Really LOOONNNG

Just as my arm started getting better, Dave decided he wanted my slot on the possibility of surgery on Monday. Wednesday he started having abdominal pain. It was continuous and so Thursday evening he decided to go to the doctors. I picked him up at 7:00 and he informed me that he needed to go the the hospital for some tests because it looked like it was appendicitis. The hospital was next door so he decided just to walk there so that I could take the girls home, find a sitter, and bring him a book to read. When we were half way home he called and said that the hospital was out of beds, so we turned around to get him and took him to a different hospital (the one where our neighbor works). We dropped him off and went home. He called as soon as we got home and said that at first they said they had no beds, but when he explained that he needed the tests done RIGHT THEN they finally found one for him. But now the problem was insurance... in Chile you have to go to your insurance company BEFORE you go to the doctors, hospital, etc. The insurance office was closed, so we couldn't get the papers. So then they wanted a blank check (very common here). We don't have a bank account in Chile so we didn't have a blank check (they don't really want a US check). Then they said we could put $2,000 down. That would have been fine if he had had that much cash laying around- but we didn't. And you can only withdraw around $500 a day in the ATM's here. Wahoo for our neighbor... I ran downstairs and talked with him... he worked it all out so that we could pay the hospital later. NICE!

Since all was worked out with getting Dave admitted I started my search for a babysitter. I didn't want to call any of my friends with young children because it was a school night & it was starting to get late. Soon it was discovered that all of my other options were at Young Women's or the university. At 9:00 our friend Carolina was able to make it and I headed to the hospital. When I arrived Dave had had several tests, but we waited forever for his ultrasound (yes, we joked about him having a baby). Anyway, the results showed that he didn't have appendicitis, so there would be no surgery that night. He does have inflamed glands though. They gave him a painful shot and admitted him to the hospital for possible surgery on the glands in the morning. When Dave got in his bed he was shaking uncontrollably because he was so cold. I was worried that it was an allergic reaction to the injection, but I guess he really was just cold. Once he was all settled in for the night I headed home- it was a little after 1:00 am by the time I got there. When I arrived the next morning the pain was still continuous, but not as strong. About noon Dave was discharged with Rx and instructions to return if the pain became worse again. On Monday evening he has another appointment (his doctors office hours START at 6:00pm... ya, this is Chile). Hopefully by then he will be pain-free and this will all be over. If not he may need surgery next week. Until then he's supposed to take things easy (which he hasn't been... he spent most of Saturday working and at a Primary activity). Aside from the pain and uncertainty of health problems, Dave & I had a really good time. It was nice to have all of that time to ourselves (ok, so we had to share it w/doctors, nurses, and a million phone calls, but it was still mostly us). We didn't turn on the TV or read our books. We just talked and laughed. I'm pretty sure that everyone in the emergency room thinks we're crazy because we were laughing the whole time we were in there... good thing we're gringos- they already assume we're weird;). As much fun as we had, we've decided NOT to make this our regular date night activity.