Attended by an angel

Literally, we arrived at the hospital in minutes.  The doctor pulled into a front row parking space in the hospital parking lot, directly next to the Emergency Room entrance.  He no sooner turned the key to shut off the car; and an attending ER staff member appeared with a wheelchair for me.  

With Nelson by my side, the doctor and hospital staff member quickly escorted me into the Emergency Room where I was immediately surrounded by a team of doctors and nurses.  The questioning began about the incident and the ordering of tests quickly followed.  There was a whirlwind of activity.  It was so surreal.  The whole event seemed like a scene from some hospital drama on television.

Somehow, in the midst of all of the scurrying around, Nelson and I got separated for a brief amount of time. One of the nurses said, the doctors have asked your husband to step out of the ER into the lobby..

Alone now and uncertain of my condition, I began to search for a familiar face...some sense of security.  So, in a weakened state and through blurred vision, I tried desperately to focus on finding the doctor who had brought me to the Emergency Room.  From a distance, I could see doctors huddled together in a corner of the room discussing the next steps to take.  Was that him?  I thought I could see him; but, it was as if no one else was acknowledging his presence.  And then,  he was gone.

Later, I would learn the doctor, was beside Nelson...navigating him to the front desk of the hospital to register me as patient.  And then, Nelson said, once he got to his destination, he turned around to thank him, but the doctor was gone.  

In the meantime, while Nelson was filling out paperwork for the hospital, that same doctor was standing next to me holding my hand….assuring me that I was going to be fine.  Even as I write this, I am brought to tears when I think how I pleaded with the doctor to stay with me.  Gently he leaned down and said, “I know you want me to stay, but I must go now.  I’m leaving you in good hands.”  And then, he turned and quietly walked away saying nothing to the Emergency Room staff.

As soon as he left, Nelson returned.  At the same time, a specialist was approaching me to deliver the news they were going to attempt one final procedure to stop the nausea and vomiting; and if that failed, they would have to admit me to the hospital.  Unfortunately, the intervention did not produce the results we had all hoped for; so the attending doctor in the ER decided it was best for me to stay overnight.

And so, a parade of specialists and a list of tests was about to begin in the hours and days to follow.  However, before, we jump too far ahead….I really want to finish telling you about the doctor who attended to me the night of the incident.

After days of inquiring with the hotel, ER, and hospital staff about the doctor who came to our room in the middle of the night, drove us to the hospital, assisted Nelson to patient registration, and stood by my bedside, we never did find out who he was. The hotel staff didn’t have any record of calling a doctor the night of incident and we never received a bill from the hotel for the doctor’s services.  Likewise, we couldn’t find anyone in the Emergency Room who remembered the doctor or knew where he might have come from; nor anyone on the hospital staff knew of this mystery doctor. And, again, when we checked out of the hospital there was no charge for his services.

There are many questions that remain unanswered for us; but this one thing we do know, he saved my life.  We may not know who the doctor was or where he came from; but we do have confidence in whom sent him.  We truly believe this was an assignment from the Absolutely Spectacular One.