Crazy Week

To say this has been a crazy week would be the understatement of the year. For about two months we have known that Kirk would be flying to Rome for two weeks for work. Exciting! Rome! I wish I could go on all his exciting trips with him, but money, kids, and lack of passport always leaves me home.
Last Monday Kirk texted me asking how upset I would be if he ended up going to Milwaukee for three days, leaving Tuesday. A trip on such short notice right before a two week long trip was not exciting news, but sometimes you do what you have to do. The person who was planning to go on the trip had had a death in their family. Even though Kirk tried to find someone else to go he was the one who stepped up to the plate and went so the other guy could be with his family. Although it wasn't fun to have him gone three extra days it is nice to know he is such a good man.
He arrived home late Thursday night and we spent all day Friday enjoying family time before he had to leave again. He didn't open his laptop or answer a phone call all day, it was so wonderful to have him all ours. He flew out Saturday afternoon. From Vegas to LA, from LA to Paris, from Paris to Rome...finally 16 hours later. We talked to him in LA and he was happy and excited to get a lot of work done on his 10 1/2 hour flight to Paris.
I knew I would be hearing from him around about 10 am, enough time for him to get to his hotel room and call from Skype on his laptop, since his phone doesn't work in Europe. At 10:10 my phone rang during Stake Conference. I silenced it and figured it was Kirk and I would call him after church. He left a voicemail that I listened to a few minutes later. He never made it to Rome. He was at a hospital in Paris. He would be going into surgery shortly for an appendectomy. He fought to make one phone call and wasn't sure when I hear from him again.
I grabbed the girls and rushed out of Stake Conference, tears streaming down my face. Luckily a good friend (Aileen) was in the hallway and was able to comfort me. Another friend (Layne) happened to walk out into the hallway and be there for me. My awesome friends went and got their husbands to give me a blessing of comfort and peace. Layne came home with the girls and I and just stayed with us while I unsuccessfully tried to call my mom, Kirks mom, and Kirks boss. Eventually I was able to get ahold of everyone and then the hunt to find Kirk was on.
He didnt say what hospital he was at so I had no way of getting a hold of him. I called delta and the US Embassy in France with no luck. It was already midnight in Paris and no one would be able to help me until the morning. A few more calls and digging around had me talking to Air France who didn't have any special notes about Kirk on the plane and couldn't tell me anything. Since this was the only person who I had spoken with that had a French accent I asked them if they knew the closest hospital to the airport. After waiting on hold for 40 minutes while those amazing Air France employees called multiple hospitals in Paris I finally had a hospital name and number.
After three transfers at the hospital I finally found someone who spoke English and even then it still took 20 minutes to communicate to her Kirks name and birth date. FINALLY after 6 hours I was connected to Kirk. Ahhhhhhh his voice never sounded so good.
He said about 3 hours into the 10 hour flight, after dinner, he started having really bad stomach pain. He thought it was his ulcer because he has been so stressed. The pain was so bad he laid on the airplane floor for 7 hours withering in pain. When he finally arrived in France he went to the airport medical center because he was worried about getting on the next flight in so much pain. The door told him he had appendicitis and needed to go to the hospital. He printed out a paper saying "take me to the hospital" and had Kirk get in a cab, giving the driver the paper.
I suppose surgery went well. He was able to talk and felt so much better once he was at the hospital with pain medication. We won't know until he talks with the doctor when he will be able to fly home but hopefully it will be soon. I feel so badly for him being in a foreign country, not knowing the language or anyone there. But I am so grateful he is alive and doing ok. I can't imagine how awful it would have been to have his appendicts burst over the atlantic ocean.
Our bishop called to check on us this evening. He is going to call the mission office and have someone go give Kirk a blessing. It puts a smile on my face to know he will have a blessing and have someone with him for a moment so he won't have to be so alone. It really is so wonderful to be long to the church.
So tonight I am grateful for answered prayers, modern medicine, french hospitals, kind Air France employees, friends, a great boss, international calling, worried parents, loving family, and for the tender mercies of the Lord that remind me how aware he is of each of us.
Lesson learned: even if you don't know where in Paris you are your wife will hunt you down and find you. That is the definition of true love!