Sunday, September 10th, 2006

Liz Goes to the ER and Other Stories

posted by lizzie    « 7 Comments »    tied to Uncategorized   

When we last left our adventurers, they were hiking through razor sharp, uneven, black lava rocks with only the moon to guide them. If you need a reminder about what a lava field looks like, it is something like this:
Notice the uneven terrain. The rocks that would just as soon cut you as look at you. And remember, we were each supposed to have a flashlight. With good batteries. But we didn’t.

I said last time that Heavenly Father will help you out even when you do something stupid. He blessed us with a nearly full moon, by which we could see the contours and textures of the rocks we were stepping on. He also blessed us with flashing beacons that led us in the right direction and let us know how far we had to go. But we also had to reap the consequences of our less-than-intelligent decision to hike out there late without flashlights. And thus it was that I slipped on a rock. I could see when I stepped on it that it was on an incline, and that it was quite smooth. But it didn’t register quickly enough for me to step somewhere else that I might fall on it. My shin hit the jagged edge and my knee hit another rock. I thought I was okay, but then it started bleeding. As mentioned previously, Heavenly Father also blessed us with Micah, who had already thought about what he would use to wrap a wound with if necessary, and so in just a few seconds my leg was wrapped tightly in Micah’s jacket and we were ready to hike the rest of the 2 miles out of the flow. By the time we got to the ranger’s station I was convinced it only needed a band-aid, so we stopped at the ranger’s station to see if they had any. As soon as we took the jacket off, the blood started flowing and the ranger said we had to go to the hospital. She then proceeded to, very slowly, find something to clean it out with and wrap it for the trip to the Hilo Medical Center. I only mention that she was going very slowly because I thought it was quite urgent that we get on our way quickly. But the only time she seemed to move quickly was when someone spotted a centipede crawling around outside her door. She wasn’t quick enough to kill it, by the way.

We did make it to the hospital, but once we got there it was a waiting game. There was only one doctor on duty, and everybody in the ER came at about the same time we did, including a few accident victims who had to be flown to Honolulu before the night was over. A nurse was kind enough to clean and numb the wound, but by the time the doctor got to us 2 hours later it was no longer numb. It didn’t hurt, but I was near tears with frustration and tiredness. We were ready to get a few butterfly band-aids to close it up, but the doctor convinced me that it would only take three stitches and ten minutes before we could be on our way. It actually took four stitches and I don’t know how many minutes, but at least the scar won’t be as bad, right? We got about three hours of sleep before we had to leave to catch our flight back to Oahu.
We were just glad it happened on the last day rather than the first.

Comments

  1. Mom says:
    September 10, 2006 at 6:09 pm

    Liz,

    Your experience reminds me of when Elizabeth Jane Harding got bitten by a rattle snake while crossing the plains. Her brother’s killed the snake, but she was on the verge of death and all her mother had to heal her with were olive oil and saltpeter. She presented them to the Lord and He told her to make a poultice of saltpeter and mud and apply it to the wound. The Elders took the Olive Oil and administered to her and immediately she began to feel relief. The poultice was also applied. She wore a scar on her leg the rest of her life as a reminder of how Heavenly Father had blessed her. If this wound leaves a scar, it will be all right. It will be a reminder of Micah’s immediate remedy and all that transpired to keep you from bleeding to death until you could get the stitches. Thank you for sharing your hair-raising adventures with us. We’re always glad to hear about them after they’re happily resolved.
    Mom

  2. Abby says:
    September 12, 2006 at 5:20 am

    Liz, all I have to say is that looks seriously arfy barfy. I’m sorry that it happened, but then again you’ll probably have a really scar for the rest of forever.

  3. Abby says:
    September 12, 2006 at 5:21 am

    maybe really GREAT scar? Not sure what happened to that missing word.

  4. Sarah says:
    September 14, 2006 at 10:33 pm

    I have to say that I agree with Abby that it looks “arfy barfy,” but what I’m wondering is, what part of your leg is it on? Is it your right or your left? Shin? Knee? Etc, etc, etc. Also, I can’t see how those rocks would “cut you as soon as you look at you.” They look fairly smooth.

  5. liz&micah says:
    September 16, 2006 at 5:25 am

    It is a few inches above my ankle. And I do have to say that the rock can cut you pretty deep. It looks smooth, but it is all broken up, so each of the places where you see it is cracked contains a “knife carrying gnome” as Micah says. Just kidding. It is sharp where it is broken.

    Side note: Micah took out the stitches on the evening of Day 8 (we were supposed to wait 7-10 days) and it seems like it just opened right back up. Perhaps Abby can attest to it’s depth if it hasn’t healed much more by next Friday.

  6. Jodie says:
    September 16, 2006 at 6:22 pm

    Ouch. and yuck.

  7. Missy says:
    September 27, 2006 at 1:54 am

    Ouchie ouchie ouchie ouchie! You poor dear! That does look like a nasty cut. Those mean old gnome-weilding rocks.

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