Life?!?!

Hey Yall!

I'm sure all of you have heard about my accident. I am still in the hospital. I am being taken care of quite well. For those of you who think I'm in a tiny village where they do surgery with a saw or something crazy like that, I just want to let you know I am in one of the best hospitals in Chiang Mai. It's so advance in technology that the x-rays are on the computer and not printed out. It was the closest one from where my accident was, which was good because I was in so much pain. It was definitely one of the craziest and scariest experiences I have ever gone through. I checked off three "nevers" in one evening. Too bad they weren't on my list to complete. :) 1. Getting into a motorbike accident with another motorbike. 2. Breaking not just one bone, but two. 3. Being admitted to a hospital. All of this happening in Thailand just takes it to another dimension! So crazy! It all feels so surreal. Even through there was so much pain (it's probably the most painful thing I've ever felt in my life), it could have been worse. Easily my left leg could have been broken as well. The motorbike landed on both mine and Erika's left legs. My left leg is pretty banged up, but all seems to be well with it. We both had on good helmets so thankfully there is no damage whatsoever to out heads. I'm sure that could be argued when I'm on the pain killers. :) 

What happened: We were following the guys on their motorbike and we went to turn right. Erika checked and it was clear. When I looked I saw a motorbike and gasped. I don't know if he didn't see us or what. But he didn't seem to slow down or try and swerve to miss us. I'm not sure what he was thinking. I looked directly at them and I knew we were going to be hit. Next thing I knew they hit us and we kind of flew off the bike. It was very scary. The bike was on my left leg so when it was lifted I thought I would be able to move. When I tried, I couldn't. Then I felt my right leg. Oh man! It was broken. The guys said that my leg was at a 90 degree angle below my knee. I was so scared and in so much pain. I think it was probably the scariest and most painful thing I have ever experience. I was ever so glad to get to the hospital and for them to give me morphine. It took it a little while to begin to work. Once it did, I was quite loopy. We had to wait until 4 am for them to take me to surgery because we had just eaten. It was a long time to wait, but on the other hand everyone helped the time pass quickly.  

It has been such a cultural experience being in the hospital. It's kind of crazy. They don't tell you what happens next... I have to ask tons of questions. I asked one of the nurses whether there metal in my leg or not and she said "no." Well, turns out there is! I think that there was a break down between the language ability. I was relieved to find out there was metal in there because they had me moving around. So if there isn't anything in there, what is keeping my bones in place? I was a bit nervous at that point and wondered why they did surgery. Communication definitely had a breakdown somewhere in there. It's funny now! I never thought that I would be experiencing Thailand from the hospital.

I have learned to walk with crutches and climb stairs with them. I feel like a baby learning all of this stuff over again. The doctor said that it will be about 4-6 months before I recover. I know it will go by quickly, but right now it seems like a long time. I am hoping that I will be discharged tomorrow. It will be nice to be home and see my students. I miss them. 

Thank you all for your prayers and your notes. They help the time pass more quickly! I love opening my email and seeing 5 new messages. Please continue to pray for me. I want to be able to run, rock climb, hike, and everything else that I used to do with no problems or issues. I believe that God can do this. 

Funny story to leave you with... the other day Erika, Ben and I went out after church. We wanted chocolate shakes. So we went to one of our favorite places Dukes. Ben had ordered a strawberry shake. He got there before us. So we ordered chocolate shakes. Well, that is not what arrived. They brought us our two pieces of chocolate cake. SHAKE, CAKE... same, same, but different. It made us laugh. I did eventually get a shake. 

This next week is finals week for my students. It's so weird to be on the side of making the final. I don't know which one is worse. Then we have a 3 week break. It'll be nice recovery time. I was in hopes of traveling a little, but that is out now. But better that I break my leg when we will have time off from school.

Alrighty... I think that's all for now. I miss you all. Please continue to pray for me, the teachers, Mr. Sexton, the students, and Thailand.

Lots of Love! 

-Lainy the Gimp