Finally Maryandra sent her e-mail!!!
We got 3 weeks of e-mail on Sunday night, and when I moved it to her document file, it was 31 pages long!!! This was the view from her window, and some other flowers that someone brought to Maryandra to brighten her existence in the hospital!
We were pretty shocked by some of the things Maryandra wrote about those first days as she went to the hospital on November 17. Here is an excerpt that describes her ambulance ride to the hospital, etc:
So, reeves Shimai and I were still
feeling as awful as heck, and wondering when we were ever going to
feel better. I had managed to eat one Apple slice that day, so I had
a tiny bit more energy, and thought I could maybe, finally, go and
brush my teeth. As I pulled my self up to reach my toothbrush, and
saw my face in the mirror, I nearly soiled my pants! I looked
scary! I looked like death, I thought. Dark purple rings around both
eyes, which had become sunken and sore. My cheeks were hollow, my
face was pale and colorless, and my lips were red and chapped,
because I just couldn't get, let alone keep in enough fluids. I just
couldn't believe a living person could look like that. Still, I
managed to brush my teeth semi okay, and crawled back to the small
couch.
After some point that day, reeves
Shimai and I were feeling just as bad as ever. We all just got fed up and called sister
Wada again. She was surprised that we weren't feeling better and said
"Okay. Maybe you need to go to the hospital." I don't remember exactly how it played out, but we heard an
ambulance pull up outside our house. I was once again making my way
out of the bathroom, and I saw paramedics standing in our
eating/sitting room, talking with the other sisters. After I had once again settled on the
couch, they started asking me questions. Due to dehydration, build up
of phlegm or whatever in my throat and repeated vomiting, my voice
for the last several days had been rather restricted, so I had to
struggle to speak, and it was difficult for me to get what they were
saying. But in the end, we were all put into the ambulance. Sister
reeves made it with some assistance, but I couldn't raise myself off
the couch without becoming severely dizzy and exhausted, so they had
me scoot onto this mat thing with straps on it, and the three
paramedics carried me down the stairs, outside, and put me on a
stretcher, which they lifted into the ambulance after strapping me
in. I was too weak to do anything but lay there like a rag doll. We
had to wait for a few minutes for them to get everything they needed,
and the other sisters all in as well, before heading off. It was
painful laying flat with my reflux already acting up, and I felt like
I was going to throw up, so they elevated me a little bit.
Thankfully, I did not throw up. But I just remember that after we
were finally underway, at some point thinking "I feel like it's
going to be okay. I got a blessing yesterday. And I'm going to the
hospital. Whatever happens, I'm going to be okay."
When we got to the hospital, they let
out the other sisters, put reeves Shimai in a wheelchair, and took me
out on the stretcher. We were brought inside, and I was painstakingly
moved from the stretcher to a wheelchair, where we had to wait about
fifteen or twenty minutes. It was awful for both of us, and at
different points, we each had to be wheeled to the bathroom by
Funakura Shimai. I didn't have the capacity to sit up straight, so I
spent the time holding my barf bag, and trying to support my head
between my knees, or else slouching to one side or the other, with my
head resting on my shoulder. But finally, we were brought in, and
checked over. They let reeves Shimai lay down, because she was
feeling more nauseous and had just thrown up again. They took her
blood, and I saw it coming for me as well, and was afraid I would get
even more nauseous. But I think I was too feeble to even care. They
had to stick my left elbow three or four times, and then gave up and
found a suitable vein in my hand. They'd already put an IV in my
right hand, before I vaguely remembered that that was the better arm. They brought us into the next room,
which had curtained off beds for us to wait and rest. I settled
gratefully onto the bed, and the other sisters sat close by me and
reeves Shimai. Eyring Shimai kept telling me I was starting to look
better. My eyes were "moving," and looking more normal
already. I was starting to get a bit of color back in my cheeks, etc.
which was good to hear. I'd noticed in the hospital bathroom that my
face looked even scarier than before. But I felt so calm there, in
the hospital bed, knowing that, at last, everything was being taken
care of. At one point, a doctor came and told me that my companion
was going to be able to leave that night, but because my kidney
function had dipped so low, if I didn't improve soon, I might have to
go on dialysis. Therefore, I would probably be staying at the
hospital for a day or two. But I just nodded and said okay. I was too
tired to be worried, and I thought, no it doesn't sound pleasant, but
Whatever it takes to get me better. A couple more things were done, and
amidst it all, Sister Wada showed up! She just brightened me up with
her presence! Oh, that blessed woman is an angel! She was so relieved
to see us there, and just asked some questions, talked with the other
sisters, etc. She sat with me on my side of the curtain petition
until I fell asleep. Then, I think she went to take care of some
business items. At some time close to midnight, a nurse came and woke
me up so we could go to another floor for some testing, to take a
picture of my stomach. Wada Shimai met us as we were coming back, and
I was wheeled to my hospital room. After using the bathroom again, I
was settled in, poor Wada Shimai stayed to fill out some paperwork,
and after saying a prayer with me, she left and I fell asleep. So
there, that's the Monday from heck, probably the worst pday I've ever
had. And hopefully, the worst one I ever will. Gluh. It really helped
to have Wada Shimai there, but I must say, it was really weird to
sleep by myself for the first time in almost a year.
So in a matter of days, Maryandra had gone from this photo above, to this photo below. And that was after some major hydration! We've never seen her with such sunken in eyes!
At some point on Monday, November 25, it got a little more critical, since Maryandra had not been able to keep anything down for so long. Here is another excerpt:
Monday:
Well, shoot, I just realized how
pessimistic and self centered I've been being! Nobody wants to read a
sob story like that! I'd been feeling really homesick the last few
days, and perhaps that's what was killing my appetite. I was also
feeling like I didn't want to be a missionary anymore, which is a
horrible, horrible thing to think. But today, I feel better. I'll
tell you what happened. After throwing up again this morning (it's no
wonder this time, since I ate dairy, the only thing I was willing to
touch) I was feeling a little better, sickness-wise, but then I was
hooked up to a second tube that runs through the same IV as my other
one, and told that I wasn't eating enough to keep in the nutrients,
so they were going to just give it to me through the IV. And then
sister Wada popped in! She was amazing as always, but after talking
to the doctors, she told me, bluntly and boldly, that I NEEDED TO EAT
THE HOSPITAL FOOD OR I WAS GONNA DIE!!!!! Of course it was an
exaggeration, but it got my attention, and I determined to try again.
She could see it had scared me though, and she told me she was sorry,
but the reason she'd used "hard words" was because the
missionary medical department was saying that if my condition wasn't
improving, I was going to have to be sent home. That sent an icy
shaft right into my heart, and I realized right then and there how
stupid I was.
Friday:
Well, Wada Shimai was able to come
briefly yesterday, but she was super busy getting ready for things
that are coming up, such as transfers, with a bunch of new
missionaries coming in, some going out, and elder and sister
Yamashita leaving, and their replacements coming. She's such an
amazing person! What a trooper! She's the best! I'm so lucky she's my
mission mom!
She just came again today, accompanied
by Dr. Hansen and his wife. They've said that, yes, I'm getting
better. But now they're starting to apply the heat. I have to stop my
diarrhea. And I have to build up my strength. In order to do that,
here are some things they've committed me to do. They literally
committed me, like an investigator. They did it deliberately, and
they told me so. They asked me with a "will you...?"
Question, which would require, to be honest, a straight yes or no
answer. And I said yes. I committed. So I'm gonna have to do it,
because I can't break my promise. Here is what they told me to do:
Drink ten cups of water a day.
Eat two bananas a day.
Eat all the bread that's given to me.
Every time I get up to fill my water
cup, walk ten laps back and forth across my room, and five more every
time I finish going to the bathroom.
I committed, even though it makes me
cringe, especially the part about eating bread. Oh my gosh! But I'm
trying to get out of this hospital by Monday, which will be Sunday
for you guys, so I'm really gonna try hard! I want to get better! I'm
gonna do it! I can do this! I can do this! I'm a Miller! I'm tough!
I'm gonna do it! Yeeeeeeeeaaaahhhh!!!!!
Elder and sister Hansen said they would
be putting my name on the prayer roll again tonight, when they go to
the temple, like they do every Friday, which made me feel even
better, and I know I can do this now. How can I not, with so much
support behind me, so many people cheering me on?
Saturday:
So, a little more descriptive detail
about what happened when president Wada visited might be nice, I
think. So, I wasn't expecting anyone to visit today, though sister
Wada said she would try to get somebody to come and deliver the
package for me that had been dropped off at the honbu. I would never
have dreamed it would have been president Wada himself! I heard
someone speaking in Japanese outside the door that kind of sounded a
little familiar. Then, a business-like knock on the door, and "Miller
Shimai?" And president Wada opens the door! I just about jumped
out of my skin! And I felt embarrassed, because he'd caught me in the
middle of eating a banana, so I didn't look remotely dignified, not
that I really could have, anyway. But he came in and brought the
package and the other things.
This collapsible tree was in the package we sent to Maryandra, and she put it up in her room, along with some gifts from the Spriggs, her friends from the U.S.
Monday:
Maryandra got the news that for transfers, she'd be staying in Hibarigaoka, but she would be getting her old companion, Sister Horrocks, back as her next companion! That was fun for Maryandra to hear, since she never felt she had a long enough time with Sister Horrocks, who is so full of fun. So Sister Horrocks will be her 5th and 7th companion, I think.
They didn't let her go on Monday, which made Maryandra sad, but they did do something that made her happy!
... But hey, guess what else? They just
took out my IV! Yay! I get to sleep without it tonight! I'm so happy!
That's a wonderful, marvelous blessing to me! I can move freely about
my hospital room now, and not have to drag it along with me, jiggling
on its pole when I do my laps, (and the plug not being able to extend
more than five feet in any given direction) as Dr. Hansen instructed.
It's sooooo nice! Yay! I can now sit at the window for long periods
of time, and do basically whatever I want! Heck, I can shower! In
fact, since they're keeping me here another night, I think I might
just do that. Get myself looking as nice as possible for when I leave
tomorrow! Ah, things are just getting so much better, with every
passing hour, save my reflux, which has been persistently bugging me
since this morning. But I can deal with that no problem! Yay! I'm so
happy now! I could sing! I could dance! I bet I could even fly! I'm
so excited! I just wanna get up and jump and run around the whole
hospital! I feel so free! Even though I can't even run, cuz my legs
are so weak, and the muscles are horribly atrophied. Yikes. But I
still feel great! Yay!!!!!!!.........
Tuesday:
Well, I don't leave until nine, but
here I am at 7:23 in the morning, all prepped and ready to leave the
hospital. I was able to take a few good photos of the view outside,
too, and in fact, just after I got the very last one I wanted, my
iPad freaked out and said it couldn't take any more photos, so that
was lucky! I can't wait to send them to you! And I can't wait to
finally send this mail off to you, either, and receive and read three
pdays worth of emails!!! Ooooooooh, I'm so excited!
Haha, my iPad will be glad to be rid of
this awfully long email, too. It's sooooooooo long! I hope you can
enjoy it. . . .
Oh my gosh, I'm
FIIIIIIINAAAAAAALLLLLLYYYYYYY OUT OF THE HOSPITALLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!
YEEEEEEEESSSSSSS!!!!!!! It was almost surreal to finally walk out of
the doors, put everything in sister Wada's car, and drive away, and
to call Dr. Hansen and let him know so he could call you. The whole
drive, I was just thinking "wow! It's done! It's over!
Woohoo!!!!!
The rest of the 31 pages were of Maryandra's 1st week out of the hospital, and her reunion with Sister Horrocks at transfers. She will miss Sister Reeves, who has also made a full recovery. Maryandra enjoyed a great week back in the mission field, but sent no photos of herself, so we couldn't see the improvement in her appearance, but there's always next week! Sorry for such a long blog, but it is a lot shorter than 31 pages would have been! :-)
