Hospitality….

I have been wanting to tell you all a little more about what happened while we were on vacation. 

I am sure some of you read my previous post, and you have a few of the details, however I wanted to explain exactly what went on those last few days of our vacation. 

We were on vacation in Tennessee (Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area.) We arrived there on a Tuesday and were going to leave the following Tuesday. Everything was going great and we were having a blast until Sunday. My husband woke up on Sunday feeling horrible. He threw up from 9am until 9pm that day. I felt terrible for him, however I did leave the cabin with the boys a few times so they could get out and move around, get a bite to eat, and so my husband could have a little quiet time to rest. We prayed that he would be better the next day because it was our last full day in TN. When he woke up on Monday he was no longer puking, however he had some very intense pains in his stomach. I have never seen this look of pain on his face before. He insisted on heading to Gatlinburg with us. After going to a couple of different attractions the boys were very hungry. My husband did not look good, so we decided it would be best for him to go back to the cabin to rest while I took the boys out to eat. Even though he was in intense pain, my husband insisted we come back to the cabin and pick him up after we eat so he could go with us to purchase souvenirs. When we arrived back at the cabin I could tell that he was in even more pain. As we are driving back to town I tell my husband that I would like him to go to an Urgent Care facility. We punch it into our gps and the first place we arrive at is no longer operating. Talk about frustrating! We didn’t have to drive far though before we found the hospital (what a beautiful hospital!) The funny thing is (funny now, but not at the time) we actually walked into the hospital and asked if there was an Urgent Care for something that isn’t necessarily an emergency. They sent us down the road. 

We arrived at Smoky Mountain Urgent Care. 

I must tell you that this was a wonderful facility. The staff was great, the facility was very nice and accommodated my children well. I definitely recommend this place, but hope we don’t ever have to go back!

After looking my husband over at the Urgent Care, and doing some blood work they determined that he had appendicitis and needed to have his appendix removed immediately! 

We all loaded back up and drove down the road to the hospital (again.) 

When we walked into the hospital I said immediately, “I guess it was an emergency.” 

I apologize ahead of time for making this post so very long, however I really want everyone to know just how great this hospital was to us. 

When we arrived they were ready for us (even though we hardly gave them a notice since we were just driving down the road.) My husband was taken back immediately. My cell phone was going dead and baby needed to nurse, so we went to the car to sit while they were prepping my husband. The nurses walked all the way out to my car 3 different times to speak with me. I was amazed that they cared enough and took the time to walk all the way out to my car! 

The surgery went great! The doctor was a WONDERFUL man! (I’ll tell you more about him in a minute.) 

Let me back up a bit…

While my husband was in surgery we were given our own private waiting room with a television for the boys to watch cartoons on. The boys were given graham crackers and drinks as well. I have never seen a more hospitable place in my life! Everything was explained to us so well and everyone was there to make us feel comfortable. I am not glad that my husband had to have surgery, however I am glad that we were in that place at that time of need. 

When my husband came out of surgery and was still a little “loopy” from his meds he actually said, “We should really move here because I have never seen more hospitable people in my life.” I must say that I agree! 

The day after surgery I loaded the boys up and took them to get their souvenirs. We were scheduled to leave TN and had to check out of our cabin early in the morning, however my husband couldn’t be discharged from the hospital until a little later in the day, and we wanted him to rest a bit before we all came up to see him. 

After purchasing souvenirs we came up to visit dad. While there the boys got hungry, so I took them down to the cafeteria for a bit to eat. It was a bit overwhelming pushing a double stroller and taking all 5 boys through the lunch line during the crazy lunch hour. (You all know how that can be.) After getting everyone their food and settling in our seats one of the wonderful nurses came up to see how we were doing. I assured her that we were great and my husband was doing well. This sweet nurse came back to our table a few minutes later and insisted on paying for our lunch! I seriously almost cried! 

Never in my life have we been treated so well. This hospital went above and beyond and we will never forget that. With everything that was going on I don’t remember the nurses name, however I will always remember her and her kind heart. We feel truly blessed to have been treated so great at the LeConte Medical Center in Sevierville, TN. If you are ever in that area and are in need of medical care I can assure you that you will not be disapointed with their hospital or their staff. 

I can’t stop yet because as we are getting discharged my husband walked down the hall to speak with a nurse, and while he was down the hall I text him to tell him that I thought our 7 year old had broke his nose! You heard me right! He actually tripped over the wheel of the stroller and hit his nose on the corner of a metal arm of a chair in my husband’s hospital room. Not only was I scared, but I was worried that we were never going to get out of the hospital! 

We walked down the hall to show my husband who was thinking my text had to be some sort of joke! 

No joke! 

One of the sweet nurses walked our son down the hall to get an ice pack and then the doctor himself, wonderful Dr. Parnell, actually walked out into the hall and took a look at our son’s nose! Luckily it was not broken, but did get black and blue. 

If I could thank the staff at LeConte Medical Center I would tell them that they are all wonderful and went above and beyond our expectations.

You can find them on Facebook as well at https://www.facebook.com/LeConteMedicalCenter. 

That is how we spent the last of our vacation.