It was another crazy week, but thankfully now things have settled down and are basically back to normal.
After the first time in the hospital, we took it very easy, only going to a few appointments every day and mostly resting and recuperating in our lovely air conditioned bedroom. A couple days I went out and worked with Hermana Luna, while Hermana Luna´s mom came and stayed with and cared for Hermana Espinoza. Still, my poor little Hermana ended up in the hospital THREE more times last week, once in the middle of the night. She had a bunch of different things going on at once (inflammation in her whole body, back pain, knee pain, etc) but the worst was that on Tuesday morning she woke up with a head-splitting, excruciating migraine that not even the strongest drugs seemed to kick for long and that went on for days. We created what I called "the cave," covering our window with three blankets so that not even a tiny beam of light could come inside. Any tiny bit of light was excruciating to her, as well as all sounds and movements. It was quite dark and cool and cozy in the cave, and the rest of the house is SO HOT--so I would usually just chill in the cave in the pitch darkness, with my sheet thrown over my head and a flashlight and my scriptures.
In the end Hermana Espinoza was just too sick to be here, so far from home, in hot hot Formosa, with the stress of a missionary schedule and lifestyle. Late on Thursday night she was in such pain that she was crying and moaning and I was just so scared and didn´t know what to do to help her. Our neighbors are these two young gals about our age that are both nurses. I called them over and they took a look at her, took her blood pressure, and injected her with some of the pain meds that they had given her a few days before in the clinic (the last time these meds seemed to work for a few hours, so it was a good temporary solution). But then they told me she really urgently needed to go be seen by a doctor. The public hospital here had traumatized us quite a bit (we took photos the last time, and when I get home I will show them to you. it is awful) and we felt it would be pointless to go back to the same place, with the same symptoms, just to recieve the same attention by the same incompetent staff and later to be given the same results (inconclusive). However, we felt trapped because we had been given instructions by our leaders not to go to a private clinic because they would charge a lot of money. Our neighbors agreed that she should not go to the public hospital, because it is usually crowded and hectic and poorly staffed. They referred us to a place called Sanatorio Formosa where one of them works and told us more or less how much a basic checkup and a few of the tests she might need would cost. We decided that in the end, if the mission couldn’t pay, that we would find some other way to pay and that we just needed to go right then. These girls were so helpful and good to us--they called some friends who were working at that hour and asked them to please help us, and wait for us, and give us the best attention.
Our experience was much better this time. The private clinic was a lot cleaner and safer and we were very well attended by the nurses and doctors. Still, there was not much they could do without admitting her or doing some expensive studies--so they gave her an IV with some more pain meds, the doctor gave her a prescription for a different sort of migraine medicine, and he recommended two months more of rest and that she go home to Mexico.
We talked with our leaders and mission doctors in the morning and everyone agreed. She needed to go home. She left Saturday morning. And now I am back full time with Hna Luna for another couples weeks.
I am attaching here some photos of my first and last day with Hna Espinoza. We took a picture with one of our neighbors, Yesica, that was so good to us (the other was working) and her kitten Valentino (I love this kitten).
I am also attaching photos from our baptisms this Saturday. That is a whole other story, perhaps I will explain next week, but Franco and Belen were both baptized on Saturday.
I love you all and I am SO grateful for your love and kind words and encouragement.
Love,
Hna Parker
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