Garrett in the ER

Garrett had gotten the flu on the airplane. Vomiting, diareah and fever. He pushed through though and got us to our destination. He slept off and on to recover from the flu and jet lag. It happens to be rather warm this week and the apartment we are staying in had been warm during the day, but none of us has felt any motivation to venture outside much.
Today we went shopping at the IKI (supermarket). Walked in the hot sun and carried our groceries back. I noticed Garrett was stopping to take a break more than usual. He had seemed rather unsettled today as well. Sanna and I had taken off for about an hour around dinner time and when we came back we wisked everyone off to the beach. Garrett came along and later confessed that he really wasn't feeling all that well, but was trying to be a good sport. Because he was feeling crummy he opted not to get into the water. Even I got in the water so you know it was nice and warm outside. Even at 6pm the sun is still pretty high in the sky. On our way back he carried Sonshyne up the hill to keep her from getting bit by mosquitos. I carried Hevenlee and was well winded by the time we reached the top.
We got in the car to drive back and as Garrett was driving I noticed he was not all there. I asked if he was okay and he said he was seeing white spots. We switched drivers immediately. As I began driving I could tell that he did not look so good and was not paying attention to what I was saying. He said he was so thirsty and that no matter how much water he drank he could not quench his thirst. I said I could run to the store on the way home and get water if he wanted. That is when he glazed over, hunched forward a bit and his right hand made a fist and curled up to his chest. He was not responsive at all, but had his eyes open. I kept waiting for a seizure to take hold of him but it never came. We were in a line of traffic and Saul and Sanna were a several cars ahead. I pulled into the grassy area to the right of the 2 lane road and drove up to their car yelling to them that " Something's wrong with Garrett!" I must have sounded convincing because both the boys burst in the tearful sobs of, " Oh no, dear God, don't let our daddy die!" I hollered at them to start praying for their daddy! Saul took the lead in his car and I followed behind him on the grassy side area until one car could not stand that I was cutting in line and blocked my way with his car. Well I guess he was going to show me. Little did he know that he was potentially playing with the life of my husband. Saul could see what was happening and ran back to get behind the wheel of our car and let Sanna drive theirs. By the way, he did have time to give that blocking car a "what for" on his way to us. I believe he said something like," You fool, you have no idea what you are doing!"
Now the action began! Saul wiped out into on coming traffic to get to the end of the line so we could get on the main road. I have never prayed so hard in my life! Boaz and Ezra were now up front and I was standing behind Garrett holding his head and praying into his ear. The three of us poured out our souls to the Lord as Saul swerved to get around cars and get through lights. We pulled up to the Hospital only to find that it was not the one we should have gone to. They were not very nice either. They scolded Saul and told him, he should have called an ambulance! He convinced them to do it and we had to get Garrett onto the gurny. He was dead weight and had bubbly saliva dripping down his chin on the right side. They sure didn't seem to be in much hurry to help. I stayed in the car with the kids. Sonshyne had fallen to sleep, thank goodness, and Hevenlee kept asking," Where's my dad, I want to see my dad!" When I told her that he was sick and had to see the doctor, she just kept saying, " My dad is sick, My dad is sick," The boys wept and prayed and hugged me. I kept telling them that it would be okay, that our God is a big God and that he has it all under control. Sanna arrived and took the kids.
Saul and I went back into the hospital to sit with Garrett who was still not real responsive. He mumbled, but mostly moaned in pain. He said his head hurt and his stomach. The hospital staff feared it could have been an ambolism and said so. I am so glad you are not allowed to do that in the States. We waiting forever it seemed. And really it was a long time, just sitting and waiting while no one is doing a thing, not even an IV. hello! The Ambulance finally got there and when we went into the hallway to move Garrett from one bed to the other, Saul and I were put to work! There was no sheet under him so we had to really lift him. Okay, not an easy thing to do with dead weight in a bathing suit and T-shirt. They couldn't do it so well so we ended up flipping him onto his stomach. It looked very uncomfortable. They pushed him to the ambulance at the top of a hill and my mind was trying not to envision them accidentally loosing their grip and letting him go rolling down the hill. The incompatence was alarming. It would have been rather comical if it hadn't been so serious. We rushed off to get into our car and follow expecting to have to try and keep up. We nearly passed the Ambulance getting to the hospital. They did not seem to be a bit in a hurry.
We got to the other hospital which happened to be the one on call for emergencies this night! Who knew? They wheeled him in and again moved him to another gurny. Yes, we were recruited to help. This bed was fitted with what looked like a long, blue, trash bag. It was pulled out of shape here and there from obvious use by many others. When I leaned over to whisper in Garrett's ear I notice what looked like a bit of someone else's blood still on the edge. Yuck! It was too bizarre to be reality and yet.......
So here is Garrett in all this pain and not really able to speak. He was so hot that he sweat a pool of sweat and everyone thought he peed his pants. Then he was so cold that he asked for a blanket four or five times before he eventually got one.
A very young man walked through the door. He was wearing a long white jacket with open toed sandles. I kept thinking," does your daddy know you are out this late? and uh, could you go get the doctor?" Oh yes, he was an intern. And it just keeps getting better!
They wanted to rule out the brain first so a brain scan was up. Finally, they are doing something after a few hours! Now I am thinking it's probably not the heart or he'd be dead by now! Saul and I help push him down the hall and again we lift him to a new bed. My goodness!
They inform us soon after that the scan shows normal. Hurray! The blood test shows that he is twice the level of sugar in the blood and his blood pressure is extremely low. Not good.
The real doctor, probably the interns dad, comes in and asks questions. Saul is now on the 4th time telling what happened and answers all the same questions again. He does this 5 or 6 times in total. The Doctor pokes around Garrett's abdomen eliciting much reaction on the sides and right under the sternum. Garrett says his head hurts and his whole body hurts especially his stomach. He feels nausious so we get him a bowl. They decide to check him in for the night. This ought to be interesting.
The nurse comes in.....yep, you guessed it, a new bed. Just Saul and I and the nurse this time. As she is preparing Garrett finally throws up. Whew did it smell but it was brown. The color of dinner (Taco night will never be the same!) So the nurse decides that Garrett must not have the clothes on he his wearing and strips him down naked. Nothing like feeling like you might die with a side of humiliation to go with it! By now Garrett is a bit more coherant (unfortunate for him) and helps us help him into bed. But that was about it for him. He was actually talking a bit more when we asked him questions as well and not as much moaning either.
We went down a hallway to a very old "lift" elevator. We get up to the 7th floor, nurse gets out and looks like maybe she is lost, but then decides that this is in fact the right floor. I understood her disorientation when we got out ourselves. It was completely dark, like the whole floor was shut down. We pushed through the dark wing of the hospital to the light at the end where we entered what would be his room for the night. He would be sharing a room with 2 others and an empty bed. No curtain to separate them, just all out there and all very under dressed. One man made no bones about his interest in us. He openly sat up on one elbow and took in all the action. I think he even introduced himself to Saul. Now we waited some more before another Doctor Lady came in and pushed around on Garrett's stomach. I was still vying for an IV, which they finally put in when I had left to go get him some clothes and water. We had been there 4 hours and Garrett had only one very small cup of water before he threw up.
As it stands now, I am home and Garrett it in the hospital. He has his phone to call me if he needs to and we will rush in to see him in the morning.
Please keep us in your prayers. We are praying that it was just a bad case of dehydration! Pray for the boys as well. They are very concerned of course I just don't want them to worry too much. I am confident that God is in control of this one too!