To begin this blog I want to give my sincere thanks to our translator Peter. Without Peter being here the past week and helping out with all these health issues I have had, I’m not sure things would have gone as well as they had gone. Granted things went crazy for a bit…they could have gone much worse if here weren’t there translating everything that was being said to me at the first hospital we visited.
After 5 second consideration at the first hospital, we decided to cross the border back to Moldova, and visit an international hospital in Chisinau. Our contact for the month (who is American) suggested this hospital because his family and all the other people he works with take advantage of everything they have to offer. The decision was made but things got a little tricky with crossing back into Moldova. Upon arriving in Transnistria we had to register to stay here for the month and what we didn’t know was when we came back from Moldova this time, we would have to register all over again (which kinda takes up a few hours of a day to travel to the central office)… and those who were going with me…we were all registered under different addresses so this just made things a bit more difficult. BUT…God has this under control from the very beginning and made it a smooth transition. Upon arriving at the border between the two countries, the guard at the border told Peter, even though he could get in major trouble, he was going to let us keep our papers so that we didn’t have to register all over again when we came back. I laughed to myself because I pictured the Jedi mind trick…’you will let us keep our papers’…and I guess God can use some kind of mind trick such as this.
Our contact Richard, met us at the border and took Holli, Sam and I to an appointment he had already set up with a doctor at the hospital earlier that day. When we arrived at the hospital the receptionist checked us in and then come to find out…she could also translate for us (Peter was not able to come with us to the hospital). Natasha was her name and her English was beyond excellent. The first doctor we went to was beyond professional and super caring…she made me feel very at ease. After an ultrasound and a few other small check-ups, we still didn’t have a final answer and her solution was to have a Gastroscopy. For those of you who aren’t sure what that is…it’s a procedure where they numb your throat and stick a camera down into your stomach and see what is going on. Even in America something like this would freak me out (my mother can attest to this, I hate hospitals) so as you can imagine I was not thrilled to have this mentioned.
The three of us decided to stay at a local hotel that night in case of another attack we could easily access a hospital that was capable of taking care of the pain. At almost 6am on the dot…I woke up with excruciating pain again and for fear of another “excellent” ambulance service we just decided to call a taxi. As Holli was at the front desk trying to call a cab, I was screaming in pain on the couch…so what does the receptionist decide to do? She pulls out a syringe and a small bottle of some kind of liquid and flicked it with her fingers. For all of you who are familiar with giving or getting shots…you can picture this image in your head (yes it is okay to laugh because this is just plain ridiculous). After kindly declining the random needle and mysterious liquid…we climbed into the cab and went to the hospital.
Same routine again…except it was early in the morning and we did not have a translator. The doctor spoke a small amount of English…just enough to know he was trying. I am not sure if any of you have ever talked to anyone who is trying to learn English, but for me… even if I am aware this person has intelligence beyond anything I can comprehend for myself…when they struggle to find the words in English it still puts doubt in my head they know what they are talking about…so as 2 nurses are trying to get an IV in my arm (missed twice) and trying to give me a pain shot…this doctor is trying to communicate to me what they are wanting to do…finally we call Peter on the phone and let him speak with him about what is going on (once again Peter to the rescue!!!).
I’m going to attempt to wrap this up… Eventually we decide to the Gastroscopy and communicate that I would like to be sedated. As you can see the procedure went well …thanks to Natasha who finally came to the hospital and communicated everything I wanted to tell the doctor and all my fears. I can’t help but think (and HOPE) that Holli and I witnessed to her in some small way.
Everything that happened that day was so fast paced and if I hadn’t been able to Skype with our contact’s doctor back in the States…I’m not sure I would have been comfortable with making the decisions I made. I would also like to give a bit thank you to Andrew (the doctor in the states) for taking time to Skype with me and walk me through everything that should be going on and what decisions to make. His bedside manner was so comforting and he explained everything so that I could understand what was going on and what we should be looking for on my blood work results. THANK YOU DR. ANDREW! He even asked for my mother’s phone # so that he could call and get things communicated to her and squared away.
All this to say…I have 3 kidney stones and Gastritis.
A friend sent me a message with this following verse in the message… it can be applied to many situations I feel but for me at this point it made me feel comforted. Besides all the pain and health issues…it was all I could not to want to call it quits and catch the next flight home. I voiced my fears to the Lord(and honestly at times the fear was more painful to me than the actual pain itself)…but all I had to was cry to the Lord and he would bring my heart to a place of peace and rest… saving me from spiritual death in times of great fear and pain.
Thank you for all the prayers back home…I am on the mend and doing well!!
I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live. The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came upon me; I was overcome by trouble and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the Lord: “O Lord, save!” The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion. The Lord protects the simple-hearted; when I was in great need, he saved me. Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you. –Psalm 116:1-7
