Have you ever arrived at an urgent care and been told you have an appendicitis, need surgery, but the hospital has a power outage and won’t accept you? It was a good thing our new friend Mitt decided to ask the nurse what she would do if it was her mother. She gave us the name of a private hospital. We finally hired a driver as getting an ambulance was a problem due to the hospital being two hours away. At the hospital, a very friendly doctor who spoke English was quite helpful. When I asked him if there was a way to be sure it was an appendicitis, like an ultra sound or something, he said “no, we have to cut you open to see and if we don’t you will die!”
So I agreed to surgery!
All in all, I felt the hospital, surgeon, and care I received was very good. Culturally, the family provides essentials like blankets, bowls, and food. Luckily the B&B we came to has been our guiding light throughout!
I am out of the hospital. The surgery was more complicated then we expected. My appendix had burst, infecting a small part of the large and small intestines. Dr. Luna was able to fasten them together somehow and it is working well at the moment. The pain/soreness is getting better every day. Dr. Luna, insists I be seen every other day, even though it is a 2 hour trip each way. I begged to go home when I had to start eating.
This has been an ordeal for both of us on so many levels. We want to give a special thank you to our good friends Anne and Phil, (who are also fantastic MD’s), who have been on the phone with Steve reviewing procedures, antibiotic courses, and the eating and recovery plans. Many of you who have been doing Reiki on me in absentia, (Nina and Barbara, Steve’s mom), and all of you with your comments, emails and positive thoughts. When Steve would visit me in the hospital it was nice to hear about another world.
Right now we have no other plans then getting through this recovery. We know we will leave Ecuador sometime the end of February as our visa runs out and they have gotten tighter. We are thinking of Peru. Perhaps Machu Picchu! Anyone interested? Nothing definite yet.
Keep commenting and emailing it really helps!
Thank you all.
So glad you’re feeling better – keep on keeping on, as they say. We are thinking about you and Steve, even when we don’t call or write…
Deb
Thinking about you every day !! We are glad you are recovering well but Machu Pichu might be a little much for you right now. :)) I hope you will go there later….I loved it….also we really liked the hotel there. It had an orchid garden…lovely orchids growing from under and over things..just doing whatever they wanted.
xxxooo Sissy
Wow! You and Steve had courage and Trust with a capital T. Not easy when your doctors are in South America.
But it sounds as if it has worked out well…..and given even more depth to your wonderful adventure. Hope you are becoming more comfortable and can enjoy these last days in Chile. Chile seems like a country I’d want to return to.
Ellen, we are so glad that you are o.k.! And better yet, out of the hospital. My mom was recently stuck in a hospital in Italy for two weeks and she couldn’t wait to get out. I think hospital food is the same the world over.
I so love reading yours and Steve’s posts and looking at the pictures. What an adventure! You will always have a place to stay in Bethesda if the world wearies 🙂
Janet and the gang
Hi Ellen, so glad to hear that things are getting better. OMG!!! Thinking about you all the time. Saying prayers! Enjoy the sunshine, the waves, the beach air and heal!