So much to be thankful for....
Sometimes it takes a serious and scary circumstance.....
To remind us how much we have to be thankful for.....
"I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul will make its boast in the Lord; The humble will hear it and rejoice.
O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.
I sought the Lord, and He answered me, and delievered me from all my fears.
Those who look to Him are radiant, their faces will never be covered with shame.
This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, And rescues them."
Psalm 34:1-7
These verses of the Psalmist echo in my heart today as I reflect on the happenings of our life a week ago. Unfortunately little Rudy was diagnosed with Pneumonia and had to be hospitalized in Chiang Rai. I believe it is by God's grace that we arrived at the hospital when we did and that the infection in his body had not taken a more serious hold. There are few things that are more scary and humbling that when one's child is ill. Although we've dealt with slivers and fevers, this was beyond anything we had ever experienced. It's a time when the world seems to stand still and you feel numb to everything except hoping and praying and looking for signs of improvement in your little patient. Praise the Lord for the hospital in Chiang Rai which diagnosed Rudy's sickness and took appropriate and swift measures to help heal him up. We are so thankful that things are back to normal now and are thankful too for the reminder it was to us that we can hope and trust in the Lord with every concern of our hearts.
Now, on to some lighter insights of life at the hospital in Chiang Rai. Siiburin Hospital is a private Thai hospital where both Raymond and Rudy were born. In most ways it's the opposite of the government hospital that is near our home in Wiang Kaen. Siiburin is clean, quick, expensive (by Thai standards) and thorough. One thing about staying overnight in a hospital in Thailand which you should be prepared for, if you need to be admitted, is that they provide very little. Yes, the doctors check up on you, the nurses keep your stats on check, they deliver your medicine, and you are medically taken care of. But, most Thai people will plan ahead to have some relative or close friend come and stay with them in the hospital because they know that some of those specific nursing necessities are absent. Need to use the bathroom? You can hobble there on your own, or call the nurse and interrupt her lunch. Need the TV remote control? Try pushing along the side wall to roll the bed over to the TV to retrieve the remote, or call the nurse and interrupt her afternoon snack. Basically you're on your own, which is fine in most cases.
Another thing that seems unusual to me is the number of people coming in and out of your private room during the course of the day. You're lounging in your hospital bed and all of a sudden there's a knock on your door, "clean sheets!' You get that taken care of and then there's the fresh towel lady, the clean pair of hospital jammies lady, the food lady, the nurse with your medicine, the lady with the new water bottles for your fridge, the lady to clean the bathroom, the lady to sweep/mop the floor, the lady to take away your food tray, the nurse to take your blood pressure....I'm not exaggerating, there were seriously about 8-9 people, each with a minutely specific task needing to come into your room and perform their chosen chore throughout the course of the day. Another thing to be aware of if you are admitted to a private hospital in Thailand is that you will need to choose what type of room you want, a shared room (sharing with up to 10 other people), a shared double room (2 patients), a private single room (this is what we request), a private room with more modern decor, a VIP room that is very fancy or a VIP family suite, so that the entire family can share in the joys of helping you recover from your recent surgery.
It's quite an experience and I'm thankful that 2 out of the 4 times that one of our family members has had to be hospitalized has been for a joyful and exciting reason, the arrivals of Ray and Rudy. For those other visits, well, let's just say that by the time the water bottle lady gets there, I'm ready to check myself out of the place. At least these two little guys found a way to make some fun memories........
