We were supposed to have a specialist appointment 4 days time, when we thought everything was under control; only to find out that the acid reflux my mom was suffering was to its peak. She was so in pain she was barely able to stand up at all.

And to make the issue more complicated, I was in the middle of a wake service of another senior who was close to my parents, but they were too tired to go so I went representing them as well.

By the time I reached home, it was close to midnight and my dad came over to tell me of the acid reflux attack: They tried everything, digestive liquid that usually helps to reduce the bloated-ness, medication to help reduce the acid reflux, nothing was helping.

Until the hot water bag soothing treatment finally started working and she could finally doze off.

I was checking on her blood pressure and pulse and all was under control (not too high, nor too low) but she was so weak and tired, all I could do was to pray over her, trusting God is in control, and let her gain her strength from all the pain, so that we can go to the hospital first thing in the morning.

The my mom was able to gain more strength to stand, we got her to take a little bit of Essence of Fish (that is very good for bruises / post surgery) before we started out our 27km (around 16 miles) journey to the Emergency Room.

But why the long journey, and not the nearest hospitals around the home?

It was a better choice as this hospital was following up with my mom since 2021 for her h-pylori infection and the easiest and fastest way to treat her is to have a hospital that already had her records for this particular issue.

And true enough, though it required 7 hours of wait, diagnose, treatment, the first approach by the ER doctor was within an hour (from the queue) and they could immediately decide what sort of medication to help ease her pain.

^{Decorations at the Radiology Department: Still providing services despite the Eid festive is already around the corner, and it is so sad they have to barricade it so that kids won't accidentally damage it 😅}

They even ordered an X-ray for my mom to make sure the rest of the organs that is surrounding the stomach (gallbladder, spleen, pancreas, and the intestines) were not in any way swollen. This was because my mom was telling them that her stool a day before the nasty pain started was dark green in colour (gallbladder effect).

Praise be to God that at the 6th hour of observation, encouraging my mom to start eating something soft right after the painkiller and acid reduction injections, the specialist who came to see my mom ordered a bed in the Observation Ward so that she can rest instead of sitting on the wheelchair the whole day.

Thank God that I was allowed to stay back to help her to get down to the toilet when needed, but she wasn't allowed to be discharged until the first sign of 💨💨💨 happened.

The x-ray result came in with all normal vital signs, and that's a wonderful news to receive; and the doctors believed that they found the cause of the issue was the gas generated from acid reflux was still trapped in the body, so 💨 is the first sign that everything is getting better

Of course, when we heard that, prayer was the first action to take!

True enough, God is still faithful, with the right diagnostic from the doctors, the right medication issued by the ER doctors and gastroenterologist + primary care specialist, on the 8th hour, the first sign of LOOOOOOONG 💨 came, and everyone was so relieved.

Who would have thought that the sound of a 💨was music to the ears? 😅

However, in this case, it was good news, because that means that we can go home!

And God made one more miracle:

The fee

We actually thought that it could cost us hundreds (because of the x-ray), but because of my mom's senior citizen status and a "regular patient" in the hospital, it cost less than $1 USD to settle EVERYTHING

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:19

The first thing that came into my mind was this verse. What else could I say? HE is always good.

When I shared to my colleague (of different faith) that what we went through, her first reaction was, "oh! This is definitely God's test for you to elevate your pilgrimage life towards Heaven higher!"

Well, I couldn't argue with her on that. It was indeed a test, but HE always provides us a way out. We just need to take heed and follow Him.

My Good Shepherd 😌

So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.
Mark 10:18

Yes. God is good. Period.

Until Then

Stay healthy, stay curious and learn new things, and stay happy!

If you would like to give some encouragement outside HIVE with some fiat backing, please feel free to visit: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/littlenewthings

You can also support me in HIVE