Elder Lee in the hospital

Dec 1 - 9, 2019 - Yep, Elder Lee was in the hospital during those days.  That's Elder Lee the Younger.  Yes, we happened to have another Elder Lee serving in the Japan Fukuoka Mission.  So when I write emails, I usually end them with the elderly Elder Lee to make sure people can distinguish which Elder Lee.

Anyway, young Elder Lee was working in Taniyama, which is about 1/2 hour driving wise south of Kagoshima.  He and his companion went to church on Sunday, Dec 1st.  He started getting sick at church and tried to sleep it off back at the apartment.  But it simply got progressively worse.  By late evening, he was rushed to one of nearby clinics by ambulance.  Given the symptoms that he was exhibiting, the emergency doctors thought it might be meningitis but that clinic was not equipped to handle meningitis.  He was then rushed by ambulance to a larger hospital close to us.  We got the phone call from his companion around 10 p.m. that he was going to be transferred to the larger hospital but at that time, unknown location.

When we found out later the exact hospital, we rushed over there.  We literally drove around the block looking for the hospital parking lot.  We eventually found one, drove up to the gate, pushed the button to lower the driver side window to pick up the parking lot ticket.  The parking lot was pretty much empty so I took a spot closest to the front entrance of the hospital.  We rushed to the front entrance and it was locked.  We figured that we must enter at the emergency entrance, which I saw when I drove around the hospital building.  We walked briskly to the emergency entrance and was able to enter.  By this time it was somewhere between 10:30 and 11 p.m.  When we got in, two nurses were surprised to see us enter by the emergency entrance (we later learned the back entrance is open for normal use during off hours as well as regular hours).  Nurses were helpful and directed us to where Elder Lee's companion, Elder Vawdrey, was waiting.  The doctors were running tests and so we just had to wait.

About 11:30 p.m., we were still waiting.  At that time, another couple entered the waiting area.  It was 1st counselor to the Japan Fukuoka Mission, President Sano and his wife, who happen to live within the Kagoshima Branch.  We didn't call them and Elder Vawdrey didn't really know them, so I was curious how they found out about Elder Lee being in the hospital.  Mission office knew we were at the hospital so there is no real need to send anyone else.  It turned out that one of the ambulance emergency caregivers was a Kagoshima branch member so he called President Sano, who of course rushed over from their home.  This scenario demonstrates to me that Heavenly Father is well aware of his children and he is going to make sure his children understand they are watched over.

Finally, another hour passes and we were allowed to go in to talk to Elder Lee.  We learned that they will keep him over night and we were to come back around 9 - 9:30 a.m. and check on what's next.  They had given Elder Lee a spinal tap and he was in substantial pain from that.  We then took Elder Vawdrey to the Kagoshima Elders apartment so he can be in a temporary threesome.  When we got out of the hospital, it was pouring rain hard.  We borrowed some umbrellas and walked to the car.  When I got to the car, I realized that in my hurry to get to the hospital, after getting the parking lot ticket, I had forgotten to close the side window.  Needless to say, my seat was wet and thus my suit jacket and pants got wet from sitting on it.

Next day, we went back to the hospital at the prescribed time and learned that the spinal tap was clear, no meningitis.  So they were going to run some tests, but at the very least he would stay another 3 days.  We needed to go to their apartment and pick up some things.  So for the next week, we basically ran errands, bringing missionaries to visit Elder Lee.  On Friday, Dec 6, it was interview day, so we shuttled President and Sister Mack to visit him as well.  Eventually the doctor pinpointed the problem to tonsilitis.  It was decided the best thing was to send him home to have surgery and then he can resume his mission after he is well.  Tokyo decided to fly him home from Kagoshima instead of normally from Fukuoka.  On Dec 9th, Elder Lee was released, now strong enough to travel.  While driving to their apartment, Elder Lee, thankfully remembered that he didn't have his passport (all passports for young missionaries are kept at mission office).  So after dropping Elders Lee and Vawdrey to pack, I took Sister Lee to the train station where she made a quick trip to the Fukuoka train station where Elder Sorensen from the mission office handed her the passport and she turned right around and came back to Kagoshima. 

So on Dec 10th, Sister Lee and I drove Elder Lee to the airport, ending a very interesting chapter in our mission experiences here in Kagoshima.