ER Indian style!!!

From Tim: (sorry for the long post!)   :)

Well - if you saw some of our pictures we shared from our second month in India, you saw that both Levi & Benjamin had the joy of visiting our local ER!!

On Sunday, March 11th, Levi tripped while walking out of Sunday School. He had his arms behind him, so he landed squarely on his chin and split it open.  It was a bloody mess and a decent size gash.  Our church is only about 2 blocks from the hospital that we will use here in Hyderabad. So, our friend Chetan gave Levi and I a quick ride on his motorcycle to the ER.

Levi was very sad - - - but after he calmed down and the wound was cleaned, the ER doctor said that it was not deep enough to need stitches.  So, they used a little super glue to close it up and sent us home with some pain medication and  antibiotic.

After an ice cream treat on the way home, he went happily to bed for a nap.  He has recuperated just fine and his chin is almost healed up by now!


Benjamin's experience was a bit different and a bit longer than Levi's.  Just this past Sunday night (March 18th), the kids were playing in our living room. As they love to play rough, Benjamin ended up tripping and falling right on his forehead! It was quite a fall and a big bump.  Benjamin loves to bump his head when playing, so it was not unusual for him to have a goosegg. But, after about 40 minutes, he became very lethargic and began vomiting.  After consulting with our team-mates Dr. Ravi and Marguerite, we called our friends the Chintas, and they arranged for Raju to come and take us directly to the ER.  We were praying the whole way to the ER that the doctors would react quickly and do a thorough review.

When we arrived at the ER, it was empty (of patients that is!).  They gave immediate attention to Ben and gave him some anti-nausea medicine and he quickly began to feel better. They sent him for a CT scan and were able to confirm that he had no bleeding on the brain.  But, there was a spot of concern in the exact area that he had injured.  They felt that he was good to go home for the night, but they instructed us to return the next morning to have a consultation with the neurosurgeon.

We spent most of the day yesterday, at the hospital and at Ravi & Marguerite's house - just a short walk from the hospital.  After meeting with the neurosurgeon, he wanted Ben to undergo an MRI for a full picture of the spot on his brain that was of concern.  Ben did an amazing job laying still in the MRI for the 30 minute scan.  They allowed Karri to be in the room with him.  The MRI showed a cyst about 2 inches long by 1 inch wide and 1 inch deep. They are confident that it is just a pocket of fluid, but it is putting pressure on his brain. (just over his left eye)  At this point, they feel that no action is necessary.  If, at any time in the future, the pressure becomes too much, we will know based upon a number of symptoms they talked through with us. (seizures, severe headaches, temporary paralysis) YIKES!!!

We will follow up in another 6 months or so with another CT scan to make sure that it is not increasing in size.  The surgeon said that this is something that could have resulted from a previous injury, or it could be something he has had since birth.

Will you please pray with us that this cyst will dissipate in the coming months and that he will not have any trouble with the extra pressure that it is putting on his brain?

We are so thankful to God for the grace He gave all of us through the long day yesterday and the courage He gave to both Levi and Ben (and mommy) as they experienced their first trips to the ER here in India.

After two weeks in a row of going to the ER, we're thinking we may just need to make the kids stay in bed all day long this coming Sunday!