Amane's Pneumonia Adventure

Our flight home was scheduled for Thursday, January 5th. On Wednesday evening the night before, we took Amane to the emergency room. She had been having a fever on and off for three days, and that afternoon, besides what had become regular coughing, she was lethargic and wheezing.

This is our angel without her usual glowing smile. Amane was in bad shape.

I packed our suitcases hoping we could somehow still get to the airport in the morning, but when Michiyo called at 10 p.m. and said Amane had been diagnosed with pneumonia, all plans changed. Doctors said she would stay in the hospital for 5-6 days. Also, Hiroki had been coughing severely over the same period of days Amane was sick, with occasional fever. So we woke him up and took him in around midnight. Fortunately, they said he just had a bad cold, but he would need to rest. So we cancelled our flights, and settled in to nurse our kids back to health.

Amane was put in an oxygen tent for 2 days. Seeing her like this absolutely broke my heart, but we were very fortunate to have taken her in when we did; who knows what would have happened on a 13-hour flight?

Mommy & Daddy got to spend some time inside the tent. Michiyo continues to be an all-star Mom--she spent every day and night at the hospital, occasionally coming home in the afternoons for short breaks.

Third day, out of the tent, and smiling again!

Amane came home on January 10th. Since the hospital did not allow visitors under age 12, Hiroki did not see his sister for almost a week. They were both excited to see each other!

We ended up re-scheduling our flights Because of some frustrating airline logistics, our return home was set for January 23rd. We get to spend an extra two and half weeks in Kumamoto. We are together and healthy, so even as this is not ideal, we will count our blessings. There are too many examples of families suffering far worse situations than what Amane and us have had to go through. Thank you to all of our supportive and well-wishing family and friends!