Well, the past few weeks I have experienced a lot of things that I never would have imagined ever doing in my life. After getting another X-Ray at the hospital next door (which was a very old, dirty hospital), the doctor recommended getting some screws put in. YIKES! He squeezed my foot quite hard, for some unexplained reason...maybe he didn't believe that it was really broken...and said I should spend the night. Obviously, I refrained and wanted a second opinion. So with the help of some American/Chinese friends I went to the best hospital in Wuhan about 20 minutes north of our place. They suggested the same. So, it was decided that I should get surgery. This is where the fun began.
I met with some doctors, did some commuting back and forth from our place to the hospital, did a bunch of medical tests (including one in which they hooked me up like Frankenstein to some 'jumper cables') and set up a time for the surgery. Early on the morning of my surgery day I arrived, and got some blood drawn. First of all, I HATE needles. Second, I had had nothing to eat or drink (on doctor's orders because of the surgery), and after drawing my blood I became very dizzy and nauseous and puked. Great way to start my surgery day! After waiting a little, they hooked me up to an IV after missing my vein, and rolled me away to the surgery room. The doctors spoke a little English. I was not as nervous as I expected. It is all in G-d's hands, what a great comfort that is for our daily lives. I watched the ceiling above as I rolled around on the bed, up/or down a few elevators, and to the operating room. We could have been underground, or on top of the building, I couldn't tell. I didn't know any details of the surgery. How will they kill the pain? General anesthesia? Local anesthesia? A shot in my foot to numb it? NOPE. One doctor told me to hold my knees, and then he held me and said "This might hurt.......a little." They applied some cold gel to my lower back around my spine area. I had a bad feeling about what would come next! Someone unseen behind me proceeded to stick a needle into my spine. It was an epidural shot! I thought they only did these for childbirths! For about 5 minutes they wiggled, pushed, and pulled the needle (which I'm really glad I didn't see). A few times they had me re position my back and spine because it wasn't in the right position. At one point the whole right side of my body twitched, they must have nicked a nerve. Then the doctor said, "Okay, hold it right there for another.......5 minutes." Ahhhhhh! All I can say is that those 10 minutes were the worst 10 minutes of my life. Just as mentally painful as physically for me.
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| Hooked up like Frankenstein! |
So they began working on my foot. They put a plate and 6 screws in. I was awake during the operation, and didn't feel a thing. It was great! I was listening to my iPod, taking pictures, and playing Angry Birds throughout the surgery. Only in China! Wow. They finished up, an brought me back to my room.
Then I spent 10 days straight in the same bed, 6 or 7 of those days I was hooked up to an IV getting some sort of fluids. They really believe in the IV here. Even for colds, I've heard they hook you up and pump you full of fluids. There were 2 others in my room. To my left, an old man whose smile seems to have been surgically cemented onto his face, and to my right, a guy who smoked every day....in the hospital.....The old man was getting his whole left leg amputated because of a tumor the size of a basketball, and was waiting for more blood to be donated for the surgery. The middle aged man to my right was getting some pins removed from his leg and foot. A year ago he was drunk driving and ran into a tree, breaking his leg and foot.
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| Doctor's talking to my 'old man' friend, and his wife. |
I spent the days reading, reflecting, watching crazy Chinese TV shows, and trying to communicate with my new friend, the old man to my left. Communicating at first basically consisted of me offering him food, them him saying "No, that's ok." Then him offering me food, and me saying the same. Eventually we overcame this "food barrier" and had some nonverbal/basic word conversations. His wife stayed with him overnight. Hospitals here in China are the exact opposite of America. My room was dirty, old, and the bathroom had no toilet paper or soap. We had to provide our own. The nurses also don't do anything for you except hook up the IVs. There is no food service. Basically if you're in the hospital here, because of their deep cultural roots and the importance of family, it is expected that your family will stay with you at the hospital sleeping in the chairs, getting your food, and helping you etc...I am super blssed for all my FOC family here. I had a ton of visitors, Chinese friends, and other American teachers visit and bring a ton of food. A tremendous blssing in helping me get through this experience.
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| Two Chinese friends! Dr. Luke, who was incredibly helpful, and Vivian! |
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| Andy and Ivy! |
My last night there, I tried to give the old man a Chinese/English B-ble. He refused. At first I was disappointed until I realized what he was saying. He said "I have one already, I have one." I was communicating with him via my iPod Google Translator App and my basic Chinese. I asked if he was a Chr-stian. He smiled and nodded his head "yes." Wow! Out of all the people G-d placed me next to, I was next to a fellow brother in Ch-st! So I gave the B-ble I was going to give him to my helper friend, a really nice 50-60 year old who would help me on a daily basis with some basic things. He seemed to really like it, and was paging through the book to some places I marked as he left my room for the last time.
My last day I watched as the old man was wheeled out of our room to get his leg amputated. He looked terrified. He was able to have the surgery because one of my Chinese friends, Ivy, called 8 of her friends. They all donated blood to make the surgery happen. So I left the hospital, after 225 hours of laying in the same spot (with maybe an hour total of bathroom breaks). G-d is good, and has taught me so many great lessons through this experience. He is in control. His plan is best. And we can have comfort and peace no matter what because of that! There are a lot of details I left out of this blog, but I could literally write an entire book on the 10 days I was at the hospital. If you run into me someday, ask me about it and I will tell you some things that I didn't want to write here! This will do though. Gd's blssings to all of you reading this!
WARNING, BELOW IS A PICTURE OF MY STAPLED FOOT
SECOND WARNING
Ok, here it is
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| I'm sorry, I had to add this photo! My apologies, but I did put a disclaimer at top so you can't sue me ;) |
