Week 71 from Quito Ecuador

Monday was a normal busy day with missionaries in the office. Tuesday started out as any other day with the routine of getting ready to go to the office.  [The following is according to Lynn, since I don’t remember any of it. I have no memory of what happened over a period of three to four hours.] At about 7am I asked Lynn what day it was and what we were supposed to be doing.  He told me and said I should get ready to go to the office.  I kept repeating the same questions and he would repeat his answers. When he mentioned calling the nurse, Sister Berrett, I didn’t know who Sister Berrett was. I kept saying I felt like I was in a fog and didn’t know what to do.  He finally decided to call the mission nurse but, since it was before 10am, she was not available.  He tried to call the Presidents home but got no response, since he and his wife were on their way to Lima, Peru for a mission president’s seminar, so he called Sister Allred.  When he described what I was experiencing she said that he should take me to the emergency room, that she thought I may have had a small stroke. Soon after he hung up the doorbell rang and Sister Allred was at the door.  When she saw me she reaffirmed that I should be taken to the hospital and that she would notify Sister Berrett and the president.  After finding my insurance card Lynn took me by taxi to the hospital.  He said that I kept insisting that I felt fine and didn’t need to go to the hospital.  Sister Berrett arrived at the hospital within an hour of our arrival.  She also thought that I might have experienced a small stroke.  When an intern examined me he was under the same impression.  Within a short time a neurologists came and examined me and had me perform some simple small motor skills, which I was able to do.

During this time when asked about recent events, such as our trip to the Guayaquil Temple last week, the recent birth of our last granddaughter, Jesseca, attending church on Sunday or having FHE at our apartment on Sunday afternoon I couldn’t remember any of it and I kept asking questions about some of these things as though I didn’t believe they had happened.  After finding that I was able to perform simple small motor skills, knew who I was and other more long term memories the doctor concluded that I had not had a stroke or I wouldn’t be able to do these things. To confirm his diagnosis and eliminate other possible causes of the amnesia he had a few tests done: a Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), an EEG (electroencephalogram) and a chest X-ray.  All of these showed that there were no other problems with one exception, which he reassured us had no connection to the amnesia and was something that there was no need to be concerned about.  The MRI showed a very small (less than 7mm) benign tumor or meningioma in the top part of my brain.  He said that it was a very slow growing tumor that had probably been there for several years.  It was not something that would cause the amnesia and could probably just be ignored but if we were concerned could have a neurologists in Utah do follow-up when we returned from our mission next month and that we could have an MRI repeated in a few years to have it checked.  He said that the condition that I had, Transient Global Amnesia, was not common but has no long term affects.

Mayo Clinic Web Site - Transient Global Amnesia

He said that I would soon start to regain my short term memories within a few hours, which I did.  But I am still unable to remember anything that happened on Tuesday morning from the time I was getting ready for our day and a few hours later when I found myself in a hospital bed in the hospital with Lynn and Sister Berrett by my side.  Since I was experiencing a mild headache they wanted to keep me overnight.  In Ecuador it is required that patients have someone with them at all times, so, while Sister Berrett stayed with me Lynn went home to get a few things for his stay with me. After he returned he went to make the arrangements with the financial office for my hospital stay.  He was given some choices as to my room.  The most expensive was $300 a night and there would be something available in a few hours or the less expensive had a longer wait, probably not until the next day, so he chose the more expensive room.
By this time it was mid-afternoon and Sister Berrett had to go to an appointment with a missionary, Elder Santana, who needed some medical care in another area of the hospital.  Elder Ospina, who was recently changed from the position of AP, was at the hospital with his companion, Elder Santana.  Sister Berrett told him that I was at the hospital and so he called Lynn to see if I would like a priesthood blessing.  I was very glad to have the offer and so he came to help Lynn give me the blessing.

After a long wait I was finally taken to a room at about 6pm and given some dinner.  We spent an uneventful night, with Lynn sleeping on a couch in my room.  The next morning the doctor came and reconfirmed his diagnosis, told me of the tumor they had found and assured us that there was nothing more to be concerned about. He said that about 60% of those with this condition, Transient Global Amnesia, had a history of migraine headaches. The only time I have ever experienced migraine headaches was with the birth of our first child, Seth, more than 40 years ago. It was at that time that it was determined that I was allergic to Pitocin as I had migraine headaches immediately after receiving a dose of Pitocin and for about a week after his birth.  The doctor said that it didn’t matter how long ago the incident of migraines, that it was still considered a common symptom. He said that it was unlikely that I would have a repeat occurrence and that there was nothing to worry about, no need for treatment and I could carry on with my regular activities after a day or so of rest.

The doctor gave the OK and I was free to leave. After showering and getting dressed I waited while Lynn went to the financial office to make the necessary payment of our bill which totaled $1,689.02.  This included the emergency room stay, all the tests [MRI, EEG & chest X-Ray], the doctor’s charges, medications, the overnight stay in the hospital room [which actually only cost $160 instead of $300] and meals for me. I was very surprised since I expected it to be a lot more.  Our insurance should cover a good portion of it.

To say the least, this was an unexpected experience and one to be “remembered”.  I got out of the hospital on Wednesday at about noon. The doctor suggested that I rest up for a couple of days. I was back in the office on Friday. I prepared the despedida video for the released missionaries who will be leaving next week and caught up on a few things left undone.  Sister Nuttell brought me roses which I really appreciated.

Saturday the Senior activity for the month was under Sister Allred’s direction.  We started with breakfast at the Hotel Sebastian and then went to the Mindalae Museo Etnohistorico de Artesanias del Ecuador, a very interesting museum about the history of Ecuador that is just down the street from our apartment building.  It was a very enjoyable morning.  There were a lot of very interesting things to see from the Ecuador cultural: woodcarvings, clay pottery, clothing, hats, statues, musical instruments, and many other fascinating things.

We even go to make some beaded jewelry.

Elder Sego had given Sister Sego this penant and she
took advantage of this activity to make a beaded string
to hand it on. 

More Pictures of visit to the museum


Saturday night Victor, our usual driver, took Lynn and I with Sister Allred out to the airport to meet Karla and Wayne Williamson, our replacements.  Some of you may know them.  Karla is Mike Johnson’s sister and Dwayne Johnson’s daughter.  Karla and Lynn were in the same grade through junior high and high school.  She served here in Quito nearly 40 years ago and was very excited to be able to return to serve here again. They will be staying in Sister Allred’s apartment, since she has an extra bathroom and bedroom, until we leave in about three weeks.

Lynn is checking their passports to make sure they were stamped
correctly.  Sometimes the airport puts a stamp for tourist instead
of the correct one for religious.

Sunday afternoon we had our monthly pot luck lunch.  The Ghents joined us.  They will be leaving the first of July since they have completed their three years of service.  They will be turning over the reins of leadership for the Quito mission over to the new mission president, President Christensen.  It just so happens that President Christensen was the Williamson’s stake president in South Jordan at one time.  They don’t think he will remember them since, at the time, there were about 16 wards in the stake and they were new to the stake.