AN UNEVENTFUL DAY THAT BECAME ANYTHING BUT!

Yesterday, we worked all day.  The Clinic was locked because the doctors work only on call from their homes on Saturdays.  We had a couple of clients and mission pres calls, but it was a quiet day.  It was strange because it was so quiet, except for occasional sick missionaries who came to knock.  About 4:30, it began to just pour down rain with thunder and lightening. 

Suddenly in all the clamor, the door burst open with probably 7 people rushing in bearing a stretcher.  The doctor & wife gestured for us to follow them to the back.  A sister, completely non-responsive was brought in and placed on the bed.  It took about 45 minutes to bring her around.  It was really frightening.  Something we had never seen.  Dr. and Sis Gill (she’s a nurse) were great.  We contributed a little in trying to help, but they were the best. 

The sister had been in Spanish class when she felt extremely mentally tired.  She had had this phenomenon twice before (in High School and Jr. High..always at night).  She realized it was coming on, so she ran out into the hall to pretend to look at the pictures there, and then unable to contain her attack, ran to another building bathroom so no one would see her.  Of course, her comp followed, and by the time they reached the restroom, the sister had collapsed and was unresponsive…like in a deep sleep.  The people involved called Security and brought her to the Clinic. 

Sister Gill rubbed her arms and coaxed her to stomach breathe and open her eyes.  It took awhile for her to be able to rouse.  They checked her vitals and pricked her finger to check her blood.  All were normal.  We were very concerned about her and stayed with her for a couple of hours after the Gills left.  That is the 2^nd Panic Attack (different sisters) in one week.  This is something we have never seen our caseloads before.  Still, we continually remind ourselves, these kinds of things only happen to about 1 per cent of all the missionaries, but we kind of get a skewed view because of what we are doing.