Time for an inspiring story. Many blessings in this one, even though it includes an unusual case of Senioritis.
I love to pass along positive experiences. Heaven knows enough of the opposite gets broadcasted. Why not do my part to sow some good seeds?
Senior Sickness
My son went on his senior class trip a few weeks ago. The future grads took some fun time in St. Louis, seeing sights, eating out, being together. But the together time turns not so fun for a few of them.
On the afternoon of the day they plan to return home, they enjoy a few hours at Six Flags. My son, his girlfriend Meg, and a few more friends get a few rides in before Meg starts feeling sick to her stomach. She sits, she stands, she walks, but the unsettled feeling and pain only get worse. After a few episodes of “losing her lunch”, she runs into a teacher chaperone who takes her to the medical tent at the amusement park. They diagnose her with probable food poisoning, charge her for the visit, and send her back out into the park.
But she continues to feel worse. After a while she can no longer walk. The chaperone decides she needs further medical help and locates a walk-in clinic across the street. Since Meg can’t walk over there, they ask the charter bus they traveled on to drive her across the street.
Once in the clinic, Meg needs to check in. She needs to give the front desk person all of her information, but can’t get words out between the intense pain and consistent vomiting, so my son and the teacher chaperone tell the desk person what they know. Finally the clinic gets Meg back into a room for examination.
In the meantime, Meg’s mom calls the clinic, trying to get information about her daughter’s health. But since Meg is 18, the clinic can’t legally talk to her mom. And Meg can’t talk because she is so sick. That poor mom knows her daughter fell very ill, but has no details. How difficult that would be for a mom! At lest Meg is among medical professionals.
What Now?
Now that the patient is in good hands, the chaperone has time to think about next steps. She calls another chaperone, who reminds her that the rest of the class needs to leave for home soon. They won’t get home until midnight the way it is, and they can’t keep an entire class of seniors away from home an extra unexpected night. Where would all those kids stay?
But what will they do with Meg? They can’t leave her in a strange big town by herself obviously. She is in no condition to ride with a bunch of other teens on a bus. They have no extra vehicles that could get stragglers home once the buses leave. Ug.
Many phone calls ensued, to parents, school administrators, each other. After much discussion, Meg’s dad says he will make the 5 hour drive to St. Louis to get her, assuming she will be able to travel once he gets there. But still, he won’t arrive until long after the buses need to leave.
The first big hiccup- she can’t stay alone. She might be the legal age of 18, but she physically couldn’t take care of herself due to her illness. My son and two of her girl friends volunteer to stay behind with her.
The second big hiccup- the clinic closes in two hours. It will take Meg’s dad 5 hours to arrive. Where would these kids wait for him, one of them being really ill? Obviously they can’t go to just any public place with a girl who is vomiting and can’t stand upright. The chaperone discusses the options with the person behind the desk, who discusses it with the doctor examining Meg. Should they take the kids to an emergency room, where there is both medical care for Meg and a lobby for the others?
A Doctor From Above
After examination, the doctor determines Meg’s condition as, although miserable, not life threatening. It is probably either a stomach virus or food poisoning. With medication, the doctor gets Meg’s vomiting under control and determines that she could ride in a car for a short distance. This is where the unbelievable happens.
The doctor offers to take all four kids to her own home to wait for Meg’s dad.
At first the chaperone says no. Obviously the school doesn’t know this woman doctor from Adam, and can’t trust a stranger with their students. In addition, they can’t expect a doctor to do that for a patient who just happened to walk into her clinic. That doesn’t seem fair.
But the more the chaperone talks to the doctor, the more comfortable she feels with the idea. And the front desk person assures her that the doctor has good intentions. She does this kind of thing often for her patients, going the extra mile to help.
So the senior class heads home on the buses, minus 4 class members who agree to stick together in this unsure and unplanned situation. When the clinic closes, the four kids left behind load up in the doctor’s car and travel the few blocks to her home.
Once at the doctor’s residence, the kids follow her and her husband through a wonderfully huge home, settling in the beautifully finished basement. Everyone has a either a bed or couch to sleep on for the duration of the St. Louis stay. And the doctor continues to care for Meg in her miserable state, giving her liquids and anti nausea medication to settle her stomach. Meg has a few more “sick episodes” while at the doctor’s house, but manages to get a little sleep too.
The kids learn that the doctor’s husband serves as a pastor in the area. He went to seminary in Holland, Michigan, where my husband and I lived for the first 6 years of our married life. In fact, my husband served as catering manager for Hope College, the school affiliated with the seminary. And my son, the one in his basement, was born at a hospital near that college. Small world.
Home Again
Anyway, Meg’s dad arrives at the doctor’s house well after midnight. The doctor gives Meg the ok to travel the 5 hours home, so they load up in her dad’s mini van and head for Iowa. Her poor dad drives practically 10 hours straight! I hear he kept coffee and several bottles of Mt. Dews on hand. They all get to Meg’s house early the next morning and sleep there for several hours. One of the moms ends her night shift around 9am, after which she brings the three friends to school where their cars are still parked from before the class trip. Then, finally, my son drives home.
For most of this adventure, Meg assumes she has food poisoning. But we hear later that several more seniors started vomiting on the bus on the way home. They at least made it on the bus, but didn’t have such great traveling mercies. And a few more got sick after arriving home, missing school the next Monday. Yikes. I guess they can chalk it up to a memorable senior class trip.
Thanks Isn’t Enough
I just find this story amazing. So many variables, unknowns, obstacles, decisions to be made. And the kindness of one stranger made things so much more comfortable than they could have been, both physically and emotionally.
I personally don’t know the name of the doctor or the clinic, but the kids remember this info and made work of thanking them. They bought a card, each wrote a thank you note in it, and sent it off to that St. Louis clinic. These people so deserve our utmost thanks, but that somehow doesn’t seem to be enough for the kindness they showed to our school and four of its students. I hope they know what a great example they were to our kids, and how much we as parents appreciate their compassion.
It is comforting to know that good people exist, even out of state and miles from home. And the goodness of these strangers reminds me to extend love to whoever I might meet, whether I am encountering them for the first or 1001st time.
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