[HANASHIR:12468] the latest... from the source...

[MoVFTYite <MoVFTYite...>]

Hello Hanashir Community Friends...

I wish I could write a more upbeat, happy letter to all of you right now, as 
I'm still just at the beginning of my time here in Hong Kong... but as many of 
you have probably heard already, something terribly scary and unfortunate has 
happened.  On Tuesday evening, October 8th, I headed to a Congregational 
Executive Committee meeting after having spent my day off relaxing at home... I 
was the first person to walk into our auditorium.  Four other people walked in 
a few minutes later.  We stood around chatting for a minute or two, and 
suddenly I fell to the floor and had a seizure.  I do not remember having the 
seizure or even falling to the floor.  This has never happened to me in my 
lifetime.  It didn't last very long, just a couple of minutes at the most.  I 
woke up with people around me, asking if I knew who they were.  I was very 
confused and it took me a few minutes to get my thought processes working 
again.  The paramedics came and put me in a wheelchair and took me to the 
ambulance.  One friend accompanied me to the hospital.  They tested my blood 
sugar and it was very low.  They thought perhaps this was a hypoglycemic 
attack.  I got to the hospital, weary from all the shocking events but with all 
of my personality and with color coming back to my face.  I was so very lucky 
that this didn't happen to me when I was alone all day, or when I was on my way 
to the meeting.  I had people around me who I knew, and who knew me, and who 
made sure I was taken care of properly and immediately.  I am so grateful for 
them...  I waited for some tests to be done.  My friend Sharon kept me company 
and kept my mind off of being overly scared.  She stayed with me until 
something like 4 in the morning.  I had a CT scan later that night which 
revealed a shadow on the right side of my brain near the top of my head, above 
my ear.  I stayed in the hospital and the next day they did an MRI, which 
revealed more detail.  The team of 4 doctors that reviewed the results came to 
an agreement that what they saw looks like it could be a tumor.  This news, 
needless to say, is incredibly scary for me.  On the "bright side", they say it 
looks to be of the more tame variety... and it's just below the skull, which 
makes the operation a bit easier to do.

The community here has been so amazingly supportive.  I have hardly gone a 
moment in these last 4 days in the hospital without at least one visitor.  Many 
people have called me as well.  The hospital is excellent -- in fact the 
medical system here in Hong Kong, in many ways, is better than that in the U.S. 
 Still, we are looking at the options and trying to figure out what the best 
route would be as far as surgery is concerned.  We are looking into having it 
in St. Louis.  My sister flew here from Taiwan yesterday and my parents arrived 
here this morning.  I was given permission to leave the hospital to be with my 
family until tuesday, when I have to be back for a blood test.  So we are 
making the best of the situation... I showed my family around a little bit 
today.  It is so nice to be away from the hospital.  I felt like I didn't 
belong there, even though most people in my ward had similar medical situations 
to mine.  I am feeling energetic and upbeat most of the time, largely a result 
of the incredible communities of people who have come together in my support.  
The medication I am on is making me feel a bit like I'm drunk... I suppose 
there could be worse effects... 

Anyway, that's the story, in a nutshell.  No, this was not in my contract.

I'm not sure how often I will get to check my email, but if you are needing to 
reach me you can try my mobile phone... the number is:   country code (852) 
9427 6633

Okay, I don't know how to end this email, but please know that I am smiling 
right now, trying to be as positive as I can be.  People have asked what they 
can do to help... I say sing a song with everything you've got... and smile and 
laugh... and hug each other.

Thanks,
Angela
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