Emergency Ward

June 1st, 2014 - the first day of the sixth month…some people celebrate new months with a party… but I found an original way to do that…I fell in the bus.

I held on to the bar...honestly.  The bus jerked, my hand slipped, and I bang my head against the bar and fell to the floor on my right side.  It took me a few seconds to get my baring and slowly, slowly I got up while the entire bus shouting at the driver to stop, at me to let them help me, at each other for crowding me…whatever…  I got up.

One the ladies on the bus, who is also my neighbor and went down at the same stop, helped me to get to the health clinic which is right across the street.  The nurse took me in, did what nurses do, and called the doctor.  She came in, did what doctors do, and sent me to Emergency.  The nurse called the ambulance that arrives right away and they booked me into a very quiet emergency ward.  I was the third patient there at the time.  That was around 9:45 am.

The emergency doctor saw me, sent me to CT of the head and ex-ray of just about every bone of my body.  

Done. 

Back in emergency I found a full ward - I was placed in the Corridor.  All morning people fallen off stairs, off beds in old age home, on streets…car accidents brought in men with neck braces and children with emergencies that required immediate surgeries.  By the afternoon they had opened a second ward and at least 40 beds were filled.  

One nurse at a shift; one orthopedic doctor; one emergency doctor; not enough staff of anything…

Willie was near me the entire day.  We prayed.  We prayed for the physicians and the nurses; the emergency medics and the ambulance drivers; we prayed for the very young and the very old; we prayed for the patients and the family members beside them…we prayed.

I saw the surgeon first thing after the CT was done and he told me that my head is fine and I can go home, only the orthopedic surgeon need to check the bones and sign me out.  That was around 12 noon.

By 3 pm I asked for food, since none was given and my sugar levels were going down too fast; Willie rushed to buy some food while the housekeeping person brought 3 pieces of day-old bread.  I prayed asking God why am I still in there; but all I got was to keep praying for the sick and the staff.  Willie returned with real food and we continued to pray.

I was released to go by 4:45 pm.  We walked home.  It felt safer with the heavy traffic and the air was clear and fresh after the stuffiness of the emergency ward. We arrived home around 6 pm.

152nd Day of Praise -

I thank God for the opportunity to pray for the emergency ward in its entirety all day long. I thank God for friends, who arrived unexpectedly right at the start of the day and prayed healing over me, so I can stay there in some comfort. I thank God for immediately healing my wounds and for giving me Willie as an angel of mercy right beside me for the entire day.  I thank God for a creative way to start a new month.

Off to bed early,

Orith