"It's a growth experience"

So when we decided to take the plunge and come to Penang, I (Rox) can clearly recall my boss telling me "it's a growth experience you will never forget."  Sunday was a growth experience we had not counted on...  at about 10:00 AM, I got a call from my loving husband to tell me he had cycled out with the i-Run group past the Teluk Bahang Dam (where we watched the dragon boat festival a few weeks back) and he would probably be late getting back for soccer.  So, at about 11, Brenna and I headed down to the Soccer Experience.  Not too long after that, I got a call from Chris' phone, but it was not Chris...it was someone telling me that Chris had a crash.  My stupid phone kept cutting out and it was really hard to hear. Finally, they put Chris on and he told me he was "not okay" and he thought he busted his leg.  So, I called Brenna off the pitch and started making for home to get the car.  Two more calls later, we were headed to Penang General Hospital to meet the ambulance transporting Chris in, still saying it was mainly his leg that hurt.  I also received a call from the doctor in the A&E department letting me know they had my husband in for treatment - again, focusing on the leg.  Brenna and I found the A&E (Accidents & Emergency) fairly quickly and were directed into the "green" zone (least severe injuries).  There sat my loving hubby on a gurney, with his leg in a splint and wrist wrapped up tight.  But, the biggest surprise was the gash on his forehead and dried blood all over his face, neck and shirt.  Still, I know head wounds bleed easily and I just made sure they were x-raying his head as well as the obvious parts.  He seemed fairly alert and relatively pain free.  He had zero recollection of his crash, but that was to be expected.  He was whisked away for x-rays and they came back super quick.  Skull was negative, but wrist and hip were both fractured...ughhh...the fun began.  We spent about 3 hours in the A&E waiting for his head to get cleaned up and stitched (it was pretty deep) and then he was admitted to the surgical ward to see an orthopedic surgeon.  We waited there for quite some time - he still in his dirty riding outfit with sand and dried grass particles stuck all over him, leg still in the splint.  The care was good, but they were just woefully short of staff (Sunday).  After the orthopedic surgeon came by and said the hip would require surgery and they could tell us tomorrow when the surgery could be scheduled, I decided it was time to transfer him to a private hospital.  His friends from i-Run stopped by and filled in some of the gaps, but none of them actually saw him go down (he actually went off the side of the road and down a ravine some unknown distance, but out of view of the road).  Poor Chris kept saying "I don't know what happened.  How did I get here? Who was with me?  How's my bike?"  To which I would reply, "That's okay; by ambulance; the group from i-Run and I don't know, but Chun has it."  I had to repeat this every 10 minutes or so for about 7 hours...no ability to retain the information.  So, no food or drink for him as they clearly needed to observe his concussion symptoms closely.  This led to endless requests for water, to which I had to reply, "I'm sorry honey, they said you cannot have anything to drink" for about 8 hours...so 4 phone calls and about 3 hours later (and some help from Praga, my coworker who came to the hospital as soon as he got my message), the ambulance from Gleneagles Hospital finally arrived to transfer Chris.  Once there, the surgeon arrived in about 30 minutes and had him in surgery within the hour (now about 12:30 AM Monday morning).  At this point I took Brenna home and we prayed and slept.  We were back up at 6 AM so we could be there when he awakened.  Our little girl was so calm and cooperative - she clearly grasped the situation, but was not at all afraid and read, drew and played on the iPhone the whole time.  So proud of her!  When we arrived Monday morning, he was pretty groggy and still in some pain.  The hip required 2 (or 3?) screws and his wrist has two wires inserted to stabilize the bones.  The wrist will heal in 4-6 weeks, but the hip will require him to be on crutches for 3 months, then another 3 months or so before he can start any serious physical activity.  At 3 months they will assess the healing and see if the femoral head has become necrotic at all.  Thank God we transferred him as he would probably still be waiting for the surgery and the chances of necropsy would be significantly higher had we stayed at Penang General!  So glad our research prior to moving here had us aware of and confident in Gleneagles instead of casting about for suggestions at the nth hour (thank you Steven and Carla!).  His memory was still very foggy and he was very uncomfortable for most of the day, but all in all, the situation was improving.  By the end of the day he was in a lot of pain again, but visits from several of the i-Run group (too many to name:-)) had started to prompt some memories.  JabilFacebook or phone as we can!   We cannot express enough appreciation for the support and prayers from everyone - both here and at home - though scary and NOT part of the "life experience" we envisioned, we both grasp how lucky he really was and are grateful for our friends and family!  We will definitely not forget this (and Chris will have the scars to show off too)...