Thomas News

There will probably be no letter this week because Tom is in hospital having an operation to put pins in his hand - he broke his hand - playing soccer! He was the goalie and missed a shot, got frustrated and punched a brick wall! The big kids are laughing at him because he has had people threatening to kill him, been beaten up, had kids chucking snowballs at him, been sworn at numerous times - and through all of that he's fine - but miss a goal in soccer and it's all too much to bear.

This letter is from his Mission President's wife:

"Elder Fulcher, Elder Rasmussen ( your son's companion), and I went back to the hospital today to get things moving forward for Elder Fulcher's surgery. We visited with one of the surgeons - he and his colleague specialize in hand surgery - and they have scheduled Elder Fulcher for tomorrow (Tuesday) sometime between noon and 8:00 pm.

Their system is to put all the surgical candidates on a list, start at the top and work their way down until everyone is done or 8:00, whichever comes first! The doctor said the list for Tuesday isn't too long, so Elder Fulcher's surgery should be done tomorrow - if not, then it will be Wednesday.

This type of surgery typically takes about 40 minutes to complete. I asked whether they would do a general or a local anesthetic. The doctor said that would be up to Elder Fulcher. At first, your son said it might be interesting to watch the surgery as it progressed, but then decided that maybe sleeping through the whole thing might be a good idea. We'll see how he feels about it tomorrow!

There is a 3 to 4 day hospital stay expected. As I mentioned, Baltic medical tradition is to keep people in the hospital MUCH longer than what we're used to in the US - This would be out-patient surgery at home. I don't know about how it's done in Australia - at any rate, Elder Fulcher should get caught up on a lot of sleeping and reading for the rest of the week.

The great thing about this surgery is that Elder Fulcher will be able to use his hand almost immediately after the surgery. He has to give it a little time for the surgical wound to heal, and then he should have normal use of the hand. The doctor said that the pins and screws should be removed in about a year.

The hospital we are using is the chief trauma hospital in Riga. The facility itself is not new, but appears clean and equipped with modern technology. I was pleased with the interview we had with this doctor. He spoke Latvian, Russian, and fair English, so we could communicate with him quite well. He seemed very capable, professional, had a good wit and a sparkle in his eye. He teased Elder Fulcher lightly about the nature and cause of his injury, and assured us that they do a lot of this surgery, with all the drunken fist fights that occur! His colleague will be doing the surgery tomorrow, but he will be in again on Wednesday to check up on your son. I feel confident that all will go well. We'll make sure Elder Fulcher receives a blessing before the operation.

I asked Elder Fulcher why he chose to punch a cement wall, and why his frustration level was high enough that he took that course of action. He replied that he wasn't really mad at anyone else, just frustrated with himself. Punching the wall seemed like a good idea at the time - but he promised that future frustrations will be dealt with less self-destructively.

He's in good spirits, but feeling a little silly at being in his present circumstance. He's taking a good deal of ribbing from his fellow missionaries, but it's being given and received in a spirit of camaraderie ."