Unexpected Detour

So it took an emergency surgery to finally induce me to write again-I make no promises about this becoming a habit (the writing, not the surgery) though I would like it to do so! On Wednesday night a couple of weeks ago, I started to feel some stomach pain, which I thought was just hunger magnified a bit since I didn't eat until after church because my car wasn't working and I couldn't go home. I figured out it wasn't hunger when I couldn't sleep all night from the pain, and in the morning I called Wendy and asked her if she could take me to the doctor. The miracle of this was that we were in and out of the doctor's office in less than an hour! Unheard of here in PR......The doctor diagnosed gastritis and gave me a prescription, but when I couldn't keep the meds down and the pain was getting worse, we decided to go to the emergency room.

Wendy dropped me off and went to park, and by the time she came in they had already called me back. Memories are a bit fuzzy here, but eventually Mrs. Santana came, and somewhere in here I got morphine for the pain, and eventually a sonogram. I had to wait 2 hrs for the results, and they told me I would have to have my gallbladder out the next day. So, I called mom and let her know (we had been communicating all day-she told me "If they have to operate, either you're coming here or I'm going there!). They took me to a room (or rather a curtained off section) and later that night Mom told me she was coming the next day. Mrs. Santana went home, and on Friday morning she made a trip to JCPenney to get pajamas for me and other necessities. She was and continues to be such a blessing to me!!! She got there around noon, and they had told me I'd go into surgery around 1 or 2, so we were making sure everything was ready. They took me back, I talked to the anesthesiologist, and then proceeded to sit there for 5 hours! Apparently at the time they were to take me back for surgery they had 3 emergencies come up (one including an emergency c-section). After about 3 hours, they finally gave me something for my headache, and let mom (who had just arrived) come back to see me. I don't think I have ever been so happy to see my mom! By 7 I was in surgery, and headed for recovery by 9. Mom said while I was in surgery, she and Pastor Daniels and Mrs Santana were all in the waiting room, and I think Mr Santana was there at some point too because he picked mom up from the airport (Mrs Santana was going to do it but she didnt' want to leave while I was in surgery which didn't end up being an issue) One blessing was that my nurse in the recovery area was the mother of a former student-a comfort to see a familiar face. Around 2 AM they woke mom up in the waiting area and told her I was being taken to a room. Saturday and Sunday blur together a bit, but I had around 20 people total come to visit. They were such a blessing to me! Some brought food and snacks for mom, some brought balloons and flowers for me, Mrs Rojas went to Borders and bought me books, and then brought me a cd player and music (as she put it, "Sarah Approved Music"), someone else brought me a cake (which was saved for later), Wendy brought me a balloon and a webkinz pet, and one of my sweet volleyball players picked out some socks for me in our team colors (I had complemented her on her very cool socks at our last practice). Then of course Mrs. Santana and the many times she traveled back and forth to the hospital and brought me things. Saturday night Mom went back to my apartment and straightened up-she did my laundry, washed my dishes and cleaned my house!!!!

Sunday morning she came back, and we listened to a sermon on my phone since we were missing church. I had several visitors in the afternoon, and after church, Dr Dudley came back up to the hospital and brought us pillows and blankets, another huge blessing!!

Monday morning I finally was able to go home-poor mom had to run all over the place dealing with discharge papers, and finding someone to translate for her. This was all definitely an adventure for her since she doesn't understand Spanish-when someone came in the room she would ask me later "what did they do and what did they say?" I was very thankful the Lord has allowed me to learn Spanish-it has never been more useful, I think.

When we got home, I was able to rest so much better in my own bed, and while I was asleep, Mrs. Santana came to take mom to Walgreens to get my prescriptions. During these 2 days, mom and I watched almost a full season of the Cosby show-so hard to watch that and not laugh!!! On Tuesday, Rebecca took mom shopping to get some good healthy food for me to eat. On Wednesday Mr Linnemeir brought my car back, and the bill said "Paid in full by friends". Mom had to leave Wednesday, and on Wednesday night Mrs Santana came to sit with me during church, and she brought food, read a devotional with me, and washed my dishes.