Last Week of Holidays ends with a Crash

Last Sunday Tris headed to the coast with Bruce and another SPH teacher for a day of body surfing. I was hanging with Judy when we got a phone call saying that they were on their way home, Tris had had a bit of an accident and that he wasn't doing that great. I met Tris at our local hospital (Siloam) and waited 2 1/2 hours for him to be able to go under general anesthetic (he'd eaten and so couldn't go under immediately) in order for the orthopedic surgeon to relocate his right shoulder. While I was there I was needing to fill my time, so I wrote a bit on a scrap paper. Here is what I wrote (please remember that this is coming from a wife who experienced a year of my husband undergoing 2 back surgeries and the pain that came before, during and after these operations AND that we are now living in a foreign country where medical treatment isn't always trustworthy). I read it over a few days later and I sound so dramatic, but hey, I was traumatized. Here goes:

"Last week Tris and I watched "Nights in Rodanthe." Not only was it a stupid movie but it planted a seed in me and now that planting seems to be taking root and growing. The story is partially based on a surgeon who is charged for negligence in the death of a woman having a simple growth removed. The line I remember is when the doctor is talking to the husband of the dead woman, explaining that 'I've done the research and I don't know what went wrong. Deaths due to general anesthesia are one in 50, 000.' Now why would I remember a line like that, especially me, who is so unlikely to remember anything to do with numbers and statistics? As I sit outside the operating theatre, that line comes back to haunt me. What a STUPID thing to remember!

Tris went surfing at 4 am this morning, and I got a call around noon. He'd taken a tumble with a wave and a coral reef and figured he'd dislocated his shoulder. I met him at the hospital about 3 pm (he was 2 1/2 hours away when it happened); he was what I called "back surgery yellow," and had no shoulder. When he was initially injured he had Bruce's driver take him to a local clinic where he received x-rays, painkillers and a clean bill of health. However, even I could tell from the x-rays that the shoulder bone was NOT in its socket.

So, now I sit, waiting amongst a bunch of people who are in a variety of states. They all seem to be waiting for results for the same person. I'd say that there are about 35 people here. O, new ones have arrived. Maybe 45 now. The ICU next to the operating room lets one person in at a time with a visitors pass. I'm curious to know if they all expect to visit this man that security calls Bapak Ede (Mr Eddy).

To take my mind off of things I'm trying to people watch. Some things I've noticed are that there is a party atmosphere here outside of ICU. Curiosity has got me because even within this atmosphere there are people pacing and rubbing their hands. Another is that young guys have taken the chairs while the older ladies are made to stand. My final observation: my feet are HUGE compared to some of these teeny ladies' feet.

Tris will have to stay overnight because of the general anesthesia and I am praying he is not sharing a room with someone with a family as large as this!I tried to get him a VIP room (nothing too good for my husband) but they are all full.

As I sit here I remember the verse that tells me that every good and perfect gift comes from the Lord. Also, the verse that tells me to think on the things of God. I am remembering things that I have learned over the past year, over the past 5 years, and even 10 years. I know that we have had some trying events in our lives, individually and as a family, and rarely do we come out of it unscathed. However, with hindsight, we do come out a little stronger, closer and hopefully a little wiser and kinder.

Tris is still not out of the OR, but I'm not worried. When I live a life directed by God I know that our lives are in His hands. Rather than dwelling on the lines of that movie, I dwell instead on the lines of God's Word. He will keep me in perfect peace as my mind remains on Him."

Tris came out of the OR only an hour after he went in; no surgery was involved, only a little pulling and pushing, I'm sure. It's now 3 days later and he doesn't have a lot of pain, only discomfort and trouble finding a good sleeping position.

One final observation that I made while sitting outside the OR and ICU...people pick their noses a lot here. In Canada, I know people pick their noses because I have seen it as they drive by me in their cars, but here there's no shame in it, and it's a public sport!!

Thanks for reading.