Mother Quackenbush's account of Justin's health journey his last few months in POLAND....

Mom Quackenbush's account of the Health Journey of Elder Quackenbush

On March 9th, Monday of Spring Break

Justin emails me a disconcerting email.  His first sentence is:  "Everything is alright, Mom! Don't worry. I'm actually going to be emailing you tomorrow... stay posted :) LOVE, Justin"

So, naturally I think they are putting him in as Branch President like he had mentioned in my email a week previous.   Meanwhile, Brett is in AZ working crazy during Spring Break and I have taken Jeremy, Colby and Carter to Knotts Berry Farm with the Moons, Suzuki's, Eaton's, Nelsons, Turners, and Whitings.

The next day, which was Tuesday, March 10th, the first email I get from him is in all capital letters and it says, "AND MOM, DON'T FREAK OUT!"  Like what?

Here is his letter after that...."This week sounds awesome! I'm so glad that everything is going well and that y'all are having such fun! I really am doing really well. Please don't freak out or anything. I've been in contact with a lot of doctors, and Pres and Sister
Edgren, and everything will be fine. I just have to take it really easy for a little while. Varicoceles is the name, and I'm only in stage 1 of it... so it's not a big deal. Everything is going to turn out, I promise! :) I do need you to do me a favor and send me some spandex-I have to start wearing it over my bottom garments to keep everything real solid so that nothing happens-at least until it heals/I grow out of it. I don't know what size-I just know that it has to keep everything contained without being too tight-sorry that's not a lot to go off of. I've got to do some ice-ing, and walk slowly, especially up stairs, but I'm feeling really good! I'm going to be
smart and not kill myself. President Edgren called and told me I needed to take it easy-he told me I'm a really good missionary, and compared me to a winning racing horse-how he'd let it rest a while and recover instead of just killing it in the next race... so I'm going to be careful and smart... but I know everything will be well! Love you so much, Mom! If you have any questions, email me while I'm on.. .or I'm sure you can email or maybe even call sister Edgren and
she'll fill you in. I'm doing good-I don't need to call home or anything-everything really is great! The Lord is watching out for me! Love you so much, Mommy! Love your son, Justin"

Okay, so now I'm sort of freaking out.  As we go back and forth on the email, he's been in a lot of pain for weeks now and this is the first I'm hearing about it.  I try not to freak out as I'm in California but to a mother with a son across the world and in serious pain, there are not words.  To say "not to worry" is the most oxymoronic thing one can say.

So  no word ALL WEEK.  You can bet I was awake at 3:00am on Monday morning March 16th to email back and forth and find out if my son is ok.

Here is his next email to me dated March 16th.

"Okay, guys... so here's the deal. Things haven't really started
getting better, and the doctors are wondering if there's anything
other than the Varicoceles that is wrong. I've been in contact with
President and Sister Edgren as well as Doctor Rayser(the head doctor
in Europe), and they are still trying to figure out what to do. They
might be sending me to Warsaw sometime soon... we'll see. I'd be lying
if I said that this week wasn't the hardest week of my life, but I'd
also be lying if I didn't say that this week has been one of the best
weeks of my life. I've had lots of time to ponder and think about my
situation, what's going to happen, and what I need to be doing. I've
been able to turn to the Savior in prayer when there was literally
nowhere else to go, and able to ask for His help in my life. I have
had such amazing experiences with the enabling power of the Atonement,
as well as the power of the Spirit in my life. The Lord is really
carrying me out here. I don't know what is ahead, but I do know that
God has a plan, and that I just have to trust in Him. I will continue
to work as hard as I can and to push forward through my trials until
He says it's finished. Thanks for the thoughts and prayers. Everything
is going to work out fine. I love y'all, make it the best week ever.
Love, Starszy Quackenbush"

and here is his weekly email to everyone: 

"Hey fam!

So this week was a week of ups and downs, and lots of surprises!

I started off the week in a super sketchy Polish hospital. I am
counting that experience as a success, because I totally
conquered(can't even spell anymore.... but it's pokonać in Polish) the
whole "my body hates giving blood", and had some weird Polish devices
in my arm all day, so that was super sick. The first half of the week
was spent on an exchange with Elders Fotu and Allen. Elder Allen's
polish game is insane, and he taught us a lot about how to better our
Polish. I spent most of my time with Elder Fotu, which was awesome
because I love that guy and sure look up to him. We weren't able to
spend much time at all on the streets, but we were able to talk a lot
about his missionary work, and cool experiences, and my health
problems-which was really quite productive. I was able to work on my
goals, and it actually worked out really well. I worked on finding joy
in the journey(funny how that works, isn't it....??) and got some cool
ideas for that. I also worked on not giving up as easily. Elder Fotu
taught us something really cool where you get people to promise you
things... and people LOVE promising you things. I have been doing a
lot of calls over the past week as I've been down and out, and I've
been applying it. We met a really cool guy who said he would call next
week, and I told him he had to promise me. He absolutely loved it. He
laughed really hard and then promised me, and I told him I was going
to trust him. He's not getting away! ;) I also worked on focusing as a
missionary-not because I'm not focused, but because we can always get
better. I made a goal to only look at pictures/letters/poczta on
preparation days and on exchanges(because that's just what you do)...
which should help everything just flow so much easier. So those were
my goals, and I had a really good time trying to work tchem out and
find ways to achieve tchem this week! This next week, I want to work
on 1) not "murmuring"/being completely positive 2)bearing testimony
more often 3) Living in Thanksgiving(yes, it's a repeat, but I need it
this week so I'm going to do it again... I can break my own rules(: )

 This week I've been in contact with President and Sister Edgren as
well as Doctor Rayser(the head doctor in Europe), and they are still
trying to figure out what to do. They think that there might be more
problems than they originally anticipated.  They might be sending me
to Warsaw sometime soon... we'll see. I'd be lying if I said that this
week wasn't the hardest week of my life, but I'd
also be lying if I didn't say that this week has been one of the best
weeks of my life. I've had lots of time to ponder and think about my
situation, what's going to happen, and what I need to be doing. I've
been able to turn to the Savior in prayer when there was literally
nowhere else to go, and able to ask for His help in my life. I have
had such amazing experiences with the enabling power of the Atonement,
as well as the power of the Spirit in my life. The Lord is really
carrying me out here. I don't know what is ahead, but I do know that
God has a plan, and that I just have to trust in Him. I will continue
to work as hard as I can and to push forward through my trials until
He says it's finished. Thanks for the thoughts and prayers. Everything
is going to work out fine. I love y'all, make it the best week ever.
Love, Elder Quackenbush"

Arghhh.  Now if I haven't started freaking out, I definitely am now!  I can't sleep and I'm a puddle of tears all day!  Well, Brett could hardly function this day too.  During our emailing with Jusitn back and forth, he mentioned the Mission Presdient had tried to call us last Monday when he was in the hospital.  Brett came home at lunch this day and we looked up the number.  Sure enough, we had the phone number for President Edgren, w which was a Utah number.  Yipeeee!!  Brett has finally had it and we both know that Justin is worse than he is even letting on to us.  Brett picks up the phone and calls Pres Edgren.  No answer so he leaves him a message.  About 30 minutes later, we get a phone call back from the President.  He tells us that he has been away from Warsaw traveling with his Brother in law who is a doctor high up in the church and he will soon be the church doctor for Russia and a few surrounding countries.  He himself had varicosele on his mission. President says he may move Justin down to Warsaw to get better health care.  The hospital he first went to in Szczecin was fine, it was a hospital associated with a University but there is definitely better healthcare in Warsaw.  Also, there wasn't a doctor at the Szczecin hospital that spoke English when Justin was in the hospital that day and the 4 missionaries, including Justin, could not decipher Polish medical terms.  President Edger went on to tell us that he had to call Justin and  get after him to STAY DOWN for two days and not leave the apartment so they could see if the medicine the hospital had given him was helping or not.  He said most missionaries would stay in bed as sick as Justin was, but not Justin.  He pulled out the book of year old contacts and started calling everyone in the book.  He happened to come across a lady and her boyfriend that weren't interested two years ago but now wanted to meet with the missionaries.  Justin set up the appointment with her.  The Pres. said Szczecin is on fire in large part because of your son.  He is a worker.  President also said that selfishly, he wants to keep Justin in Poland.  He knows there is a hospital in Frankfurt Germany that is stellar and if he needs surgery or anything, he would consider sending him there as to not send him home BUT he would do whatever the doctors recommended he do for the health of the missionary.  We told him we were grateful for his help and Justin would be crushed if he had to come home for health issues and that we could pay for any health care he needed there.  We hung up!  Whew, now we knew that the mission Pres. was working with Justin and loved him.  That was a huge weight off!

That same evening, Brett was taking a check over to Bishop Biggs to pay for the Tuione funeral.  When Bishop Biggs opened the door, he told Brett that he had been reading Justin's letters (that apparently his wife is getting via email) and that with Brett's permission, he felt he wanted to get an ok from President Barker (our stake president) and call Justin's mission president President Edgren.  Brett told him we were really worried and that we would really appreciate him calling the mission president the next day.

The very next day was Tuesday, March 17th Bishop Biggs called Brett early in the morning.  He had called Justin's mission president and he had told our Bishop that they had sent Justin down by train to Warsaw the previous day and that he had been in the hospital for 6 hours in warsaw that very day.  Sister Edgren had taken him in and been there on and off with him.  They had made a Urologist appointment for the next evening at 6:00pm.  He told Bishop Biggs to let us know he would call us later that day to give us an update.  Brett called me and told me what Bishop Biggs had said and I BAWLED!!!  I had been praying that Justin would be able to see a Specialist, one that spoke English, and that what he had could be fixed easily in Poland with medication. 

Later that day, President Edgren called us during lunch.  We called him back.  He gave us the update that Justin had been in the hospital for 6 hours that day.  He was released and in the mission home.  He said that despite being in the hospital, Justin was in good spirits and had just done their dishes (even though they begged him to rest).  President reiterated that he was going to see a specialist the next day at 6:00pm and he would call us again.  He thought he would just leave Justin in the mission home for a while but wasn't sure.

Brett received a phone call on his cell phone from President Edgren March 19th.  He told us Justin had seen the Urologist the night before.  He chuckled and said, "Elder Q did not have any idea the thorough examination he was about to have."  He also told Brett that they got lost and Elder Q will have some good mission stories when he returns about driving around in Warsaw with the Mission President and his Brother in Law Doctor.

President called us after the Urologist appointment to give us an update. Essentially, the Urologist said he does have large kidney stones still in his kidney.  They are NOT causing the pain as of now.  He also has Varicosele which isn't causing the pain either at this point.  Both of those need to be checked when he gets home from his mission.  Lastly, he thought he had Prostatytus, which is a bacterial infection in the Prostate.  He changed his medication and sent him home and said he will see him in 10 days to reevaluate.

Justin went to the mission home where he stayed for a few days.  He played the piano for Sister Edgren and helped out as he could.  A few days later, Elder Q was moved to the mission office with the mission elders.  The mission office just lost their secretaries, an older couple, whose mission was finished and they had just left for home.  Justin was able to help out the mission office elders and President Edgren had brought a mattress down to the office.  He said when Elder Q's stomach hurt, he would lay down on the mattress for a few minutes and then hop back up and work again.  He was in there for about 6-7 days until March 26th. 

On Thursday, March 26th, Elder Q had the second appointment with the Urologist.  I guess things were getting better and Elder Q was able to head back to Warsaw the next day.  On Monday March 30th, we got an email from Justin with the update from the Urologist and that he was back in Warsaw working hard and about 80%.  He also told us he was officially made the Branch President in Szczecin.  Wow, what a difference a week made!  We were soooo relieved to hear that he was back in his area, his hard work was coming to pass, and that he was on the mend!

Until this morning at 3:00am, April 6th.  We got this weekly email from our son:

"Hey y'all!
    Man, this week was really a good week! Some crazy stuff happened,
and I'm so excited to tell all about it!
    I never thought I'd say it... but Elder Berlin and I have a
baptismal date with a murderer :) Czyli we met a guy on the street,
had a cool talk, and then walked him to the chapel where we had a
member waiting. We had a member lesson, and taught him about the
gospel, and invited him to be baptized. He wanted to be baptized on
the 30th of May. Unfortunately, he's not exactly all the way there,
and needs some professional and medical help.... but that was a great
experience, and he didn't kill us. So that was a plus :)
    A lot of funny things happened this week. Elder Berlin and I
contacted some guy on the street who was wearing huge headphones(like
the Beats style). We told him we were inviting others to listen to a
message about how we can come closer to Jesus Christ through accepting
restored truths, and he just laughed. He took off his headphones and
put them on me... and he was listening to hard-core satanic music...
it was awesome. It was almost as weird as this one time where some guy
had me read the poem that he had tattooed on his chest... that was
another good time!
     Really, though, miracles are happening in Szczecin. We finally
were able to meet with a referral from Poznan named Mariusz. He's a
firefighter, 27years old, and has a fiancée. He's the coolest. He is
preparing to be baptized on the 30th of May, and he's so ready. He has
been searching for the true church for 10 years. We told him about
Moroni's promise in Moroni 10:3-5, and all about how he could gain a
sure witness through the Holy Ghost that what we are telling him is
the truth. Since then, he has been texting me Daily, searching the
scriptures, and even watched two different live sessions of General
Conference on his computer. He's golden. I'm so excited to work with
him. The Lord is really blessing us! I'm so grateful for the
opportunity to get to work with him and help him come unto Christ. :)
   Other great news is that Lech is back! He had been going through
some tough times, and has finally come back around. Everything is
good-we had a meeting with him this week, and he even came with us to
look for less-actives Saturday morning! Also, we found Ewa!! She is a
member that has been gone for a while, now. We finally caught her at
home, exchanged numbers with her, and will be in contact on Wednesday
with her so that we can meet with her at her home... we are so
excited!
    General Conference has been absolutely amazing. I have loved every
second of it. I have a sticky-note about the questions that I have
needed answered, and prayed for help in answering my questions-and
everything they're saying is exactly for me. It's the most beautiful
thing ever... the church is so true, and God has given us a prophet
and apostles in our day. Please make sure and get as much as you can
out of conference... I promise that something will touch your heart if
you are seeking answers and searching with real intent! :)
     Unfortunately, I did end up getting sent back to Warsaw Saturday
afternoon. Things aren't really getting better, and I'm in some pretty
good pain. I'm back in the mission home, and have been in a few
hospitals here in Warsaw over the past few days. (It was actually a
really good experience... I was stuck in some nasty polish hospital at
like 2:30 in the morning trying to tell people in Polish why and where
I'm hurting and all that fun stuff.... it was a really good experience
for me! I have an appointment with an internal medicine doctor
tomorrow at 11:00 so that someone can finally figure out what's wrong.
I don't really know what to do, other than continue to have faith and
trust that the Lord knows what he's doing with me. I know that God has
a plan for each and every one of us, and I am so grateful for the
opportunity I have to be able to learn and grow so much throughout
this earth life. I have really learned a lot, and realized some things
that I have never realized before. This life's a test, and I'm
determined to make the best of it! I'm going to make this week the
best week of my life! Love y'all. Stay classy!
Love, Starszy Quackenbush"