Ankle Update and Broken Back Vertebrae

Sorry for taking so long to give you the update on my dad's ankle and thank you for everyone's prayers! Well, it has been over a week since the gate incidence with my dad, and what a week it has been! I am grateful for the example of my parents with wanting to stay on their mission and help the people of Jordan no-matter-what and endure through their trials. They are truly amazing and I hope to someday be just like them.

I will write a short summary here, but will include excerpts from my mom's journal entries at the end of this post.

So I guess the fear of infection was warranted, because my dad ended up getting cellulitis in his ankle. Many shots later the infection has gone down and his ankle appears to be doing much better. The stitches on one side of his ankle broke open and the doctors have decided not to close it. Strange...Anyways, my parents recently found out that my dad had also broken a vertebrae in his back. They sent the CT scans to doctors in the US to get a recommendation before my dad gets back surgery. Overall, my parents seem to be optimistic.


Here are some recent pictures (My mom posted some graphic pictures of the ankle, but I haven't decided yet if the blogging world would appreciate those or not):

Here is the iron gate that fell on my dad's whole body. I think they said it was an estimated 1000 lbs.

My cute dad working on the computer. You can see his head stitches, knee stitches, and ankle wrap.

The non-broken stitches side of his ankle.

Here are some excerpts from my mom's journal:

Sunday, July 01, 2012

Yesterday was very busy. There are still things I have to do with Humanitarian, but not much. The one couple has taken over the one project temporarily. Another one is not an emergency so it can wait a week until things calm down—I hope. Saturday, Amer brought some young women over to measure Dennis for a wheelchair and then they went to the church and got a wheelchair out of the shed. Only the outdoor chair fit him so they put it together and brought it over. He said it has improved his quality of life so much. Walkers really aren’t made to hop with on one foot and he fell twice Friday night trying to use the walker. Our two flights of stairs are still a problem. The walker down is ok if I hold on to it while standing in front of him. But going up the stairs he resorted to his knees. He was sure glad to see his wheelchair when he got to the top of the stairs. Yesterday we watched a slide show together of Lehi’s Trail. He sat up for about 5 hours to eat and work on humanitarian finances. I found out that taking over all of Dennis’s work except computer work is going to thin me down some. I have become the maid, cook, driver and bottle washer. The worst part of all this is carrying groceries up two flights of stairs. It takes several trips up the stairs to bring things in plus one trip just for Dennis if he is with me, like today when I had to take him to the hospital because his leg was red and warm and swollen. A resident at the hospital was going to send him home, but the nurse supervisor felt his leg and called the doctor. An hour later he came and took off the partial cast and all the wrapping and said he had cellulitis which I am familiar with. It is an infection in the cells. He said we caught it in the first stage so a nurse gave him a shot (almost all the nurses are men) and then they gave me needles and antibiotic to give Dennis two shots a day and then he goes back in 2 days to see the doctor. That sounds real simple, huh, except I have never given anyone a shot before. I think Dennis was pretty brave or stupid to let me do it. I think I am crazy to try, but tonight is my first try. 

Monday, July 02, 2012

We had a missionary district meeting at our house this morning. 2 couples came and brought goodies and we met for 1 ½ hours. One is a nurse so she gave Dennis a shot so I wouldn’t have to. They brought us Gerrard’s ice cream: sorbet and sf ff. That was a nice treat. I have just been trying to keep up with Dennis today: getting things he needs, running to the pharmacies twice and to the bank once. The ATM ate my card yesterday because the keys are such a pain on the ATM. You have to hit a key about 5 times for it to work. There was a guy there fixing it when I went to pick up my card. I made bread for Dennis this evening and we watched a movie. Dennis leg is still red and further up, but I believe it has paled some today.

Tuesday, July 03, 2012

The only humanitarian we did today was listen to the results of a visit to an eye clinic in Salt and the latest in what was being said in SLC about eye clinics. I took Dennis to the hospital to see the doctor this morning. His leg had bled through his bandage, but the doctor wouldn’t open it to look at it because he said he wouldn’t open it until Saturday because of the risk of infection. Hah, he already has infection. When we got home, I opened it and the stitches had broken and the one wound was open about 3 inches long, ¼ to ½ inch wide and to the fat which I could see. I just put more antibiotic salve on it and a new bandage. Dennis keeps ice on both incisions most of the day and the swelling has gone down some. His leg is one big bruise all the way from his foot to his knee and starting up his thigh in the back. I had to go to the bank twice and get Dennis up and down the stairs, make meals, mop the floor because Dennis got up and made his own breakfast (bad boy) and do laundry. I started reading a book for fun and had English classes canceled for this week. I think I will do fine next week if Dennis has his infection under control. He has figured out how to use his knees and one foot to move from his chair to the bed and back.

Wednesday, July 04, 2012

I have to keep sending Dennis to his room. He had his computer and ice bottles, etc. in the bedroom and he asked me to bring them out, which I did and said I would be back to get the rest. When I turn around, here he was. He had hopped on one foot and pushed his wheelchair over 30 feet from the bedroom to the office really fast on marble floors. Not smart. He was going to work in the office, but he can’t get his foot above his heart sitting in a chair so I sent him back.   I emailed his reports. Our wireless only works in the office. Yes, we are in Jordan. His leg and ankle still look nasty. The missionary who is a nurse dropped in and was happy to see it looked better than yesterday. Evidently they were thinking of sending us home. I took him to the hospital once today to get the stitches out of his head, (about 25 in the upper layer) and the doctor put steri tape on the wound for 3 more days. We had to buy salves to put on the incision for the next few weeks. It took a second trip to the hospital to get the meds. I give him his shots twice a day. I went to the bank and wrestled with the ATM and it was a tie: I got some money but the ATM finally closed down. We will start using another ATM in town, wherever that is. I just realized there is a bank 2 blocks away that should have an ATM. 
Fact of the day: There was a nurse or resident smoking in the emergency room and the first time I asked him to stop (there are signs all over the place) he just set it down so I said it again and told him that Dennis has asthma. I had to hold Dennis down because he was ready to go swat him and tell him off. Therefore, I told him off again, so he got rid of it and opened the window behind him and I opened some doors. Men around here think that rules do not apply to them.  


Friday, July 06, 2012

The redness has gone down so it is no longer up his leg but only around the wounds. I change his bandage every day even though the doctor said not to take it off because it will introduce infection. Maybe he meant it would introduce a different infection since it is already infected.


Friday, July 06, 2012

I went to the church this morning and opened everything up, cleaned up some and emptied trashes, paid the driver and left. I changed Dennis’ bandages and got all the things he needed today. His back has been hurting since his accident, so I am going to push on the bone tonight and see if any bones hurt. I have looked at the muscles and one might be tight on one side of his lower back. We wrote up our weekly report and emailed it and then we had our weekly conference call with SL and the other missionaries in Jordan. It was nice to have the sacrament today.


Saturday, July 07, 2012

I took Dennis to the hospital to get the stitches out of his surgery, but when the doctor saw that the incisions were still infected and that the one had broken open, he decided to leave the stitches in for a few more days and keep him on the antibiotic shots. When we got home we prepared food for our meeting with the other missionaries. After that meeting Dennis was lying down when I left to go with Amer to visit a society. After that we went to a store that sells DVDs for 1JD each. Dennis was a bad/good boy and washed the Dishes while I was gone and worked on the computer. He leg started to swell, so he decided to be a good boy and lie down while we watched a movie. I then tried to fix his computer with the internet but was unable to get it to work. After scriptures and prayers he is in bed and I am going to read for a while and then go to bed.

Sunday, July 08, 2012

The latest: We spent all day in the King Abdullah Hospital, the biggest in Jordan. An x-ray and CT Scan showed that Dennis’ 3rd vertebrae is broken. They wanted to do an MRI, but we found out that the metal in his foot is stainless steel, so no MRI. They wanted to do surgery if they could get the MRI. We spent over 12 hours in the hospital and were thrilled to leave, but we have to go back tomorrow to get a refund. I had to go to the CEO to get that. After SL found out, they asked us to send the CT CD and the x-rays to them so they can have their medical staff take a look at them and give us a recommendation. I am exhausted from carting a heavy wheelchair up and down stairs and in and out of the car and not eating and trying to get the information I needed. Just an example:
Fact of the day: I came home from one hospital, picked up the landlady’s son who is visiting from FL and went to the hospital where Dennis had his surgery because they wouldn’t talk to me on the phone. The two of us ended up in surgery trying to find out the type of metal used in Dennis’ foot. It took 30 minutes for a doctor to check the operating room, then go to accounting downstairs and then call the company that made the hardware, but we did find out it was stainless steel. A doctor sitting in a TV room with a door open to recovery was smoking like crazy: two cigarettes while we were there. There was a man who just came out of surgery in recovery.

What a week!

I am always grateful (well, usually grateful) for being busy, especially if it is the fun-kind! The last week has been full of all types of glorious funness.

Thursday. Superhero murder mystery dinner. I was "Shiver."

Friday, rock climbing. Yay for Quarry pass!

Saturday, zoo. Meerkats snuggling.

Llama!! I love llamas.

Getting attacked by a spider.

Conquering the spider. If only I could do that in my spider nightmares.

Rob getting eaten by a crocodile.

And hatching from an egg. I imagine he is a turtle at heart ;)

Drinking from the coolest fountain in Utah!

Had to get this classic picture.

Saturday, also Albany branch reunion. You guys are great!

Sunday, made successful cheesecake.

Monday, ate the cheesecake at a ward bbq.

Monday, pudding fight for FHE. Awesome.

Yay for summertime and the ability to do fun stuff in order to appreciate how awesome life truly is. Thank you to all my friends for everything :) You all are truly amazing.

Broken Ankle

Well, my parents had their first experience with a Jordanian hospital. My dad broke his ankle a couple days ago. He was alone when an iron gate fell on him. I am grateful that he was able to get out from underneath and make it home. I feel like this could have been much worse.

See below for a section of my mom's journal entries and some pictures:

Thursday, June 28, 2012
Dennis took off for a while and when he came back he walked in with no shirt, his shirt was held to his head and they was bloody, his pants were torn and blood on his knee and he was limping. He had been at the church trying to fix a huge iron gate and it fell on him—yes I warned him before he left that it would be good if he had some help from someone. I took him to a small hospital close to our house. Things are not the same as in the US. The radiologist has not finished school and no one helped him onto the table and they couldn’t make it low. He finally crawled on his knees up some steps to get to the table. It took a total of 1 ½ hours for x-rays with showing the doctor that showed up an hour later. No one washed his wounds. The first doctor was the plastic surgeon. Then a bone doctor came and said his ankle was broken in 2 places and he needed surgery and bolts and a plate put into his ankle. We called Maurad to give him a blessing and swore him to secrecy about Dennis being here because we didn’t want a lot of people up here. The guys taking blood did not use gloves and he had to be stabbed 3 times. Even a lab tech that came to stick his finger didn’t wear gloves. It will be a miracle if he gets out of here without some kind of infection. Here they have classes of rooms. If you are in a private room that is first class and the doctor charges more. Next is second class with 2 beds and third is third class with 3 beds. I was told that 3rd class had no one else in the room so Dennis was fine with that. Then it took forever for the doctors to get around to the surgery, so Dennis got very worried that they wouldn’t do a good job because they would get less money so he insisted on first class. Then there are the elevators. They wouldn’t come. I was told that here in Jordan if the elevator is above your floor you push the down button to call the elevator down to you even if you are going up. If it is below your floor you push the up button so it will come up to you, even if you are going down. Crazy. I am glad I was finally informed about that. I went home and collected things for him for the evening and tomorrow morning and then threw the bloody clothes in the washing machine after treating them. I have to spend the night here because Dennis has so many allergies. The doctor said he cannot walk on his foot for 6 weeks. He doesn’t want to. It is really hurting him. I brought all sorts of things up to work on tonight and watch to keep me busy.

Friday, June 29, 2012
I spent the night in Dennis’s room on a very hard fold-out chair. It reminded me of sleeping all night in the airport in Damascus. Rachel and I ended up with bruises that night. I got some sleep and Dennis didn’t wake up hardly at all. This morning we waited for the doctor to come, but he didn’t come until about 10:30 to tell Dennis he could leave. There were old LDS wheelchairs all over the hospital. We left at 2 PM after one problem and then another. I think the biggest problem is that no one understands what the other persons are doing or are supposed to do. The male nurses upstairs said that another doctor had to give permission for him to leave so they ate lunch and didn’t do his papers. Then the accounting office said another doctor had to clear him and so didn’t do their job. We waited at accounting for 2 hours with Dennis in a wheelchair. We had to pay cash for the surgery before we left because our insurance won’t pay the suppliers in other countries. Thus, it was about $3000 that we had to pay cash. I kept running back and forth to our house and the church to get money, open the church, eat breakfast and finally we were settled with them and left. Dennis had a very hard time getting up our 2 flights of stairs. Now he is bored to tears. I have to constantly get things for Dennis because he can’t walk on his foot for 6 weeks.

Picture of my dad's ankle after the surgery.

An encouraging smile.

Poor ankle and leg.

I'm sure my dad will be just fine, but if you want, you can keep him in your prayers. I'm glad this was only an ankle surgery and not something with organs after reading the description of the hospital. Still, poor guy.

The Lion Sleeps Tonight

Today I went to IKEA with my brother's family. On the ride home I got serenaded by their sweet boys. Here was my favorite song:

Yup. I have an awesome family :)

Yes, Your Car Breaking Down CAN be a Miracle

It is amazing how God knows us so well that He can calculate which experiences we need when.

It has been so long since I have written on this blog, but feel like I should. This past Sunday I was having a rough day, but it ended with a few little miracles that reminded me God loves me. Sorry it's kind of long.

Miracle 1: After a rough afternoon I went to my brother’s house for a family reunion. This family reunion was just immediate family (which is quite large for me even if not everyone attends – 8 siblings, 34 nieces and nephews, 3 great nieces and nephews). It was so nice finding comfort in their hugs, listening ears and guidance. My family is really close and they always know what to say or do to help me.

I ended up staying over at my brother’s house pretty late (9:30 PM or so . . . which is late for me J ) and then I ended up hitting traffic on the way home. My niece, Alisha, had offered to have a sleepover at my apartment with me (she is my same age), but I was tired and had decided to cancel my sleepover because I just wanted to be alone for a little bit. 

Miracle 2: After traffic ended my car suddenly seized on the freeway. My engine, oil and battery lights all came on. Even though my car was dead it was still able to coast until the next exit (there was no shoulder where I was at), off the exit and onto a side street. 

Miracle 3: At first I figured that the oil was the problem because of the oil light. I had recently gotten an oil change so this seemed strange, but I decided to check. I checked – lots of oil. Thankfully I had stuff in my trunk to wipe off the oil stick with, so I didn’t need to get oil on my clothes (or I guess I could have used the grass).

Miracle 4: By this time it was 10:15 PM or so and I was on a side street by no open stores or houses (basically a factory neighborhood). A truck drove up and stopped. I didn’t feel like I needed to go inside my car and lock my doors, even though the truck only had a man in it. He came up and happened to work at a nearby auto store. He asked if I had checked my heat. I told him my heater was working fine, but not my AC. Obviously, he smiled and said to check my engine temperature. This brought a laugh to me. I found that my engine temperature was at the very top of the meter. Usually I am really good at keeping an eye on this, but I hadn’t even thought about it that night.

I said I would just let the engine cool-down and that I would be fine, so the man left.

Miracle 5: Just in case my engine didn’t cool down I decided to call Alisha because she was probably the closest in time due to the traffic coming from the other way. She said that she had coolant in her car and would come get me. After hanging up I realized that I had coolant as well. I ended up having plenty. I started my car and it was begun working beautifully :)

Miracle 6: By this time it was probably 10:30 PM. Another car had driven by and parked in a parking lot close to where I was at. I figure this person didn’t want to be evasive, but wanted to check and make sure I was okay. Right as I was pulling out another car drove up and parked right next to that one. Not saying that this was a drug deal or anything, but regardless, I was very happy to leave when I did.

Miracle 7: I called Alisha up to let her know I was fine. She was already partly on her way to where I was at (and my apt. was in the middle of us), so I just decided to have the sleepover and have her meet me at my apt. The sleepover was so much fun and really lifted my experiences. Thank you Alisha for knowing how to make me laugh! :)

Miracle 8: This entire time was my phone was freaking out because the battery was so low. Even with this, my phone lasted through a couple calls and being used as a flashlight for quite a while.

When my car first started having problems I was so bummed, but the timing for it was absolutely perfect. God helped me see my dependence on Him, all the little things I should be grateful for, and how much He loves me. I hope I can continue to see God’s hand in my life. I hope you can as well.

Mission in Jordan

I figured it had been a while since any of you have gotten an update on my parents. I am so proud of them and all the service that they are doing. Here is an update so you can see how they're doing.

For those of you who don't know, my parents are serving a 21 month mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Jordan (the country). They are volunteering as representatives of LDS Charities and simply doing service work in the country, not proselyting. They are loving the service that they are doing.

Here are the types of projects they have been working on since their arrival in Jordan January 2012:

- Clean water stations
- Wheelchair distribution
- Children hygiene education
- Children safety education
- Church service within the LDS Church

Much of their work has been coordinating these projects between the government, service organizations, and LDS Charities. I feel much of their work has revolved around helping the disabled.

I don't have many pictures from the service side of things:

This water factory was donated by LDS Charities, costing $56,000

Even though they have been working very hard, they have also been able to see some sites while they have been there. Here are some other pictures from them:

Aqaba

Bedouin Tent

Karak Castle

Karak Castle

Samson

Amman

Amman

At a "Linger Longer" church activity.

Sheep, sheepherder and sheepdog

I hope that you have enjoyed this update! Please keep my parents in your prayers as well as other missionaries across the world. I am so proud of you Mom and Dad!

Worth of Souls

"Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God.

For behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him." (D&C 18:10-11)

Our Father in Heaven and our Savior, Jesus Christ, are aware of us and our happiness and our trials and sicknesses. They love us and want us to be happy. I am so grateful for this knowledge.

"I testify that no one of us is less treasured or cherished of God than another. I testify that He loves each of us - insecurities, anxieties, self-image, and all. He doesn't measure our talents or our looks; He doesn't measure our professions or possessions. He cheers on every runner, calling out that the race is against sin, not against each other. I know that if we will be faithful, there is a perfectly tailored robe of righteousness ready and waiting for everyone, 'robes made . . . white in the blood of the Lamb.' (Revelations 7:14) May we encourage each other in our effort to win that prize." (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland see also 1 Cor. 9:24-27)

Jesus Christ offers us His Atonement. A way to come unto Him and find peace in our lives. I have felt the peace from the Atonement in my life, especially during trials.

You can find this peace too by praying to our Father in Heaven and asking for the Atonement to work in your life. He is aware of you and wants to help. I have tested this and know it to work. Have faith and carry on.