Hey, didn’t see you there. I bet you are wondering why I am getting stoned. Especially on a mission trip. Well let me tell you something. I didn’t plan it. And I never want anyone to feel the way I felt. Oh did I say stoned? I mean stones. As in Kidney Stones. And did I say hospital? Good, cause that was where I got to spend the day in agony.
You might have seen me asking for prayer earlier on Facebook or you might have heard through a friend that I needed some prayer, well folks this was why.
We were having a groovy day traveling along the earth when a couple of stones, they were up to no good. Trying to make some trouble in my kidneys UGH. No but seriously, I was having a grand ole time on our train. We had first class sleeper train tickets (cause apparently its cheap here and that just means AC and a slightly cushioned bed). It was supposed to be a pretty smooth transition to Bangkok Thailand from Malaysia. We had 18 hours of travel time ahead of us and things were good. I had an average amount of water, some cookies, some breakfast bar, a few bites of rice. I had time to enjoy the view and read a book. I even watched a movie with my friend Sarah. It was the least stressful travel day I had experienced. Until 4am.
I was woken up by a confusingly new pain that I never felt. It was like a sharp, stabbing, sore, punched feeling. I wasn’t cramping. It wasn’t my stomach per say. It seemed to be my side and back, but for some reason I felt the urge to vomit. Yep. Too much? Wait, it gets better. I rushed to the train bathroom knelt on the floor to literally toss my cookies. Did I mention it was a squatty-potty? So basically just a hole in the ground where everything that went through hit the rail road tracks. (Which was kind of nice that I didn’t have to look at the upchucked contents of my stomach.) The pain intensified. My first thought was, “where is my appendix? What if its that?” I woke up the closest person to me and wailed to her what I could explain. Neither of us knew what to do. Soon there was multiple people awake trying to help me (and calm me down because apparently I became hysterical, and honestly it was mostly a blur. I only remember half the things they told me I said.) People prayed, tried to find pain pills, gave me essential oils, water, music, hands to squeeze, and kind words. At the time, it made no difference. (But I am now so thankful that so many people tried to help a sista out) The pain was constant. I wished their was a relief even for a minute, but none seemed to come especially since my body kept throwing up and making it worse.
Eventually we made a stop where the rail staff found a nicer hospital. This is where it gets real interesting. They help me off the train, escorted by my friends Jenn and Kristine, and into what they called an ambulance. I looked around slightly to see that the EMT’s were very young boys. I swear they looked 15. And didn’t speak English. Apparently I was saying and doing ridiculous things in there too like trying to breathe with a plastic bag that was meant for puking. It was mostly a blur. At some point they wheeled me into the hospital which made me freak out even more because first off, I saw two rooms. It looked more like a vet clinic than a hospital (which it turns out was just the ER). And second, the only 2 people who spoke English had very broken English. We still had to use charades.
-I might regret the following photos, but i though it was funny that Jenn took time to photograph this memory-
Eventually they gave me an IV because I was throwing up so much and couldn’t even keep water down. For some reason even after giving me pain meds nothing seemed to stop. Eventually I was just so tired and wore out (and probably drugged up) that I couldn’t help but fall asleep. I was woken up to a lovely hospital Thai breakfast of chicken and rice soup. It was very good. It wasn’t terrible the second time either, if you know what I mean.
After some more time of pain and puking I eventually had to be admitted in order to keep the IV going and a room sounded nice. So they begin to wheel me on over to the rooms, and then stop in a hall like lobby. This was the room. It had a ceiling and 3 walls.. What happened to the 4th wall you asked? Oh that’s not a thing. Instead there was a giant open space, no window, just straight up nature. This would be my room for the time remaining. Cool. It was actually kind of nice to have the fresh air though. At some point I had gone a lone time with no incidents and even held down lunch, which was plain rice, for a good amount of time so we saw it good to try and catch a train to Bangkok. So by 4pm we checked out.
BUT WAIT, there’s more!
The staff ended up being very kind and helpful, they even tried helping us with the train and taxi. Tried. They kept saying, “Moto Taxi” and we were like “no, a car taxi” and they were like “yeah, a moto.” And we said “No… A taxi, like a car, an automobile, a vehicle.” So the nurse said Oh. Okay. Yeah go wait there.. so we waited and sure enough, not one, not three, but TWO Motorcycles showed up offering to take the 3 of us and all of our 4 bags and my pillow to the train station. Wouldn’t that have been fun? Eventually we sent them away and ended up hitching a ride with a nurse who just got off. She and her husband dropped us off at the end of the train road. They communicated to us that it was just down the road. So we walked. And walked. And then tried to find someone who knew English, found out that “Choo-Choo” is not an international sound for train. Apparently they say, “pewt-pewt”. Whatever man. Just tell me where the train is. We eventually made it after more than 3KM of walking. And then I lost the rice I had earlier consumed. Plus all the water I tried to consume after.
We waited for about 3 hours more for the 10:15pm train. (I slept on a bench). And then rode that roach infested train for 7 hours. Waking up every 20 minutes from fear of the bugs, a crick in my neck, a screech in the brakes, people selling food, or a train stop. It was real fun.
A taxi ride later we arrived at our hostel and made it to bed around 7am. So we got a glorious 5 hours of sleep. And I haven’t puked or felt pain since. Well aside from my abs being sore from the 20+ times of vomiting. My experience hasn’t been the best so far, but I am looking forward to what the rest of this month holds.
Thank you to everyone who helped. Especially Jenn and Kristine who helped calm me down, comfort me, and help me get what I needed. Straws, weird stories, breathing exercises, calm voices, helping hands, tissue, bags, water, sprite, crackers. You thought of everything and then some. I was truly blessed to be with you two beauties. Kristine, I am sorry I caressed your face I still don’t remember that. And another thanks to my squadmates who so graciously did what they could do. Sorry if I yelled at any of you and I hope that I didn’t say anything mean to you. You helped get me where I needed to be and tried your best to do what you knew. You let me be irrational and ridiculous and let me feel comforted in a time when all I wanted was to be home. And you even so lovingly carried our heavy hiker packs without question. I love how you always come together to help one another. So special thanks to you guys. And another thanks to the ones back home who prayed without even know what was going on. It was nice knowing that I had people back home who cared.
Now, there will be another post soon to tell you how Malaysia went, but until then you can be praying for this month and the trials that lie ahead. That we always remember that God doesn’t cause them, but He does redeem them.
