pedestrian laws that put the pedestrian at the bottom of the transportation hierarchy (just under manual bicycles). I never really saw any local people in wheelchairs or on crutches and now I understand why…sometimes, it can be too damn difficult to get around!

  6. Be Prepared to Spend More

With all of those taxis and delivered meals, your wallet may take a hit. I advise that you have a budget each week and try to stay within that figure as close as possible. It would be best to cook a few large meals a week and then refrigerate/freeze the leftovers. That way, you can have some homemade ready meals to last you for a few days. Now, you don’t have to be Jamie Oliver in the kitchen, but understand that boiling water, spices and ready-made sauces (with few ingredients as possible) will be your best friend.

7. You Could Save Money

If your only expenses each week are taxis and a take-out meal every so often, you could end saving some money in the long run. In the beginning, I was a bit upset about all of the money I was spending on my work commute.  I went from 6-8RMB a day taking the bus to 30-34RMB a day by taxi. While this is a considerable jump, I wasn’t really spending any money on anything else besides my groceries. I didn’t go shopping at the mall or markets, I didn’t go for any meals or drinks, and I wasn’t spending frivolously since I barely left my home.  So, sometimes it does pay (literally) to be a homebody.

While were talking about staying home…

      8. Make your home as comforting and entertaining as possible

Pre-operation, a lot of my entertainment came from outside sources (restaurants, bars, shopping malls), but due to my limited mobility, those aforementioned entertainment sources had to sit on the backburner for a while.  You may experience this as well, so I suggest that you turn your home into your own entertainment area (if you haven’t done so already). This way, you won’t go completely crazy with boredom or even develop depression type sadness.

In order to keep myself entertained, I stocked up on lots of reading material (books, magazines, Chinese language manuals); streamed some shows through Chinese internet sites; stayed in touch with friends and family (through emails, skype and social media) and I even got crafty and started a vision board (which I need to finish this weekend)! I also did a number of beauty treatments to my face and hands so at least I wouldn’t look so bad when I finally went out to meet the public.

Speaking of the public, this leads to my next point:

  9. Don’t turn down offers of help

Anyone who’s ever been to China could tell you that China is not the most hospitable place.  The people here are not really as friendly or helpful as they would be in say America or Canada (apart from the language barrier). One thing that impressed me during my time on crutches was the fact that random people offered ways to help when possible. Whether it was telling me “ma dian (slow down)” or “xiao xin (be careful),” giving up their seats for me on the bus, or actually touching me to assist me, I felt very thankful for the help. 

While I did encounter some rude people who made comments or who tried to cut ahead of me for a taxi (on a few occasions), the majority expressed words of sympathy and they offered their help whenever possible. Heck, even my young ones loved to carry my books or bag without hesitation, and they would try to make the class comfortable when I arrived.

At first I felt awkward about this, but then, I simply embraced it and accepted it whenever possible. I suggest that you don’t shun others when they try to help you, accept their help with a smile and a thank you. After all, you may never experience this kind of V.I.P. treatment in China again!

And now for my final tip…

110. Be positive!

Anyone will tell you that surgery is no fun, but combine that with being alone in a foreign country and one can get downright depressed. I’m not afraid to admit that I experienced a lot of sadness and bad thoughts at the beginning of my recovery. Feelings of loneliness washed over me combined with anxiousness, boredom, helplessness and even anger. I was angry at myself for being in this position and even became jealous of seeing friends and even strangers going about their life and having fun. All I wanted to do was get off the couch and be outside; yet, I was stuck indoors with my foot propped up looking at clothing websites for the umpteenth time.  

What got me through those dark times was going to physical therapy and seeing my progress. Talking to friends and family on the phone who cheered me up with encouragement; and finally, knowing that my full recovery would happen in the near future.

So don’t give up! Do what you need to do to put a smile on your face and get yourself happy.

To be honest, I think I need to do again after expressing my doubts at the start of this post. After all, I know that my situation isn’t permanent and I’ll be back to doing tree pose in no time!

Well, that’s all! Tune in next time to hear more of my adventures abroad!

Crusin’ on Crutches… How to Get Around Shanghai with Semi Mobility (Part 1)

Hello All! I’m pleased to report that I’m in more positive spirits for a few reasons. Firstly, we are officially two days away from Halloween, by far one of my favorite holidays! This year, I have not one, but two good costumes! I plan on wearing a cute and comical costume for my party at work, and then I’m getting things a little grown and sexy for the evening time. I’m really proud of my costumes because I’ve decided to get creative and make things myself. Sit tight for a future post about how things came out!

Now the best news has got to be the fact that I no longer need my crutches! As you read about in this post, I had surgery in China exactly five weeks ago. While the process wasn’t difficult, the recovery proved to be the opposite. I never realized how much time, energy and effort things would be after my procedure.

My extra "legs" during my recovery.

In fact, this is the reason why I’ve decided to write these blog posts. If you plan on getting around Shanghai on crutches, or with another leg disability, there are a few things you should keep in mind….

       1. You will need extra time for everything.

While this one seems to be a no brainer, I never fully realized how much extra time I would need to get myself around. I would estimate that you double or even triple the time it takes for you to do things. For example, walking down a street that took 5 minutes turned into 15 minutes and going from one floor to another could take 7 minutes. In terms of my morning routine, I would wake up an extra 20 minutes in advance in order to catch a taxi cab to get to work. Which leads me to my next point…

    .   2.Taxis Will Be Your Saving Grace, but…

I fully depended on taxis in order to get myself around since walking and buses (at first) were not a viable option. To hail a cab in Shanghai, all you need to do is go out to the street and wait for one with a green light on. A red light means that the cab is occupied or the driver is off duty/can’t be bothered to stop. The driver will flip on the meter (Which begins at the flat rate of 14 RMBs) and away you go in the city. Luckily for me, I live near work so my rides stayed at the flat rate or only a few kuais above. 

While it may seem easy enough, I’ve noticed over the past few months that it has become a bit difficult to hail a taxi. With the rise of taxi apps such as 滴滴打车 - dīdī dǎchē, 快的打车 - kuàidi dǎchē , Uber, and even Wechat, many people are ordering a taxi with a few taps of their smartphone. Not only are you winning, the taxi driver is the biggest winner since there is an option on some of the apps to “Tip the driver.” This means that you can pay an extra 5, 10 or even 20 RMB on top of your metered fare. This pretty much acts as an incentive for the driver to pick you up as quickly as possible. 

 So, after reading the above, I suggest that you get one of these apps for your phone. Even though they are in Chinese, there are step-by-step English guides on the internet that show how to navigate the apps.

Since I have an old phone that no longer allowed me to download apps, I was stuck waiting for a cab the old-fashioned way; hence one of the reasons why I woke up extra early to allow myself enough time to get to work. On my street, I could hail a cab with relatively little problems before rush hour. After that, I was basically SOL.   The same also applied on the way home from work. 

If this taxi stuff doesn’t appeal to you, you could always…

       3. Hire Help

Remember, you are Asia so hiring help is cheap and plentiful.  If you don’t feel like doing the taxi dance, you could always hire a driver for all of your transportation needs. While you may pay more than a taxi, you get the piece of mind of having someone to cart you around at your beck and call. I will mention that if the driver speaks English, you will in most cases pay more. I suggest that you find a Chinese speaker to assist you in getting a driver and pretty much have the address of all the places you need in Chinese characters.

 I never lucked out on finding a driver, but a few weeks ago, I found this nice gent who had a tricycle that would bring me to work for only 8 RMB ($1.35 USD).

My carriage awaits...

The man that makes all the magic happen!

Besides a driver, you can also think about hiring a domestic helper/cleaner or an ayi as they are called in China. This person (usually female) can come to your home and clean (and in some cases) cook your meals for you. You can hire them to come once a week or more if need be.

 I noticed that since I was unable to get around much, my place became dirty very quickly. While it wasn’t unbearable, it did make things a bit more uncomfortable. If the thought of piles of dishes or mountains of laundry scare you, hire some temporary help. Also just as I mentioned above with the driver, if the cleaner/ayi speaks English, expect to pay more.

      4. Food Delivery Will Be Your Best Friend

So, now that you have your cleaning and transport needs met, you need to satisfy your hunger after a good day of ass sitting. This is where a food delivery service comes in handy. 

When it comes to prepared meals, there are different options in Shanghai. You can go old school and get pizza, or even McDonald's delivered right to your door. Or, you can have a variety of options (even healthier than pizza and burgers) on one website. In Shanghai, one popular website is called Sherpa’s and it delivers to most places in the city. You pretty much type in your address and the website gives you a list of all of the restaurants in your area. Delivery starts at 15 RMB ($2.40 USD) but, if you order between 11am to 6pm, delivery is free! After finding the restaurant of your choice, you select what you want and wait for the delivery man to bring your goods in 45 minutes to 1 hour. Mealbay is another popular option that works just like Sherpa’s albeit with less choices. 

They make food magic happen! (Photo Credit: City Weekend)

If the thought of prepared food doesn’t excite you, or your wallet for that matter (trust me, it could get expensive); you can order your groceries online and have them delivered. There are several major places that can deliver all of your food needs right to your door step. Whether you are craving grapefruits or gherkins, you can count on the following to fulfill your needs:

*City Shop

*Fields

*Epermarket

*Kate and Kimi

While the above list services the expat population (which is a keyword for more expensive), you can go the local route and try:

*Taobao (home to everything)

*Yi Hao Dian

*Tesco’s

*JD.com

I used City Shop for all of my grocery needs and I had only positive experiences. A customer service rep would call me to let me know about my order and the time it was expected to arrive. They would also call me if they were out of stock on a certain item. My food was delivered on time by a courteous driver who patiently helped me get everything in my little apartment.

Well folks, that's the end of Part 1. I hope I made you a bit more comfortable than those crutches you're dragging along. Tune in next week for Part 2!

That one time I had an operation in China….My experiences going under the knife abroad

The battle scars!

Welcome back everybody! It’s been awhile since I wrote a blog post, but this time I have a sorta excuse...I had surgery here in China! I know crazy right?!  I will cut to the chase and tell you that I’m doing just fine and I’m resting at home. I even had physical therapy today and the physical therapist mentioned that I was healing well. Now, I’m going to detail below exactly what happened and how I went under the knife abroad…

What Happened?

I’ve always enjoyed being active with dance and other types of fitness. Almost a year ago, I decided to add yoga to the routine which I really fell in love with (especially since the first time I tried it years ago, I absolutely hated it). Well, I didn’t end up with an injury due to yoga; in fact, it was something rather familiar to my routine. I was doing a low squat and when I came back up I heard a “pop” in my left knee. I know that my knees “pop” sometimes (hey…I’m getting old) so I thought I would just massage it out and keep going. Unfortunately, there would be no immediate recovery and when I noticed the pain that accompanied it, I knew that something was very wrong. I decided to take action and go to the hospital.

Public Hospitals in China:

My journey begins at the People’s Number 6 Hospital (Chinese: 上海交通大学附属第六人民医院) since it’s very close to me and according to the internet, really good for sports medicine.

When it comes to public hospitals in China, there are a few things you need to know. First, they are not for the faint of heart: there are endless lines, long waits, loads of sick people (I’ve seen a few people vomit right in front of me), angry people (there has been a surge of revenge murders against doctors and nurses in China, so much so that some hospitals provide self-defense courses for staff), not very clean conditions, and then, more waiting. It’s best to bring a Chinese speaking friend with you so, I brought along the school nurse to help me navigate the system. 

Secondly, one should subscribe to the hospital and pay a fee (35 RMB/ $5.70 USD) to obtain a card. Then, a patient gets in another line to see a doctor (Also inexpensive, I think mine was 50 RMB/ $8.30 USD). We went straight to the emergency department and luckily, the line was very short. Finally, when it was my turn to be seen, the doctor touched me for five seconds (you know, he didn’t want those black people cooties) and when I didn’t welp in pain, he concluded I needed an MRI and sent me away. I was in the chair for one minute and that was all. I then went in another line to pay for an MRI (At this hospital it was 500RMB/ $80USD, def not too expensive) and the follow up consultation (100RMB/ $17 USD). 

I had the MRI which was on a new looking machine, albeit with the good ol’ Chinese dust/dirt all over it. After I finished, I waited a day for the results. Again, I brought the school nurse with me and we waited in an area with hundreds of people. The nurses at the hospital estimated my wait time to be around 3 hours and they weren’t lying! By the time my number was called, I entered a consultation room to see a doctor who had my results. He said something very quickly, scribbled something on paper and then dismissed me. Since I know very little medical Chinese (and the school nurse isn’t great with medical English), he saw the confusion on my face and blurted out “surgery!" You could have knocked me over with a feather at that point, except the line of people who were waiting behind me would not have allowed it. I held back my tears and I told the school nurse I would seek a second opinion. She said this would be an excellent idea so; I went to the private hospital just down the street…

Private Hospitals in China:

Since I’m staying in Shanghai, the most developed city in China, my review should not be taken as gospel. I will say that private hospitals are much, much better than the public ones. They are impeccably clean, staffed with friendly and helpful employees, and quiet waiting rooms…it’s almost like being back in the west (except for the all Asian staff). Of course you get what you pay for so they are considerably more expensive than the public hospitals, but much cheaper than the U.S.

 I knew of a private hospital named Landseed Hospital (上海禾新医院 为了您的健康,我们用心服务) through a coworker who had previously been a few times. The hospital was from Taiwan and they boasted about their western style medical care, bilingual staff and the large amount of insurance companies they accepted (including mine). 

I went straight to the orthopedics department and I waited a very short time to see a doctor. The doctor was very warm, friendly and knowledgeable and she spent a considerable amount of time with me. She recommended an X-ray and MRI, which I had done that same day. We received the results quickly and the doctor saw from the X-Ray that it wasn’t a bone issue. After looking at my MRI however, she saw the problem, which turned out to be a meniscus tear in my left knee. Apparently the tear was bad enough that I would need surgery. She even brought out a knee model to show me exactly how the knee should work and the problem with mine. She carefully explained in English what to expect from the surgery and the recovery time of the operation. I learned that it would be a minor operation with a short recovery period of 6-8 weeks. I was still bummed to know that I would need surgery, but I felt a bit safer knowing I was in good hands.

 After a month of going back and forth with the insurance company, the doctor personally called me to let me know I would be going under the knife in two days, and my operation would be done by the famous Dr. Shiyi Chen. Apparently, Dr. Chen was a like a rock star in the mainland China sports medicine world. He was credited with getting Liu Xiang, the famous Chinese hurdler back to good health after fixing his troubled Achilles tendon. I was in a daze leading up the surgery and then it was finally surgery day!

The Operation:

My hospital suite...Clean, nice and comfortable

I quickly packed a bag that morning and called my mom to say a prayer. I tried my best to catch a cab, but gave up when I saw a bus. From the bus I hoped onto the metro and finally after a ten minute walk, made it to the hospital. I was trying to take the easiest and least stressful route but, a rainy morning in Shanghai left me no other option but the aforementioned (rainy days in Shanghai=no cabs!). I was escorted to my room which was really nice and comfortable.  I had one of my Shanghai besties' meet me at the hospital and she kept me entertained with small, light talk since she knew how scared I was. Finally the team of doctors, including Dr. Chen came into the room and once again explained the procedure. I also had a Taiwanese-American resident who would be there the whole operation (he was also a cutie : ). After the discussion, it was time for my I.V. which the staff kinda messed up on (in their defense, I have really small and not noticeable veins), which only increased my fear. Finally, I was transferred to a wheeled bed and led to another floor for the operation…

I don’t remember much after that and once I woke up I was crying. The staff was worried until I shouted that “I was alive!” They laughed and wiped away my tears and then I was back in my hospital room. According to my friend, I was gone for quite awhile (two hours I believe).  The Taiwanese-American resident explained the next steps which involved sleeping and no eating. I took a small nap and after a few more hours, I learned that I was able to eat. I was surprised to learn that the hospital didn’t have food, but there was a restaurant and Starbucks on the ground floor. I had some rice and vegetables and then I went back to sleep till the next day. 

The next day I felt much better and happier. I had a nice Starbucks breakfast (A ham sandwich and green tea latte) and I rested comfortably in bed watching online t.v. and grading papers (I couldn’t get too far behind on work). I decided to stay at the hospital until the evening since the insurance covered it and I wanted as much help as possible before being on my own.  I met the physical therapist that would be working with me on my recovery who had an OK level of English however, his personality really made up for it. He was really funny and showed me some exercises to do at home. I will see him two times a week for two months and then hopefully, I will be back to my dancing and squatting self!

I know this was long so thanks for reading! Tune into my next installment on how I get around being disabled in China!