The nurse standing in front of me was Taiwanese.  She spoke little English and I speak no Chinese.  She looked at me and said, “Ah yumich?”.  I was weak, sick, and dizzy.  My confused brain couldn’t work out what she was asking.   She asked again, only much louder this time.  “AH YUMICH?”.

I looked blankly at Marty for help.  “Your name”, he said, “she’s asking about your name”.  “Are you Mich?”.

There was so much confusion regarding my name.  When I was admitted my passport was taken for identification. The first hospital wrist-band I was given listed my name as “British Citizen”.  Marty pointed out the mistake and a new band was made.  This one listed my name as “Karen Michelle”.  We didn’t try to get this corrected, after all it is part of my name.

By the time I was moved from the E.R. ward to the treatment ward my name had mutated again.  This time to “Karen Mich”.