Alps near Luzern (photo was borrowed); Einsiedeln inside main cathedral; astronomic clock donated to the Abbey.













FEBRUARY 5, 2009 THURSDAY

First thing this morning we went to the hospital to see how Elder Pine was doing. He said the doctors were waiting for permission from someone to start the endoscopy. Elder Evans called me with a new number for the Mission doctor in Germany, but I decided to wait until after the endoscopy before I called him. At 11:00 they finally came and took him to the procedure room. I asked if I could stay and watch, but they wouldn’t let me. So we waited until he was back in his room and we got at least an unofficial report. Everything seemed to be fine. I called Dr. Dye and explained everything I knew from the time of onset on Tuesday until now. He was of the opinion after hearing everything that it was a classic case of a full blown anxiety attack. The cure would have been to have him breath into a paper bag at the beginning of the hyper-ventilation and then things would not have progressed like they did. The problem is that the carbon dioxide is expelled from the body too fast by the hyper-ventilation which them changes things in the system to where the calcium is not available for proper nerve function. Without proper nerve function the muscles begin to cramp along with pain etc. which causes more panic which increases the hyper-ventilation which increases cramping and less muscle function. It creates a vicious circle and finally renders the person unable to move, think or do anything. Elder Pine remembers nothing about the event of anything for several hours before onset, not even what transpired in the district meeting which he conducted. I reported back to Pres. Matern and he asked the question what may have caused the panic attack. The only thing I could surmise was the impending dentist appointment for his wisdom teeth problem, the transfer of his companion and his promotion to zone leader all coming at once. Who knows? Anyway, he gets out of the hospital tomorrow, if all goes well, and I advised him to carry a paper bag with him at all times because paper bags are not easy to find, especially when you need one quick.

We came home in time to get our stuff and make it to our appointment with Kofi. Unfortunately, when we rang his doorbell, he said he had company and would be unable to meet with us today. He also said he’d be busy for the next little while and he would call us when he had time to meet with us. We were, of course, disappointed but, if he doesn’t call us, we’ll call him in a week or so.

It was Naeide’s birthday today and, even though we had the party Monday evening at FHE and also went there last night, Diana still wanted to take a present to her on her actual birthday. We stopped at COOP while walking to her apartment and bought her a roll of Zuri-Sacke (garbage bags). Diana is very practical with her gifts and insists on getting something they can use. While we were there, Naeide talked Diana into going walking with her every morning for about an hour starting tomorrow morning about 7:00. We went home and as we were getting ready to go back to the hospital, Naeide called and wanted to come with us. We met her and rode the tram/bus to the hospital and had a nice visit for a couple of hours. Naeide left to go take her exam and we stayed until Elder P’s dinner came and then we came home. That’s it for today except for more writing and studying. The tender mercy for today was that we were able to give comfort and aid to Elder P so he wouldn’t be alone in the hospital, especially before and after the procedure. All the other missionaries and President we busy with new missionary arrivals, departures and transfers.