Today in El Salvador...

WWhat we thought was just a passing case of possible food poisoning today turned into something more, and President Petersen has been admitted over night to the hospital.

Even though he wasn't feeling well....nausea, and the hint of a slight fever, for which he took a Tylenol, we got ready and went to the temple for our afternoon shift.  It turned out to be the shortest shift we've had during our 2 1/2 years here.
     Walt was feeling more off balance than normal, so I had him use the walker to go over and I used his cane.  We entered the front door at 12:50 (Walt's normally there by 12:30 or sooner) to change into our white clothes for the 1:15  preparation meeting with our afternoon/evening temple workers.
    President Alas took one look at President Petersen and said: "You go back home and I will stay the rest of the day and do your shift."
    Just then Walt started to vomit.  I'd brought a plastic bag with us because he had been feeling nauseous all morning.  There wasn't much to upchuck because he had eaten nothing all morning.
  When he had called Brian about one of our temple missionaries who is having back problems, I had told Brian about his Dad and he told me to get some fluids down him.
   So he had some sips of Cream Soda and some water.

When we got back to our apartment Walt climbed right back into bed.  I checked on him a couple of times and he was sleeping.  
Then I heard a noise.  I dashed to the bedroom and there was Walt on the floor.
  "Did you fall," I gasped.
   "No, I slid out of bed onto the floor because my legs wouldn't hold me up, and I can't get up," he explained.
"Do you think you've had a stroke?" I queried. 
"No, it's not like that," he assured me.
We tried several different things but nothing could get him up.

"Call Romel to come and help me get up," he concluded.
Romel immediately came  up from the Service Center in the basement of our building and first asked: "President, would you like a blessing?"
  "Yes."
So Romel knelt there on the floor by the president and gave him a blessing.
   Then he scooped him up in his arms and lifted him back into the bed.
Then he said: "I think you need to go to the hospital."
I asked Walt: "Do you think you need to go to the hospital?"
"Probably," he weakly replied.
     So with one  phone call from Romel to the Service Center, within seconds there were four other men to help get President Petersen into a wheel chair, out to the van, and we were on our way to the hospital.

Dr. López Winter came right over to the emergency room and checked him and ordered some tests.  He diagnosed that Dr. Petersen has an infection somewhere from the fever and chills.
    Walt went through a short time of agitation when they were doing the EKG and they kept patting him and saying: "Tranquilo, tranquilo..."   (I think that must mean "stay calm" in Spanish.)

President Petersen explained to Dr. López Winter that he's disillusioned from having one thing after another happening healthwise.

It's now 8:00....we've been here three hours, counting the time in the ER.
 Dr. López Winter has just stopped by and was pleased to see Dr. Petersen looking better. Earlier in the ER when Walt was explaining his symptoms in "medical terms" Dr. López Winter said to him: "I like to hear you talk like a doctor."

"We will start an IV antibiotic after we get the results of the urine test. The most likely culprit is that this is a urinary tract infection," Walt's cardiologist said before he had to leave to pick up his 16-year old son.

He told us his mother, who is from England, speaks five languages, but he only speaks two--Spanish and English.

Walt is in good hands here, and I will be with him overnight. 
     I will keep you posted.
     Yes, I hurried and packed my laptop in it's travel bag since I was lost those 3 days in December when I was here in the hospital with him and had not been able to bring anything.
  Thank you in advance for your prayers for a speedy and complete recovery for Dad.  
Our prayer is that we will be able to finish the last 9 months of this 3-year, 3-month call to the San Salvador El Salvador Temple.
   

President Petersen is sad when he can't fulfill his shifts.

President y Hna. Majano and President y Hna. Alas 

are always so willing to go the extra mile.

Our recorder, Jaime López told us that President y Hna. Majano went right over to the temple to do the afternoon shift for Walt, but President Alas insisted that he and Hna. Alas would stay the whole day. The Majanos have the early morning shift tomorrow.