The surgery details:
Three a.m. on Wednesday morning, Garth woke up with really bad stomach pains. I asked him what he ate and he said he had 2 of my cinnamon rolls with frosting right before bed. So at first I thought it might have something to do with that. He tried Tums and Mylanta and laid back down, but just tossed and turned and moaned the rest of the night. At 9 am I called our nurse. She said to give him some tea and wait a bit. I started looking stuff up online and then got a hold of my Mom to call our nurses back home. We both began to feel like this was something that required our attention and not something that should just wait. So, at 10:30 I called our other nurse here, Peggy, and she came right over. After examining Garth she decided it looked like an appendix issue and Garth should get to the hospital. A man named Phil, husband of the nurse that examined Garth, came over and drove us to the hospital (Dian Harapan). It was a series of tests (one on his ear lobe), and blood work, and exams and then the hospital confirmed what we thought about the appendix. The only problem was that the anesthesiologist was in a meeting with the military and wouldn’t be available until 8 p.m. So we sat and waited. They had Phil walk across the street and buy all of the medicines that Garth would need for the surgery. Then the nurse came in and asked if I wanted to shave Garth’s stomach or if they should do it. So we had to go back across the street to buy a razor and shaving cream.
Finally things got moving at 8:30 and at 9:05 p.m. Garth was in surgery. Nurse Peggy and I asked if we could watch the surgery and were allowed to go in. We had to put a cap on over our hair, wear a mask and a gown. They made us fold up our shorts a half inch so they were not showing out the bottom of the gown, but never made us wash our hands or wear gloves. (We were standing right by all of the sterile instruments.) The surgery was amazingly cool! The only problem arose when the doctor couldn’t find the appendix. That made it take a lot longer. He wound up pulling Garth’s intestines out and laying them on his stomach so he could have a better look. Ironically, the doctor had his MP3 player going during the surgery and at the exact moment he was cutting Garth’s appendix the song “Another One Bites the Dust” came on, and when he was stitching him up the song “We are the Champions” was playing-both in English and he was singing along. By 11 p.m. Garth was back in his room recovering. He was so funny come out of the anesthetic. He grabbed the male nurses’ hand and said, “Franz, you and I are like best friends. Do you want to juggle? We should play cards some time.” He was asking about Johhny Cash. He said he was going to flash Phil. When he got to his room, he said, “Oh, my rooooooooooooooooom, oh…my roooooooooom.” He kept asking, “Who’s that? Who’s that?” And at one point when he was blabbering about stuff, he looked at me and said, “Am I being rude?” It was hilarious. It took 5 Indonesians to move him from the operating bed to the recovery bed. The doctor said that Garth’s appendix had been inflamed for awhile and that there were adhesions on it. I am thankful we got it when we did.
Some cool things about how this all worked out:
I was supposed to teach an art class that day,, and at the last minute it got cancelled.
Garth was thinking about going interior to a village with his friend Jason and it would have been awful if he did and this happened
I invited Emma’s new teacher over for lunch the day all this happened and so she was there when the nurse came and said she would be able to stay and help with the dorm so I could go with Garth
Jodi came over to watch the kids and took them for the night
Phil had just finished all of his work at the office so he was able to drive us in and stay to translate
Peggy was able to come right over to check Garth
Garth and I had just the day before run to Abeh and stocked up on meat for the dorm
On the way to the hospital we spotted a guy that said he would take Garth’s P.E. class that he was supposed to teach that day
When we got to the hospital the only room available had 3 other people in it and Garth was going to have to share it with them. But then a room opened up so Garth could be by himself.
MAF sent a guy over to pay the bill so I didn’t have to try to figure all that out
We were able to get the same doctor that Jason had when he got his appendix out
Phil went home and brought us sheets for Garth’s bed (you have to supply your own sheets) he brought a fan, some food, bug spray for the room and a pillow.
Thanks
It was definitely an experience that we will always remember. I am so glad it is over, and Garth is home. He is very sore today, and moving slowly. But hopefully the worst is behind us. We are so appreciative of all of your concerns and prayers. Thanks you for thinking about us and sending your regards. I was calm and didn’t feel anxious during the whole procedure, and I know it was because all of you were praying. The human body just blows me away. God did a great job designing it.
Oh, by the way, I asked for the appendix and they gave it to me, so it is in my freezer if anyone is interested in seeing it. I am not putting pictures of the actual surgery on the blog, but I have them. So if you want to see them let me know.
Well, Garth just got up so I am going to check on him.
Love to all,
Rachel
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