What a Week!!

DISCLAIMER: This story is 100% true, with witnesses, and verified evidence. Some of the things in this email are a little personal, but I thought you might even get a kick out of it.

Wow, I cannot even begin to describe how odd this week was. I believe I should begin right at the beginning, where I arrived in Santa Rosa(capital city of the province, the Pampa). Okay...maybe when I left on last Monday night. I took my hour and a half bus ride back to General Acha, and sure enough, the whole city is about 1km by 1km. Pretty small. I got to the house and it was more than small. The house in total with living room, bathroom, bedroom and kitchen is about 9ft by 35ft. But, I actually really like it. I live here alone with Elder Aldridge. We woke up on Tuesday morning and we went to town cleaning, because it was definitely nasty. We went shopping for the week, and we planned for what was going on this week. We went out in the Afternoon and started working with a part member family, where some of them are recent converts and the others are now investigating. So we were teaching them all together because we want to bring this whole family together. We stopped and got some fruit on the way back to house...which would begin an event that I shall never forget...The fruit I ate that night was less than appetizing. It was either too ripe, or not ripe enough. Anyways, I went off to bed that night everything normal...and I woke up in the middle of the night with a serious stomach ache, and I couldn't seem to go back to sleep. I was really tired the next morning and was just aching, but Aldrigde and I did our normal morning routine with running and studying, and we were out the door. We went and talked to some investigators, and found some new people to teach, but my stomach still just seemed to be bothering me. We went to lunch with Sister Zwanger.(You will love this member, she is a sweetheart) The food was sooo good, but I just hurt every time I swallowed. I couldn't seem to say no to her, I just kept eating but it hurt. Anyways, we took off again and found some more new investigators, but my stomach was still hurting and I knew that something had to have made me sick. We wrapped up the evening and we headed home. I lost everything from lunch and dinner, nothing would stay down on Wednesday evening.Nothing. I tried to sleep again that night, but just every which way I would try to rest, I could not find comfort. We got up the next morning, and my companion told me how it was...¨Andersen! Call the mission doctor, you haven't been able to eat for an entire day and keep anything down.¨So I called the mission doctor Thursday morning, and I told him my symptoms of diarrhea, and non stop vomit. He told me to buy these two medicines from a pharmacy and to stay on clear liquids only for 24 hours. Well we went out Thursday morning to work and to get these medicines. I was glad I was going to get better now, because this stomach ache really sucked. Well, we actually didn't work in the afternoon, and I spent the afternoon and evening in front of the toilet, not even being able to keep down water. I would drink a sip and five minutes later it was up and out. Sister Zwanger made some lighter food for me to eat and brought it over for me to eat...but I still couldn't keep that down either. I really was not feeling so great.After a good 12 times of vomiting for the day, I was done attempting the whole ¨eating and drinking thing¨. I tried to sleep yet again...and yet again, I did not sleep due to this stomach ache from heck.We got up the next morning and Aldridge insisted that i call the Mission Presidents wife(she is in charge of our health as missionaries), and the Mission Doctor again. Well, the doctor told me to take small sips and try to keep it down. Then the Hermana(Mission presidents wife) called and wanted me to go to the clinic. Sister Zwanger came with us to the hospital(Actually she ended up coming three times during the day, bringing food and words of support every time, unfortunately for me, I just got to watch my comp eat the food because I was not allowed to eat for another day),and I got in and they took quite a few tests. Blood samples, blood sugar, pressure, temperature, etc. Needless to say a lot. I threw up the medicine that I had attempted to take on this lovely Friday morning...then things started to change. The Doctor at the hospital came in and talked with me for a minute. Well, they decided that I had something wrong with my stomach/digestive tract, and they needed to figure out what it was. So they did some more tests, having to take my temperature in most uncomfortable ways...(3 different times today)Well, they took x-rays, did the ¨baby finder test with jelly-thing¨(I don't know what its called), and then the strangest test in the world. If you have seen ¨the Princess Bride¨, I want you to remember when they hook Wesley up to ¨The Machine¨. Well, I was hooked up to A MACHINE, and they started shocking me to see how I would react to surgery. I was really confused why this crazy stuff was going on. Then the doctor came in and said, ¨Well, we don't have any tests that say for sure you do have it, but we don't have any that say you don't. But we are going to take your appendix out tomorrow morning.¨ I just started laughing to myself. Of all the things to expect to happen in the mission, this is not one of them. Anyways, The Mission Presidents Wife called the Hospital, and said she did not want me operated on in such a small city, and demanded that I be taken back to Santa Rosa. So I got to go in a lovely Ambulance ride-which was bumby and quite painful to my insides. We arrived at the hospital in Santa rosa about 10:30 Friday night, and the Doctor there said that they were not going to wait, and they were going to operate on meas soon as possible. Well, I was pushed into a room with two older lady nurses which stripped me down and started testing me all over again. Then one of them turned to Aldridge and the Zone Leaders which had just arrived, and asked them for a razor- or if they didn't have one, they had to go buy one down the street. My comp had been nice and packed my razor for me, and he gave them my face razor. This nurse then proceeded to shave me. Well, now that I was tested and on my IV, they laid a blanket over the top of me, and pushed me on in to the room for surgery. I arrived into the room with about 4 nurses with the age of about 24-25 years old, and my blanket was taken from me. I was strapped down to the table, legs and feet and everything. I was laying in the middle of this room with people just walking around and talking and making jokes about how the ¨Funny Yankee was about to have surgery in Argentina.¨Well, I had nothing better to do, so I started making dumb jokes with them in Spanish like, ¨Is this YOUR first operation on an appendix, because I know it is MINE.¨ Yes, dumb jokes, but what else are you going to do in this lovely situation. Well, then they knocked me out. Well, I was informed of the next part by my companion and my Zone leaders.I was wheeled out of the surgery room and taken upstairs, and the doctor came out to talk to my comp. Then they started hearing some crazy guy screaming. And the doctor explained that the surgery went well, and that because I had waited so long to go in, some of the bad liquid stuff from my bad appendix got into my stomach and intestines. But that I was good and my recovery should be smooth. Elder Steadman(One of the Zone Leaders) said sarcastically, ¨Well, he has got to be better than that crazy screaming guy right?¨ Then my comp added, ¨Wait guys, I think that is English.¨ Not even a few seconds later, a nurse came running down the stairs and said that she needed the other missionaries help. Apparently I had some kind of a reaction to the drugs and I thought I was blind, and I was in pain,but the nurses made the other three missionaries hold down the ¨Angry Yankee¨. WOW! They put another shot into me to put me out, because they were afraid I was going to tear my stitches or rip out my IV. Well, I woke up the next morning, and I was pretty tired. And I spent Saturday and half of Sunday in the hospital recovering, and I had my first things to eat and drink Saturday at about 2:00. It was some mashed up squash, and some warm water, and jello. But I was so hungry it didn't matter. So from Tuesday night, to Saturday middle of the day, I was not able to hold anything down. I was pretty starving. Well , what do we learn from this. In times of illness, we can bring ourselves closer to our Father in Heaven, because we can realize how much we really do rely on him, and how much our health really does matter to us. I am glad to report I am out of the hospital, though I am not allowed to walk around for another week, or do any real physical exercises for 20 more days. I am truly grateful to be past this phase in my mission. Once again, not exactly what I thought I would be going through, and is definitely something I will never forget. NOW, I WILL FOREVER HAVE A PART OF ME IN ARGENTINA! Literally!
What a week!
Elder Andersen