A Tornado, the Mountain Anthems, and Broken Teeth

Twin tornados hover near Remington in Fauquier County, where about 25 houses were severely damaged in storms that raked the region.

Some tornados spawned off of Ivan and ravaged the nearby town of Remington. It damaged 25-30 homes in Remington alone and totaled 3-5 houses. The Aroda church brought sandwiches and soup for the victims, and our church took pop, coffee, and bars (dessert). We also brought and bunch of people to help serve the food, but when we got there, the Rec Cross told us that they didn't need our help to serve food after all, so we turned around and went back home. (after dropping off the food)

The Mountain Anthems came and gave a great performance to a packed house this morning. This afternoon I went and played basketball with the guys from DC: Marcelle, Martin, William, Squinchy, and Tim. Glendon, Alfy, and Merv were there as well. Both Marcelle and I went for a loose ball. The ironic thing was that we were both on the same team. He got there first and came up with the ball. As he came up, his shoulder collided solidly with my chin. My teeth crashed together. I spit a couple of teeth chips into my hand and wiggled my loose teeth. My two middle top teeth are majorly chipped and my two bottom middle teeth are loose. I played for a little bit more. I was ticked so I swished a couple of shots and stole some balls and played ferocious defense, but I gave it up after about 10 minutes. I went to the machine and bought two Powerades. That helped my teeth somewhat. Glen took me home early, bless his heart. I don't seem to have very good luck playing sports on Sun. afternoon:

Flashback:
Sunday, June 1, 2003
So the morning went well enough. This afternoon we had Merry Yoder, Esther Schrock, and Merv Stoltzfus over for lunch and we watched Jonah! (Veggie Tales) afterwards. After they left, Benj, Dad, and I went outside to play with the softball.

Dad would hit fly balls to us and we were the outfielders. This was going fine, except for the fact that I was out of practice and showed a marked clumsiness including many dropped balls and missed grounders. I offered to switch places with Dad and hit the balls while he and Benji caught them. He hit one more. It was a fly that was going to land behind me. I of course turned my back to the ball and ran back so I could get catch it. When the ball left my vision it's trajectory and velocity became at best a matter of approximation and at worst just plain inaccurate. It was at its worst. I turned when I thought the ball was about ten feet above my head and brought my glove around. That is when a UFO (Unexpected Flying Object) decided to crash land into my nose. The best thing I can say for that ball is that it had good aim. It hit me dead center, right on the bridge of my nose. Blood was spurting everywhere. There was bleeding internal to my nose as well as external bleeding from a large cut right below my eyebrows.

I dropped to the grass rigid with pain. I was so caught up in my pain that at first I failed to notice one leg was on the ground and the other was stiffly pointed at a 45-degree angle into the air. There is still a bloody spot there on the lawn. To add to my troubles the dog came over and offered his doggy comfort in a distinctly doggy fashion, which I was not especially appreciative for at the moment.

I went into the bathroom and cleaned the blood off my face and got paper towels to stop the nose bleed(internal nostril bleeding). Mom looked at my nose and said there was a possibility it was broken and said I should go to the ER. She first made a big ice pack and insisted I put it on to arrest the swelling. She also gave me three Ibuprofens. Dad took me into the emergency room. It was very painful having the heavy icepack jouncing on the country roads so I finally took it off. When we got there a pink-bloused volunteer met us and chatted about various stuff. She offered an ice pack and a wheelchair to sit in. I decline the former as superfluous (I still had mine) and the latter as unnecessary.

After about 15 min I saw the Triage Nurse who asked what happened and took my temp and copied down all the appropriate info. He then sent us to the registration desk where Dad had to repeat the info, plus my SS#, and sign release forms. They then sat me in the waiting room with und goxy(goxich) frau (interpretation: a talkative(a kind interpretation of goxy) lady). She was going off about her husband. She had been in ER all day having him treated. He had gotten hurt by a some part of a remodeling project that she had specifically warned him about. We knew a good deal about various areas of her life just by being in the same room with her(she wasn't even talking to us). Here are some tidbits: He should have died three times. He's had three heart attacks and he keeps on smoking, even though the doctors have told him to stop. She hates cooking. She likes cooking on their summer vacation at the beach. So she remodeled her kitchen like the ocean so maybe she will like cooking at home. Her husband wouldn't let her use his tools to remodel; she bought her own; he took them to work; she painted them pink; he doesn't take them to work anymore. If he dies cause of his own carelessness, she's going to cremate his @$# and stick the ashes in a Maxwell house can. “She could divorce him over this stupidity.”

That was a sample of waiting room time. Soon I was rescued by an EMT (emergency medical technician) with a black mustache and he took me to an examining room. The Nurse-Practitioner(CFNP; basically a doctor with slightly less training; Gary was his name)took one look at me and said X-rays. He left and the EMT came back and took me to the radiologist who took 3 X-rays who sent me back to Gary. Gary looked at the X-rays and said my nose was broken. He also said he would need to put stitches on my cut. I laid down in the bed again and a nurse came in complaining about how the ER has been flooded with injuries with this good weather after a month of rain. Everyone is getting out and playing sports and stuff. She was of the opinion that sports are evil and only lead to more work for her. "They should all be fired." she said, speaking of sports (She failed to explain the concept of firing someone who is playing a pickup or neighborhood or backyard game; hehe). The EMT came back in and we talked. He is a medical student studying for his RN(registered nurse). He has to get that first, then he is going for Nurse-Practitioner. The nurse brought a cart with all of Gary's sharp instruments. Then Gary came over and said this is really going to hurt and not be pleasant. Right there, on the bridge of your nose is really sensitive and it will be painful. It turned out to hurt far less than a dental visit. The numbing needle was less painful than a dentist's and I felt a comparable ##### on the first two insertions of the sewing needle, but felt absolutely nothing for the proceeding eight(other than pressure, movement, that sort of thing). I am now the owner of 4-5 stitches in my nose.

With the broken nose, he (Gary) said that I have to wait till the swelling goes down. If it looks crooked after the swelling goes down, I need to see an eye, nose, ear specialist for reconstructive surgery. He gave me some narcotic pain killer and I'm kinda high right now (maybe that's why I have been so long winded and detailed :) hehe; seriously, I'm not that high, It's just codeine).

I got back from the hospital about 11:30 pm (oh, btw, this happened around eight, we got to the ER at nine) it is now 1:06 AM and I am headed to the recliner for the night. He said I should keep my nose elevated (hehe, the sermon today was on pride, I wonder what Dave Nisly will say about the doctors orders... hehe) so I am sleeping in the recliner.

Please pray for a full and painless recovery along with a straight nose.