Florence Nightingale of the East...

“Healing is a matter of time, but it is

also a matter of opportunity.”

- Hippocrates

“Excuse me sir, may I help you?”

I was distracted and out of sorts when the woman asked the question, and to be honest it was a little irritating.

I looked around to see who was speaking; it was the restaurant manager. 

I had noticed her the day before when I had gotten breakfast at the hotel.  She stood out, not only because she was dressed more formally than the rest of the waiter staff, but she had that officious, no nonsense look about her – you know, “It is my job to make sure EVERYTHING is working correctly.”  Little doubt she was the boss.

My second thought was, “Did I so something wrong?”

She continued. “You don’t look well.  Why don’t you go and have a seat and I will be right there.”

I had arrived in the City after nearly 30 plus hours of travel, from bed sheets ‘out’ at home to bed sheets ‘in’ at the hotel.  When I got in Sunday night, it was a quick unpack and into bed.  Bed!  Yes sir, it is amazing how things get pretty simple when you are tired or sick.  Tired I was…unbeknownst to me; sickness would arrive at my doorstep with a vengeance within the next 48 hours.

Monday morning was lovely and I took a long walk in the humid heat of this wonderful place a little more than 80 miles (120km) north of the Equator.  In Tucson the temperature had hovered around 107degrees (41.6C) during the summer, you know “…a dry heat,” as if low humidity somehow makes high temperatures more bearable – they don’t for me! 

Singapore temperatures on the other hand were in the 90s, but you know“…a wet heat.”  The dampness in the air makes one feel as though they are wearing an extra layer of skin…the non-breathable kind…it is a ‘close’ feeling. Having said that, the ambiance and smell of this exotic place had a sense of familiarity and I felt quite comfortable on my morning outing.

Dinner Monday evening was with the preconference chairman and a delightful female orthopedic surgeon from Stanford.  We had a wonderful multicourse dinner at the Raffles Hotel, named for Stamford Raffles, founder of modern day Singapore in 1819, never mind it had been a trading port for centuries.  Nonetheless, a great evening’s welcome.  Day one – nicely done!

A brewing storm…

Tuesday morning I had a great Asian breakfast of Congee (a sort of rice based porridge), fresh fruits, bread, sliced cheese and thinly sliced ham.  The day was looking good.

The pre-conference course began at 7AM sharp in the National University Health System conference facility.  Much to my delight, there were snacks available.  To be polite, and simply because I really like Asian food, I nibbled a little before the morning session began. 

It was a long day of excellent presentations, ending at 7PM.  I was tired, but man I had enjoyed lunch and grazing off and on over the day. I wasn’t to speak until the next day, so the give and take of the day was stimulating…stimulating for the first six or seven hours, but by 7PM, I was pretty tired and began not feeling well – had to be jetlag.

At the close of the day, busses were waiting to take us to dinner, and within 20 minutes we were in a ‘hip,’ open Asian restaurant that overlooked Singapore Harbor.  I, on the other hand, was NOT feeling hip or anything else akin to a sense of pleasure.  I wasn’t hungry, and had this growing feeling it would be really good if I were to lie down somewhere.

Dr. Liu, the conference chair seemed to sense that my ‘ship of health and wellbeing’ was listing uncertainly and suggested he take me back to the hotel.  I must have looked even worse than I felt – if that were possible – for he stopped at a small convenience store to buy some medicine to calm my growing sense of abdominal distress.

You know what they say – “Timing is everything…” Well, I wasn’t in my room five minutes before it seemed like all I had put in me for the entire day, found a way to emerge from every port of bodily departure.  I am uncertain this is what my health conscious friends mean by whole body cleansing!!

It was a long, rest-less and ‘hydrate as much as possible,’ night.

By 6:00 the next morning, it was all I could do to get to breakfast.  My thought was just get something soft and bland into my tummy.

The interruption…

“Excuse me sir, may I help you?”… She continued. “You don’t look well.  Why don’t you go and have a seat and I will be right there.”

In fact, she physically led me to a seat and asked me what was wrong.  “I think I got some food poisoning,” I answered.

“What are you going to eat?” She asked.

“A little cereal and milk,” I replied.

“No, you are not.” She said.  “Milk is the last thing you need for your stomach. It will make you worse.”

It was clear, I was in no condition to do anything other than nod in assent.

She continued, as though she were talking to a young child, “I will get you some Congee, and make you a pot of ginger and lemon root tea.” 

 “In my culture,” she said, “we know this will help your stomach.” and off she went.

The balm in Gilead…

A few minutes later she returned with a large pot of steaming hot tea.  I opened the top, looked in and saw long slivers of freshly cut ginger and lemon root soaking in recently boiling water – it was the strongest ginger flavor I have ever tasted.  I got the Congee and spent the next 30 minutes nibbling and sipping tea.  In fact, my stomach felt its first calm since the ‘event’ the night before!

When ‘Florence Nightingale’ returned, she introduced herself as Lien Tran, manager of the restaurant.  The woman, who had appeared to be so efficient, somewhat distant and commanding, evaporated before my eyes, into a warm, caring, compassionate human being seeing another of her species in distress, and simply taking action.

I am certain there were a lot of things she needed to take care of as the day began for she and her staff, but in the moments we spent together, you would never have known it.  She gave of herself, her culture, her life experience and her spirit, providing me with both physical and moral sustenance.

I spent the day in bed and returned to the restaurant around 8PM knowing I had to get something inside me.  While not on the menu, I ordered some hot chicken broth with chicken pieces and chamomile tea. 

As I worked to get the food down, I heard a voice call my name.  I turned to see Lien Tran.  She had, by now been at work for 14 hours.  She looked a little tired, but came and chatted with me for a few more minutes, both of us leaving one another feeling a little better for the chicken soup for the body and chicken soup for the soul.

As so often happens to me, I will probably never see this person again…this compassionate creature that could easily have passed me by on her way to do the things in front of her for the day, BUT she did not.  She was the Samaritan who followed her leading and ministered to another creature in need…

Isn't that the task for which all of us are called?  

- ted