Sunday, July 4, 2010

A broken arm and a broken heart

Yesterday morning was a morning full of fun for our family. We stayed at the guest house playing games, jumping rope, and playing ball outside until a little after lunch.After a quick nap we headed out to a very nice hotel here in Addis to use the computer connection and to let the kids play on the fun playground there. Usually David takes our two oldest up to the business center at the hotel while I head to the play are with the younger four. Yesterday for some reason (now I know why) I told David that I would take the older two so that he could enjoy time playing with the younger kids.
We had been in the business center for about 30 minutes (Chatting with several of you on Facebook) when Jacob ran in the room and said, "Mom, Hurry Geremew got very bad hurt and Dad needs you now!" I took off out the door only to realize that I had not paid for our computer time and so I had to turn back around and pay. My body was shaking and I knew that David would never send Jacob up to the business center alone unless there was a great issue unfolding.
Megan, Kaylee, Jacob and I quickly ran down the stairs and I could see David cradling Geremew in his arms like a baby. Geremew was not fully awake and so I began to panic. His eyes would just close and then his head would fall over onto David and I just felt my heart begin to break. Here I was in a very unfamiliar place with my new son and I had no idea what to do. Communication with him or anyone else around was very limited and I started to cry. I then realized that all 5 of the other kids were crying as well and I knew I had to pull myself together to get the help we needed. Kaylee and I ran out to get our van and driver as David tried to keep Geremew awake.
Our driver and Kaylee pulled up in the van and I ran in to get David and the kids only to find Megan as white as a sheet. She couldn't move and so I quickly sent David, Tizita and Kaylee off to the hospital while I tried to settle Megan. She was getting whiter and whiter with every second and when I saw her lips turn white I knew we were in trouble. Just as her lips turned white a bellhop at the hotel appeared with a wheel chair and water. He helped to comfort all of us as I simply couldn't even begin to process what was happening or what to do. He quickly moved us into some fresh air (if their is such a thing in Addis) and brought Megan a soda and some bread to eat. She started to feel a little better by the time our driver returned to get us but really didn't feel back to normal until this morning.
Our driver took us to meet David and the other kids at the hospital and the entire way I prayed and quoted scripture to myself knowing that God was in control and I knew that I must trust Him at a time like this. When we arrived at the hospital it was worse than I envisioned. Think third world hospital and then a little worse. We had been told that this by far was the best place for broken bones and so this is where we took Geremew. After an hour and a half they did an x-ray to show that Geremew had a small fracture below his elbow and a break (small bone fragment) beside his elbow. Poor little guy......a new mom, new dad, new siblings and now a broken arm. We were so thankful that our HERO Nicco was able to join us at the hospital to translate for us. The hospital employee told us that Geremew would need to remain in the hospital for two day and I literally laughed out loud. This was not funny but there was no way that we would be staying in that hospital for two days. The employee quickly changed his mind and just told us to come back on Monday. He explained that they didn't have a doctor in and the first time a doctor would be in would be Monday morning. He then gave Geremew a shot of Valium (much to David's dismay) and put a partial cast on him. Thankfully the cast doesn't cover the area where his TB test has to be checked on Monday! He then gave us a prescription for some pain medication (Tylenol) and we headed back home.
Geremew only woke up a few time last night and the night was better than I anticipated it would be. Today he has cried a few times in pain but we quickly love on him and held him and he seemed to be comforted. My heart breaks for him.....my son who doesn't fully trust us yet doesn't have any idea how my heart breaks for him. I pray that one day he will realize just how hard this is for his mommy and how I love him so! Pray for us as we face the next few days and weeks in an unfamiliar place dealing with this medical issue. We know that God has a plan and we trust that He is working that out in our family..........

1 comment:

  1. So how did everything work out for him? I am praying for healing in his arm. You are such a strong mom! Looking forward to your next post.

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