A Broken Nose: Hindsight Report

During our third week in Thailand, Mark broke his nose while playing with the kids at the pool. Even though such an injury is devastating, especially during vacation, hindsight tells us how God's mercy touched our lives on that day and in that week.

It was Monday morning when he slipped and fell on his face. After some frantic cleaning up--poolside--Mark left alone for the ER by taxi. I called the hospital three hours later (during nap time) to find out why he hadn't yet returned. Mark himself told me the news: he was scheduled for surgery within the hour to reset his broken nose. Alone in our apartment, I prayed as my husband was put under anesthesia and under the care of a specialist. The kids woke up and prayed too then later that afternoon, we jumped into a taxi and went to visit him. He came home the following day.

As he began to recover, I began to see God's hand in all that happened and was happening. The doctor who initially examined him asked how long he'd been unconscious. Mark had been awake the whole time, which baffled everyone. Had he been knocked out, we would have been in bigger trouble! Our family was alone at the pool, and I was in the water holding Kona Mae. If Mark had lost consciousness, he would have gone underwater, and I would have had to rescue him while also carrying my one-year-old baby.

Mark then admitted that he must have been on adrenaline for the first 15 minutes post-fall. As soon as his body settled down in the taxi, he collapsed. I thank God that the taxi was already on the way to the ER and help was there once they arrived about 10 minutes later.

The hospital was a nearby one, which is primarily Thai and not catered to foreigners. However, they called in a specialist to work on Mark, and this doctor/surgeon spoke excellent English. This way, we were able to ask all the questions we wanted to and know what was happening and how to complement his healing once he came home.

Because Mark needed to rest and stay indoors (because he had a brace on his face), he was able to spend two days alone with baby Konane while I took the older two out to play. He's not had the privilege to do this before with Kona Mae. When we've taken the kids separately, he would always take one or both of the older kids while I kept the baby. So those two days provided them both with priceless bonding time.

Lastly, the timing was probably the best it could be on our trip. We didn't have things planned for our week, and it fell right in the middle of our vacation--not right when we arrived and not right before we flew out. Consequently, we didn't feel cheated of our time. Instead, we did some low-key activities and let him heal.

I'm so grateful to God for His mercy. Mark is recovering well, and our family is strengthened and thankful.