Hospital visit #2

Yes, we have made our 2nd trip already to the Hungarian hospital. This time it was me...
Last Wed. March 25th I woke up around 3am in excruciating pain...I thought I had a stomach ache from something I ate but it definitely felt different than just a stomach-ache. I went in and out of sleep until about 6am when the pain started again...I dealt with it the whole day, thinking it was food poisoning and I was just going to have to suck it up and wait 24-48 hours for it to pass. As the day went on it seemed to let up some so I ate some toast for dinner, not 30min. went by when the pain started again and I could not find any relief. We called friends and headed to the hospital Wed. night. We still do not have a vehicle so Paul drove us and Lilli came to translate.

When Eden burned her hands we took her to the Nagykata Clinic, this time we went to the Jaszberny Hospital. One town farther. I almost passed out on the very bumpy car ride over...

We get to the hospital and are greeted by a nurse smoking a cigarette in the Main foyer of the building...not outside. She starts asking me routine questions in between puffs and blows, so we are not seated or shown into the lobby but are "hanging" out with the smoking nurse answering questions about our passports and my pain. Another nurse shows up and escorts me into a small room where I am to have a EKG...not sure why, but it's routine in Hungary. So I am in pain, getting an EKG for my heart while it's my side that hurts. They are talking a mile a minute but we have no clue what they are saying, for all I know they could have been discussing the latest soccer game.

2 Doctors examine me and decide I need to have an ultrasound to check my appendix, since the greater pain was on my right side. So, I am told we are going to the next building over...ok, no problem. Except that the other building means I am to be wheeled outside in the freezing cold weather! Mind you,it's about midnight now. Praise the Lord they gave me my shirt and clothes back...

Side note:Awhile back we were having a conversation with a young girl her on staff who is pregnant about hospitals here in Hungary. She informed us that when you go into the hospital to deliver a baby you need to ring everything, and I mean EVERYTHING with you. Let me give you some examples...you have to provide your own sheet, pillow, blanket, fork,knife, spoon, cup, paper towels, bath towel, washcloth, TOILET PAPER, soap, and pain medicine (like Tylenol)...just to name a few things.

So the Lord new I would need to have that conversations, so before we headed to the hospital we grabbed tp, blankets etc etc.

Now back to my adventure being transferred to the "other" building by way of across the parking lot; I had my blanket so I didn't freeze on the way over. Forgot to tell you I was given an IV on the top of my arm not in the fold of your arm but closer to my elbow so my right arm is immobilized at this point and bleeding, never seen an IV wound bleed like that. Well, we make it to the other building and by this point whatever they gave me in the IV is kicking in so my nervous laughing has kicked in and I'm trying not to lose my cool. When I'm really, REALLY nervous I laugh or talk like a freakin' hyena a mile a minute. Anyways I go in for an ultrasound and they find kidney stones but no sign that they are trying to pass of have passed, My gallbladder and appendix are fine. So they are perplexed and have an x-ray done to double check.

So while the doctor is reviewing the x-ray I am taken back across the parking lot, through the freezing cold down the women's corridor to my room, which I will be sharing with an older women who is very sick. I asked, trying not to sound like a spoiled ungrateful American, "is she contagious". No answer... but I assume no, our translater informed me that they keep related illnesses together. The big blessing at this point is that Andy was allowed to stay in the room with me which is against hospital rules no men in women's rooms or vice versa except during set visitor's hours. Lilli also stayed to continue translating for us. I was given unknown medicine all through the night...

It's customary for all patients no matter what the illness or injury to stay over night to be observed. So we stayed over-night waiting until morning to hear the diagnosis: Kidney stones!

They came in about 5:30am the next morning to take my temperature and give me the diagnosis and treatment steps. I am to drink lots of water and walk on my heels? and try to go down steps...hmmm not exactly sure how to do that, but that was the end result of my visit. I walked out extremely sore and exhausted toting my blanket and roll of TP.

All is well now. I felt like a rag all through the wknd, but my energy returned full blast last Mon. My mind is now alert enough to write about our experience. It was a doozy.

I have no symptoms of passing any stones except the pain in the hospital, so in a couple months if there are no more "episodes" I will go in and see if they have passed just to double check.

Praise the Lord we are all well and healthy now!