Pregnancy Test

Saturday night I (Anja) wanted to head to Iowa City before picking up Rebekah Barnes from Des Moines Airport. I realized it's not on the way, but wanted to see Rachel and thought her sister, Julia, who was managing the phone calls and household 2.5 hrs away would like to go see her. The last time Julia saw her was when she was at the hospital in Pella.

We talked about how good Rachel was doing on the way to Iowa City. Listened to some music and enjoyed meaningful conversation. We even talked about how despite Rachel doing so well, she's still in ICU and tubes are hanging everywhere. Not a pretty site.

Julia was trying to sustain her tired body with watermelon, and her blood sugar was definitely low. I spent a little time with Rachel, Ryan and Julia and my heart was gladdened to once again see how well Rachel was progressing. I needed to head to Des Moines and wanted to leave some time for getting lost on the way. So I sort of rushed out of there to find the family and just check in with them. They were down in the cafeteria.

So I navigated my way through the maze and found Pa Garrison and Maryhorn walking back to see Rachel. Finally found the rest of the clan and was surprised that they were all wondering where Julia was. I kept insisting that she was with Rachel in ICU, but they kept asking where the Emergency Room is. Finally I got out of them that Julia had fainted. This didn't really surprise the family as Julia is known for ... well fainting.

Apparently after I left, the helpful male nurse was overly descriptive regarding the mucus removal process. Julia started feeling light headed and realized she was getting close to fainting. She had enough cognitive power to realize sitting on a chair would be helpful. Unfortunately the chair had wheels and she definitely missed it, hitting the floor with her head. Eyes fluttering, speaking in gibberish, and her body shaking all seemed indicative to the medical professionals around her of a head injury. Julia and those closest to her (not in proximity, but in her family) realized this was just typical symptoms of previous fainting spells.

Non-the-less, she was strapped tightly to the board (this left a mark for 45 minutes - it was painfully tight and they would not loosen it even though Julia asked several times promising to not move her head), put on a bed and rolled down to the Emergency Room. She loudly and coherently was demanding to get off this ride, but they would have none of it.

Dad and Maryhorn were at this point at the reception unit by the ICU and waiting to get permission to see Rachel. As they were waiting they see this gurnee rolling past them. Dad definitly was like, "Is that my daughter". Maryhorn thought it couldn't be RAchel, "not enough tubes". Then they heard a confirming voice, "Hey Dad". Dad didn't really know what to do ...

Just before they got to the emergency room Mom caught up with them and demanded, "Julia get off that board right now". Julia wanted to but had insistent nurses who would have no deviance from their plan. Being the obedient daughter she is, her response was, "I would Mom, but they have me strapped down."

Alone with the middle aged nurse in the emergency room she found herself in some awkward situations that you just can't write about. If you ask her, she'd probably love to tell you though. One funny thing is that they insisted on her taking a pregnancy test. They were a little skeptical regarding Julia's virginity (she in no way looks pregnant!).

Thankfully the test came back negative.

There's been much discussion about this and it has been a bit of comic relief for us.

So, the next time you are about to faint in the hospital - take care. You never know what kind of tests they are planning on performing on you.