I feel I am finally at the place where I can bring it up. The wound has healed, and it didn’t even leave a scar. Well if it did, its not a noticeable one. I can now look to the future and say, I will be okay. I think its just that I never thought it would happen to me. I mean you see this stuff happen on TV and think, wow that’s tough, I don’t know what I would do in that situation. And then you are in that situation and the world takes on a surreal atmosphere as you ponder, “is this really happening?” And the answer is yes. Yes Matt you have a parasite living inside you. NOOOOOOOOO!! (cue dramatic music)
Okay, other racers will read this blog and think, “Matt, you don’t’ even know!” And its true, we had girls on our squad that had worms in their stool. And the worms became more active at night, and they said you could feel them moving around the…area. Did I deal with rectum worms? No. Thank you Jesus. I credit all the people praying for my health. I have had a pretty wonderful race as far as physical health. You hear horror stories and think, “Oh Snaps this is going to be terrible.” But it hasn’t been. I have not thrown up, or had diarrhea. So yeah I’ve had it pretty good. So, to all you reading this blog who have dealt with parasites on the next level, you are way more legit than I.
So my parasite is a small deal in comparison, however it was disturbing to me. In Mozambique there is this small flea that lives in the grass. This flea loves to lay eggs on people, especially in cuts or scrapes. The eggs hatch inside you and the larvae live in you until they are ready to hop out and live in the grass like a grown up. Well I was trying to clear ground for my tent when I accidentally kicked a stick with my big toe. It created a pretty good punture wound. I thought, man I hope this doesn’t get infected. So I cleaned it really well and made certain to use some antiseptic cream. About 5 days later, I woke up and felt my heartbeat in my toe. I thought, “um….this is never a good thing.” But I fell back asleep. When I woke up I touched my toe and it felt fine, no pain. I was like hmmm…dodged a bullet there. It felt like it was healing so I didn’t think anything of it.
Fast forward 2 weeks. I am in South Africa and somebody says, yeah I have a “motakayna.” That is what they were called in Mozambique. Not sure on the spelling. Its pronounced, “maw-taw-cain-ya.” I looked at their wound and it looked just like the “blood blister” on my toe. I thought…yep I should look into that. My sore was about a 1/4 to 1/8th of an inch circle. Well….I got a needle….
It exploded with life. Well death technically. That little flea had created quite the cavern in my toe. It was deep and it spewed unmentionable things as well as a clearly defined egg sack. I was stunned. I just stared at my foot and thought, “I would have imagined more pain with that kind of action.” But I sat there for 20 mins just making sure it was completely taken care of.
I am happy to say that today there isn’t even the smallest sign of anything. Thank you Jesus!
WHAT I LEARNED:
Just because it stops hurting doesn’t mean its healing or healed. It just means its changing. Healing takes intentionality.
