Dude...check out that wicked scar

Thank you Kristen for the novel that you wrote. It needed to be said though because a lot has happened this week in Guatemala. I'll be glad to fill in the gory details that I saw in the hospital and when I first saw Jeremy. Laurie was the first to let us know that something had happened as she came running towards the hotel screaming my name for me to go over and help. So we quickly went over there and as soon as I got there I saw Jeremy sitting in a chair with blood ALL over his face and a t-shirt tied around his head because Fletch said that he suffered a pretty big gash. He had cuts and a pretty big laceration on his arm and he said that his back hurt a lot. We quickly called for additional help since the First Aid kit at the Iguana didn't have a C-collar (baaaaad news) so I held his C-spine until help arrived and we quickly got him on the backboard, loaded him on a boat and then off to a hospital in Solola. To reiterate what Kristen said...the volunteer FD here sucks because I had to basically lift and push the stretcher into place in the "ambulance".

But anywayy - at the hospital we quickly rushed him to the X-ray room where we were not at all surprised to see that the x-ray tech wasn't there because she was out to dinner. So we had to wait before she came. And then we had to do lateral x-rays twice because she didn't do them right and she either penetrated too deeply or not far enough (that's what she said?). After the X-rays came back negative we went back to the ER where I experienced the most horrific thing I think I have seen in the medical world. The surgery doc on call got out all of his "sterile" stuff and told Jeremy to lay down so he could stitch up the wounds on his head. The first thing he did was take a FULL needle of lidocaine and literally jab it into the gash on top of his head trying to irrigate, anesthetize and pull his scalp up off his skull alll at the same time. He basically succeeded in all of this while BENDING THE NEEDLE ON THE SYRINGE and before I knew it I could see Jeremy's skull...yes - the bone. He then proceeded to stitch Jeremy up and I think that he got about 25 on the big gash on top of his head and then 3 on the one on his forehead and 2 on the one in the back of his head. Jeremy said that the doc didn't fully numb him because he could feel the last four on the big gash that he had on top of his head. So while all this is going on I basically am in complete shock because of the pain that I just saw Jeremy go through but he put up with it like a man. I would've cried like a girl.

At the end of it all, there was a pool of blood (about 20 mL) on the floor which I'm pretty sure didn't get cleaned up till the morning. Then proceeded the ridiculousness. First - they wouldn't let Laurie stay with her husband overnight b/c he was in the men's room. Then when I tried to say that I would stay they said I couldn't do it either. So Jeremy was super angry at this point but we convinced him to stay overnight just in case. Second - they wouldn't let him eat. They thought that he was going to vomit everything due to his pain. Third - they didn't even ATTEMPT to clean the wounds on his extremities and so they were left open to infection. Oh wait - the nurse put THREE strips of tape across his deepest laceration on his left arm. Woop-de-doo. So angry, hungry, infection-prone, alone Jeremy was in the men's wing all night while Laurie and I were ushered off to this small room with a hard mattress, one sheet and a wool blanket to sleep on. Needless to say we didn't get much rest. At 6am we immediately woke up to get Jeremy. Little did we know Jeremy was ready to get out quicker than we were and he was up and WALKING and ready to get the hell out. So we signed the papers without seeing the trauma doc and went back home. So that's the whole story. Laurie and Jeremy are going to come back home this weekend so please wish them a safe trip back to the States and keep them in your thoughts and prayers please.

So there are all the other details from Neil's point of view. Kristen pretty much got the rest of the details so I will leave you with a wonderful quote from Christina this week:

I like my men like I like my coffee...black and hot

Adios y hasta luego!
Neil