Boston on hold again, Hong Kong part deux

[last Friday]
"So you're saying that I myself can schedule an appointment for my mother to see the specialist?" I ask.
"Yes, sure, would you like to do that?" she asks.
"When's the next available appointment?"
"March, of next year."
"No, we can't do that, if we wait that long she could be...gone by then. Is there any way we can get an expedited appointment?"
"You'll have to have your doctor speak directly with Dr Curry to get an expedited appointment."
"My doctor said he already called your office and couldn't get a hold of him..."

Talking on the phone with another secretary at a different hospital the next day, I explained to her our situation and frustration. As soon as I uttered the words "bureaucracy" and "red tape," she said "I know exactly where you're coming from. My father had the same thing, a liver tumor, and we kept pushing and pushing and it was just frustrating. Join the club. You're not going to like the club very much, but you're gonna have to get used to it."
After we discussed a bit about her past experience with her father, I asked her, "how is he today?"
"He passed away in a few months," she said, "I'm sorry, I know that's not what you wanted to hear."

We're flying our mother out to Hong Kong for the surgery. The fact that so many Americans these days fly overseas for their health care, for example to Thailand, shows just how inefficient the US health care system and insurance system is. Interestingly, Blue Cross Blue Shield has a whole department for insuring overseas medical procedures; they'll even help us look for housing in Hong Kong (even though they won't pay for it). Maybe they're trying to tap into the new trend and the new demands by the middle class for better health care.

She'll be there anywhere from half a year to two years, depending if she needs chemo and if there are any complications.

This means I won't be moving out to Boston as I planned; I'll be moving out to Hong Kong in December, which will be the second time I'll be living there. I have a thesis topic to study globalization of higher education, and I'll try to make CUHK a case study, since I studied abroad there. Depending on what happens with my mother, I might look for a job there and settle down for a bit after I finish my thesis and get my masters.