Dang It, Dengue

Elder Hunt in the hospital this week with Dengue Fever

Tuesday-I gave one of the best trainings I think I’ve ever given and my district agreed. I explained a huge, new, extreme competition I started within the district. 

Training Material

Then we talked a lot about regrets as being a missionary, the missionaries who were going home soon and those who were new, it was tense. D&C 18:16 is still my favorite. :)

    After we had a good lunch with the Bishop’s wife. Then we started our day in Vista Alegre. 

Vista Alegre

We found a bunch of interesting people, people who had been to church before, and people who were references. We worked super hard today. 

Wednesday-This is where the week starts going down hill. Everything was fine in the morning, but after lunch I started feeling very lightheaded and weak with a lot pain in my lower back, but I just told my self to push through it. We kept going until finally we stopped by Hugo's house to check my temperature; it read 103F! We called the health secretary and he told us to go to the hospital immediately. 

We got to the hospital waited about 40 minutes before I was taken back to be put in a chair to get an IV. I got the IV in my arm (did I say I don’t like needles?) and began to wait, and wait, and wait. The problem is that they are suppose to take your blood first, then give you the IV because it takes 2-3 hours to process the blood sample. So in the end, I sat for 3 hours with an IV without getting my blood drawn. 

Elder Hunt hates needles

I asked many times to be helped, but the attendants were quite rude; bloody Brasil. I got my blood drawn, another needle grrrr. Then I went back to the waiting room to wait with Elder Nunes to get my results, but only after a little bit I started to get worse and worse and worse, to the point where they took me back again. They put me in a chair but gave me no IV. My body was fighting the fever, but I was so cold that my entire body was shaking uncontrollably and my teeth were chattering as I started dazing in and out of consciousness. It was about 10:30pm. I still hadn’t eaten anything since lunch and I was very weak. I remained in this state for two hours and no one in the hospital did anything to help me, they just walked past me and watched. 

At one point, I drifted in and out of consciousness and remembered just one thing that make me start crying. It was Christ's voice in my head saying, "And now son, you have experienced just a tiny, tiny bit of what I suffered for you." I was in so much pain, I was so weak, but nothing compares to what Christ went through for every single one of us. 

Elder Nunes was very supportive and great through the hospital ordeal

Finally we got the results back and were able to see the doctor, I just wanted to leave the hospital and go home. I had to be wheel chaired back to the doctor because of my diminishing conditions. She told me she wanted to keep me the night because of how badly I was doing and I just about lost it. I couldn’t handle being in the hospital one more second, let alone another day. We waited more and more and more it was about 1:30am; I still hadn’t eaten, and I still had a needle and plastic tube in my arm that wasn’t allowed to come out and they were making me stay. This was torturous. It felt like a horror movie, seriously. 

At 2:30am we were given a room on the trauma floor for close observation. My bed was a gurney with no pillow and Nunes slept in a chair. I also had to sleep in my work clothes. And finally at 3am I ate a few crackers. We tried to sleep but part of the close observation meant that every hour they came in and woke me up to do tests on me...

Breakfast was a piece of bread and coffee... yeah thanks hospital; we gave them the coffee back. They also made me change in the morning into a hospital gown. 

Now enough of the bad stuff, I'll tell two funny stories that happened. First off there was this cute teenage girl helping her dad in the room across the hall from us. Once I had changed into the hospital gown, every time I went to use the bathroom down the hall, she would always be staring at me, but I didn’t understand why. Until Nunes helped me realize that the hospital gown has no back to it...ha ha.

Funny stories at the hospital help lighten the mood

As for the second, I was laying down and a very attractive nurse walked in to do some normal tests, she listened to my heart and all that good stuff with the stethoscope and then she paused on my abs for quite a long time. Then she pulled up the covers and gave me a light full handed double tap on the crotch, smiled, winked at me, and I never saw her ever again. Lol. Oh Brasil.

A Care Package from Sister Farnes!  So AWESOME!

Later that day, President Farnes came and visited me in the hospital and Sister Farnes made me a little gift basket, so nice of her. But President Farnes is the best! :) He gave me a blessing and you always just feel so much happier and spiritually recharged when you’re around him :)

After, I was cleared to leave and President let us take a taxi home. Also that night he let me talk quickly with my mom, it was so great! :)

Frozen Acai, one of the only things Elder Hunt can keep down

Black Guarana, Acai flavored

The whole rest of the week included buying medicine, sleeping a little bit, fever, body weakness.  I haven’t really gotten any better. But I will soon. The Bishop brought us the sacrament on Sunday. Today I went to the hospital again to get more blood taken. The nurse messed up and was digging in my arm with the needle and it hurt really bad, but its all good. I know this is just another thing I need to experience to become the man God wants me to become. Transfers are on the 28th, we will see what happens. 

Elder Hunt