So after spending a few days in pain at Bethany Home my
teammates dragged me to the doctor in Simpang Empat. They did an old school
appendix check and said that I need to go back to Ipoh to have it looked at.
Sandi and I took the early bus back to Ipoh and immediately went to see Dr.
William. After the ultrasound he said that I needed to go to the hospital to
get my appendix taken out. Wow. Never did I think that I would come to Malaysia
and have to get my appendix taken out. So I made the necessary phone calls to
my parents and to our squad leaders to let them know what was going on.
At 11:00am I arrived at Fatimah Hospital in Ipoh and by
11:45 I was being wheeled into surgery. It was a whirlwind of a day. It is
interesting to see how differently things are done in hospitals here. Pain
killers are not given to you in your IV they are given to you through a shot into you bottom, they
don’t do x-rays before surgery, and they give you your appendix in a jar to
take home with you after they take it out. In the states when having and
appendectomy it would be done with a scope not here. I had an open surgery so I
will have a nice scar below my stomach. The entire time I was getting ready to
go into surgery two things kept going through my head: the song from the movie
Madeline and thinking about how I can’t believe that I am actually having
surgery in Malaysia.
(my appendix that i get to take home with me)
(my amazing hospital outfit)
Well the surgery went well. The stay in the hospital was
very nice. The staff was amazing and I was very comfortable. I actually became
a spectacle in the hospital. My bed was by the door so I got a lot of
interesting looks as people walked by the room. My hospital clothes were the
most comfortable thing I have ever worn and I wish I could take the outfit with
me. I was discharged on Thursday afternoon and was very surprised when I got my
total bill. Appendectomy cost in the states is roughly $20,000. My total bill
was 3,500 Ringgit, which is about $1,200. So surgery, anesthesia, two and a
half day hospital stay, food, and medication was very cheap.
I leave to go to Thailand on Saturday and can’t wait to use
a wheelchair in the airport meaning I get to skip the lines!
Prayer Request:
Fast healing process and for next month. Next month in
Thailand the men and women of “Q” squad as splitting up. The men are all going
to one location together and the girls are all going to different locations.
The Deep Roots girls and I are going to work with Lighthouse in Action in
Chiang Mai. Pray that friendship will be formed with the ladies we come into
contact with and that we will be a blessing to this ministry.
