I didn’t wanna go, but my contact insisted that he take me to the hospital. After all, we were kind of in the middle of the nowhere Amazon jungle of Ecuador. So to humor him, I gave in, and before too long, I found myself in the OBGYN room at the clinic in Lago Agrio, Ecuador getting an ultrasound done for some weird discomfort in my lower right side…
(The Amazon of Ecuador)
As I lay there I couldn’t help but laugh. I guess the OBGYN room served as the room for everything at that clinic.
When it was all said and done I had been given two options…
- Take a flight early the next morning to the capital, alone, or
- Let my Pastor and two of the ladies on the squad drive me 6 hours through the night to get me there quicker…
I realized pretty quickly, I couldn’t wait till morning. I had to go that night.
And so we drove.
When we arrived in Quito, we quickly swung by and got me in the car with one of my co-leaders, Teresa, who is a nurse. Who better to have at a 3rd world hospital with you, right?!
(My Co-Leaders & I: Kaylaynn, myself, and Teresa)
“How ironic would it be if I too had something weird with my appendix?” I thought. I mean, Kaylaynn, our other co-leader had it the week we left for the WR, and now me? It couldn’t be possible.
Lying there in the hospital though, it quickly became clear to me, I probably wouldn’t be leaving without undergoing surgery…
Sure enough, after another ultrasound, wading through a sea or broken English and Spanish conversations, riding in an ambulance between two different hospitals, and getting more needles stuck in me than I care to re-call, the surgeon came into the ER at 12:45pm to have my sign some papers… I would be going under the knife at 1pm. My appendix were chronically inflamed and had I not already been taking a round of Cipro, they would have already burst… Good times, right?!
(Me being loaded into the sweet Ecuadorian ambulance)
I’ll be honest, a little bit of panic set in, but Teresa stood by my bedside and prayed over me as they wheeled me away into surgery.
It would be a first for me, having surgery in the 3rd world, but I knew this didn’t catch Jesus by surprise.
Before surgery I made it clear to everyone, I’d make contact with my family AFTER I woke… I knew my family probably wouldn’t appreciate my shenanigans; so letting them know after the fact was a better plan for sure. (You’re welcome, Mom & Nanny!)
And before I knew it, I woke up… Just with one less part of my body.
Most people buy souvenirs when they travel or talk about leaving a piece of their heart, but I guess one might say I took leaving a piece of me, literally.
(Yeehaw, y'all)
And now I set, bloated as I’ve ever been (because the worst part is they pump you full of gas), praying for the gas pain to subside. All in all though, I’m healing up well.
I don’t do anything halfway, y’all…
And with that, I ask for your prayers. For continued healing, no infections, and a quick recovery!
Jesus is good, folks. And during this time, I’m reminded His plan is perfect. I can see His hand all over my surgery and in teaching me to "be still" right now. He doesn't cause bad things to happen, but He for sure can and will use the bad times in our lives. It's just another part of the growth process.
Pray for our squad as we’ve been fighting a crap load of sickness this month. Satan is upset because we’re here shaking up things for The Kingdom! That isn’t gonna stop us though.
Love y’all.
P.M.S (see what I did there)… I now understand a little better what women go through each month with all the gasses. That junk is for the birds, y'all. It's ok, you can laugh. LOL
