Exciting Week

We decided that such a tight group like our, we needed a "gang" sign, so here we are.  It is an "I" with the left hand and a "W" with the right, for Iwakuni, and It all stands for love.

Then we had a great Young Single Adult activity last week where we played "Wallyball".  That is volleyball on a racquetball court.  They even let me play because I am young at heart.  My granddaughters would have been proud of me.  NO MAJOR INJURIES!

This has been a really crazy and busy week for us, but one full of blessing and evidence of the Lord's Tender Mercies.  We were at the Navy Marine Corps Relief Society on Monday morning when I got a call from one of this sister missionaries saying that her companion was in severe pain and after talking with the mission president, he told her that she should go to the hospital.  I wasn't sure where to take her so I talked to some of the staff at the branch clinic on base (she's not eligible for care here) and they recommended a hospital called ICC (Iwakuni Clinical Center).  Headed there with the sisters.  Her complaint was severe pain in the back, radiating out and sounded a lot like either a kidney stone or kidney infection.   ICC told her that they didn't have anyone that could see her and if she went to the clinic, because she didn't have an appointment, she could not be seen until after 4 PM. They recommended a urology clinic about 10 minutes away.  In the mean time, the sister is now throwing up from the pain.  

We take her to the urology clinic and they do an ultrasound and determined that it was not a kidney problem but rather an ovarian cyst.  Of course they could not treat this so they referred us to an OB/Gyn hospital about 10 minutes away, but they were closed for lunch until 2 PM.  It was now 12 noon.  We took the Sisters to our house, fed the one Sister lunch, and gave the sick Sister something to help her with the pain, because so far no one would give her anything.  2 PM we were at the OB/Gyn hospital and they confirmed what the Urology clinic found, but said she needed to go to a bigger hospital for a CT scan and an MRI.  They were able to set up the referral to the hospital, and it was about 10 minutes away.  (I think everything here is about 10 minutes away).  I had them show me on Google Maps where this hospital was and realized it was where we had started that morning. Ahhhhhhh!  We got back there and she was seen in their OB/Gyn department.

They scheduled her for a CT scan Wednesday and the MRI Thursday.  End result was that she had an ovarian cyst about the size of a softball and it had several fibrous masses inside and one was twisted and was probably responsible for the severe pain she was having.  

After talking with the doctor, getting a copy of the CT and MRI and sending them to the Mission Home, and talking with the Area Medical Advisor, and them talking with her mother, I got a call back indicating that she was going to have surgery here in Japan at ICC, rather than her going home.  That was really good news for the Sister, because she really didn't want to go home.  She is so dedicated to her mission and doing the Lord's work!  The hospital is very nice and modern and I believe that she will get good care there.  The biggest problem is that their idea of pain relief is 200 mg of Tylenol, 2 tablets every 6 hours.

Anyway, this week has been driving this poor Sister and her companion around from one medical facility to another and seeing that she got to all her appointments.  Thank goodness, her and her companion both speak Japanese really good.  The other interesting thing about this sister is that her home is in Mesa, about 5 blocks north of our home in Gilbert.  She has 9 months left on her mission.

Saturday, we were supposed to go to the Fukuoka Temple on a Branch temple trip.  I was able to download an endowment that needs to be done on my great-great-great-great-grandfather, Thomas Henrich Strumpler (b. 1780).  We'll have to see if we can still go.  Probably won't go if the Sister has surgery on  Friday or Saturday.  We don't want to leave her alone in the hospital.  He's waited over 200 years, I guess he can wait until our next temple trip.

We went back to the hospital Friday morning and saw the doctor again.  We told him that the pain was too severe and that this was now an emergency.  Flying back to the States was not an option as she couldn't tolerate the 14 hour flight.  We had support from Dr. Meyers, the Medical Advisor for the Asian Area Presidency in Tokyo.  We were able to convince him that this could not wait and the next thing we new we were talking to a new doctor.  The next thing we knew, she was being admitted and scheduled for emergency surgery.

 She went into surgery on Friday at about 2:30 pm and was out by 5:30 pm.  They were able to do a laparoscopic surgery and the surgeon said everything went well and she did not believe the tumor inside the cyst was cancer, just a fibroid mass.

There was a lot of time just spent waiting, and other the Sisters were there to translate and help us get things done, but they also knew that they also needed to focus on the work, and so there was a planning meeting in the hospital waiting area.  You got to love these Sisters for their dedication.

I was able communicated with her mom several times, keeping her up to date, and gave her a call when there was a more descent hour in Arizona.  I can only imagine what it must be like for her, knowing that her daughter is in the hospital, half way around the world.  I let her know that she was in good hands and being well looked after.

You got to love a hospital that has a jazz trumpeter playing in the lobby!

The tender mercies of the Lord were evident again, as this brave Sister actually got to go home on Saturday, the day after her surgery.  She was told to start walking and by the end of next week should be close to normal, but should wait a couple of weeks before riding her bicycle.  Basically she was told to do what she could and if it hurt, stop doing it.  We have a follow-up appointment on the 28th and she should be good as new by them.

Everything worked out great, or as good as one could have hoped and prayed for, considering the circumstances.

We are so blessed being here and being able to provide service like this to this very special missionary.  We know that we were called to serve here so that among other things, we would be here to help this dear Sister.  Nothing happens by accident.  We know the Lord's hand was helping us, and are blessed with that knowledge.

I know that there are others around the world who are also blessed to be able to help these missionaries.  If this were to be the only thing we accomplished on our mission, if would still be totally worth it.