Kraków, PolandTuesday, July 28, 2009
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Getting Vaccinations for Africa
We went on a journey by train yesterday to the city of Kraków. We are nearing the time when we must depart for Africa, and so the preparations continue for this. There are three shots that all of us needed to be missionaries in Africa; Typhoid, Meningococcal and Yellow Fever. We were due for another two shots as well; Hepatitis A and B as well as Tetanus. There are only a few cities in Poland where all of these injections are available in one location, and Kraków was our choice of cities for this task.
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We all got up early in the morning yesterday morning and headed by foot to the train station. Our good friend Damian joined us as well. He stayed the night so the night before to make it easier. We were on a tight schedule as our train departed at 7:10 am. Just as we had already walked a distance, I realized that I had forgotten the money for the injections themselves back at the church (over $1,000 U.S.). I told everyone to just keep going to the train, as I ran back to the church on foot as fast as I could. I grabbed the envelope with the money, looked at the time, and knew I wouldn’t make it there on time by foot. So I pulled out the car, drove to a restroom facility where they don’t charge for parking (about halfway to the train station), and ran as fast as I could from there to the train station. Out of breath and feeling sick to my stomach (from the coffee and yogurt dancing around in there), we barely caught the train before it left. A stressful start to the day for certain. At least we had purchased the train tickets the night before to save some time.
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The train ride was about 3 1/2 hours to Kraków from Piotrków-Trybunalski. It was our first experience on a Polish train. Go there it was a bit crowded. We couldn’t sit together as a family for most of the journey. And poor Jonas. He had been sick with the stomach issues I was having the week before, so he was needing to use the toilet on the train every half an hour or so. But it was great to experience taking a Polish train to another city.
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Some of us had been to the city of Kraków in previous years that we were in Poland. But this would be Jordan and Justine’s first time in Kraków. It is a beautiful city; one of our favorites for sure. When we arrived, we knew that we should eat before heading to the hospital to get our injections. So we went to a very American-feeling mall where there was a food court. Half of us had McDonalds, half of us had Subway. We rarely eat this kind of food anymore, but we knew the kids would like it. Then we headed to the hospital by tram.
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In the hospital, we had to give the lady at the registration booth our passports. Then we headed down the hall where we were given a quick physical to make sure we were all fit to take the injections. The girls were beginning to get very nervous. We found some stuffed animals for them to play with to lighten the mood. Then we headed to another room where nurses got the injections ready and wanted us to start with the youngest first. So it was Justine’s turn first. They asked if she could sit in my lap so that I could hold her arms still. She was trying to be so brave, yet was acting very nervous. Her eyes were watering, yet she was so proud that she “didn’t cry” while she was getting her shots. Then came Jordan’s turn. She also decided she wanted daddy to hold her while she was getting her shots. Jordan was a bit more vocal while she was getting her shots. She cried and squirmed. It was so hard seeing them getting their shots. The nurses were so nice. They embraced the girls after getting their shots. Then Jonas’ turn came. He just sat in the chair by himself, and got the injections without flinching. They gave the kids two shots in one arm and one shot in the other. Then came my turn. I just sat in the chair, not thinking about what was happening. They gave me three shots in one arm and two shots in the other. I barely even felt the three injections go into my left arm, so I thought everything was going to be fine. Then as they prepared the injections for my other arm, I felt myself getting very dizzy, and began to tell them something was wrong…then DARKNESS.
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I woke up in the chair, hearing all sorts of strange noises and seeing things, but blurry. My vision wasn’t horizontal but vertical when I first came to. I began to see nurses all around me and Damian as well. I didn’t know where I was for a moment or what had happened. Fainting and going unconscious is a strange feeling. They moved me to a bed where they all attended to me. Then they moved me to another room on a bed. They were very concerned for me, but this is something that happens to me often when I get blood taken or receive injections. I don’t know what is wrong with me, or why this happens. It just does. The big, tough former Marine still faints when he is stuck with needles. What a baby! Anyway, I wanted them to hurry up and give me the other two injections quickly while I was feeling lousy. They wanted to wait a little bit until I got some color back. Finally they gave me the other two injections while I was laying down.
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I still felt nauseous. I went to the restroom, and became sick. All I know is that I shouldn’t have had those jalapeño peppers on my Subway sandwich, because they came out my nose, and were very spicy. After that I felt well enough to go outside and lay down in the sun for a while. I was so tired. I hadn’t gotten much sleep the previous few nights as we have been very busy with ministry lately. I laid down on a bench in the sun, while my family and Damian patiently waited for me to recover. At some point while I was napping, the main nurse, who had been so kind to me before, came outside to continue to check my pulse and see how I was doing. We haven’t seen this sort of care from doctors in nurses anywhere. Damian was able to talk to her more about our missionary journeys to Africa, and what we have been doing here in Poland. She seemed very interested in hearing about this, and even gave Damian her personal number to tell her how I was doing the next day.
Some of us had been to the city of Kraków in previous years that we were in Poland. But this would be Jordan and Justine’s first time in Kraków. It is a beautiful city; one of our favorites for sure. When we arrived, we knew that we should eat before heading to the hospital to get our injections. So we went to a very American-feeling mall where there was a food court. Half of us had McDonalds, half of us had Subway. We rarely eat this kind of food anymore, but we knew the kids would like it. Then we headed to the hospital by tram.
.
In the hospital, we had to give the lady at the registration booth our passports. Then we headed down the hall where we were given a quick physical to make sure we were all fit to take the injections. The girls were beginning to get very nervous. We found some stuffed animals for them to play with to lighten the mood. Then we headed to another room where nurses got the injections ready and wanted us to start with the youngest first. So it was Justine’s turn first. They asked if she could sit in my lap so that I could hold her arms still. She was trying to be so brave, yet was acting very nervous. Her eyes were watering, yet she was so proud that she “didn’t cry” while she was getting her shots. Then came Jordan’s turn. She also decided she wanted daddy to hold her while she was getting her shots. Jordan was a bit more vocal while she was getting her shots. She cried and squirmed. It was so hard seeing them getting their shots. The nurses were so nice. They embraced the girls after getting their shots. Then Jonas’ turn came. He just sat in the chair by himself, and got the injections without flinching. They gave the kids two shots in one arm and one shot in the other. Then came my turn. I just sat in the chair, not thinking about what was happening. They gave me three shots in one arm and two shots in the other. I barely even felt the three injections go into my left arm, so I thought everything was going to be fine. Then as they prepared the injections for my other arm, I felt myself getting very dizzy, and began to tell them something was wrong…then DARKNESS.
.
I woke up in the chair, hearing all sorts of strange noises and seeing things, but blurry. My vision wasn’t horizontal but vertical when I first came to. I began to see nurses all around me and Damian as well. I didn’t know where I was for a moment or what had happened. Fainting and going unconscious is a strange feeling. They moved me to a bed where they all attended to me. Then they moved me to another room on a bed. They were very concerned for me, but this is something that happens to me often when I get blood taken or receive injections. I don’t know what is wrong with me, or why this happens. It just does. The big, tough former Marine still faints when he is stuck with needles. What a baby! Anyway, I wanted them to hurry up and give me the other two injections quickly while I was feeling lousy. They wanted to wait a little bit until I got some color back. Finally they gave me the other two injections while I was laying down.
.
I still felt nauseous. I went to the restroom, and became sick. All I know is that I shouldn’t have had those jalapeño peppers on my Subway sandwich, because they came out my nose, and were very spicy. After that I felt well enough to go outside and lay down in the sun for a while. I was so tired. I hadn’t gotten much sleep the previous few nights as we have been very busy with ministry lately. I laid down on a bench in the sun, while my family and Damian patiently waited for me to recover. At some point while I was napping, the main nurse, who had been so kind to me before, came outside to continue to check my pulse and see how I was doing. We haven’t seen this sort of care from doctors in nurses anywhere. Damian was able to talk to her more about our missionary journeys to Africa, and what we have been doing here in Poland. She seemed very interested in hearing about this, and even gave Damian her personal number to tell her how I was doing the next day.
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After I felt better, we took the tram toward the old square. As we got off and walked toward the square, we noticed a very old lady in front of a Catholic church. She was just crying and looked so helpless. So we felt compelled to empty our pockets of our change and give it all to her. We had Jonas give it all to her and she was very grateful. Then we saw another man sitting in front of a church with his leg exposed. His leg looked so disgusting. It was dark and callused. We passed him at first, but then we felt led to go back and see if we could pray for his healing. We talked with him for a while. I guess he got frostbite in the mountains a few years back, and the doctors have been telling him that it needs to be amputated, but he hasn’t given up hope that his leg will be saved. He was just so encouraged that someone had actually stopped and cared enough to talk with him and be with him. We talked about many things included the power of the Holy Spirit, and that we have authority in the name of Jesus over sickness as well. He allowed us to lay hands on him and pray for him. I laid my hands on his cold, tough skinned, ugly leg and prayed for a supernatural healing in the name of Jesus. His leg didn’t change colors and become normal like the other leg or anything. But I felt warmth began to transfer from my hand to his leg. We talked to him about faith in Jesus, and told him that he should keep believing for healing, and that he should even thank God for the healing of his leg. He wanted to know is we would come back to Kraków to see him. We told him we weren’t sure, but that we might be back the next month, as we need the second set of our Hepatitis A and B injections. If we come back to see him, I am fully believing that his leg will be radically improved, because of the power of the Holy Spirit, all to the glory of Jesus Christ.
After I felt better, we took the tram toward the old square. As we got off and walked toward the square, we noticed a very old lady in front of a Catholic church. She was just crying and looked so helpless. So we felt compelled to empty our pockets of our change and give it all to her. We had Jonas give it all to her and she was very grateful. Then we saw another man sitting in front of a church with his leg exposed. His leg looked so disgusting. It was dark and callused. We passed him at first, but then we felt led to go back and see if we could pray for his healing. We talked with him for a while. I guess he got frostbite in the mountains a few years back, and the doctors have been telling him that it needs to be amputated, but he hasn’t given up hope that his leg will be saved. He was just so encouraged that someone had actually stopped and cared enough to talk with him and be with him. We talked about many things included the power of the Holy Spirit, and that we have authority in the name of Jesus over sickness as well. He allowed us to lay hands on him and pray for him. I laid my hands on his cold, tough skinned, ugly leg and prayed for a supernatural healing in the name of Jesus. His leg didn’t change colors and become normal like the other leg or anything. But I felt warmth began to transfer from my hand to his leg. We talked to him about faith in Jesus, and told him that he should keep believing for healing, and that he should even thank God for the healing of his leg. He wanted to know is we would come back to Kraków to see him. We told him we weren’t sure, but that we might be back the next month, as we need the second set of our Hepatitis A and B injections. If we come back to see him, I am fully believing that his leg will be radically improved, because of the power of the Holy Spirit, all to the glory of Jesus Christ.
.We then had dinner at a nice, inexpensive restaurant outdoors in the old town square. It was a lovely authentic Polish meal. Then the girls went to feed the pigeons while we paid for the meal. Then we inquired about how much it would cost to take a ride around the old town by horse and cart. It was half of what we thought it would be, so we piled into the cart and took a tour of the old town together. The girls were beaming. We knew that it would be a blast for them to do this, as they love animals, specifically horses. We ended up taking a later train than we had thought back to Piotrków-Trybunalski. Our train left just after 10:00 pm. We arrived in PT somewhere around 1:30 am. We walked back to the car, with sore arms, and then drove back to the church. Even with all the stress due to getting these injections, we saw God’s hand upon our family yesterday in Kraków.
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Christian Young
