So debrief in Bangkok… yeah, that time that is supposed to
be a time to relax and unload from the month’s ministry. At least that’s the idea.
As we were leaving Phuket, Thailand, I noticed the bottom of
my leg starting to swell up like a purple golf ball. The thing was tender to the touch, like a
huge pimple. HUGE shout out to the one
and only Shannon Mayall (Our squad designated nurse who has taken care of so
many of us!!).
We attempt to try and drain the thing. Just to show how professional we are, we heat
up a needle, and before letting it cool off, we stuck it in my leg….
!!!!!
After the pain subsided, and the laughing of how stupid we
both were wore off, we proceeded to dig out the top of the golf ball. Then came the squeezing which was so painful
and nothing would come out. About this
time I became nauseous and a little dizziness began setting in, feeling weird
all over.
But no time to relax, onto the bus we go, total travel time
all in all something around 15 hours… through the night. I did the best I could to keep the leg up and
not go crazy on the bus!!
We make it to Bangkok by the grace of God. The throbbing increased as did the swelling,
soon my entire ankle and foot were swollen.
Okay, time to get to a hospital!
It was a nice hospital… we got right in, no wait… my team
went with me. Interestingly, Chris had a
similar thing going on on his thigh, so that was convenient. Ashley, Heidi, and Pam were the best
supporters I could ask for. I mean, all
I wanted was my mom!! But they were not
a bad substitute.
Sure enough, its infected.
Off to the ER.
So I lay down on the bed, and this Asian doctor pulls out a
razor blade and some other utensils. I
start thinking, “What have I got myself into?�
The next thing I know a needle is jammed into my leg. Oh my goodness. My whole body flexes, hands squeezing the
hospital bed, and I shout so everyone in the whole place could hear me, “Are
you serious?!!� He just keeps digging
that needle around in my leg. That stuff
always takes too long to numb me up.
Well I’ve never been a stranger to the ER, but somehow I’m getting less
and less comfortable with the place.
I’m on my side trying not to look as the doctor picks up the
blade. I began to get a little light
headed, and nervous… “Please God let this be painless and quick.� The blade goes in and as he slices my leg,
out come the only words I heard during the whole operation, “Volcano!�
It was white and it was red, your imagination can do the
rest. I couldn’t help not looking at
least once… so I did. Probably not the
best idea.
Then he cleans the thing out and swabs around inside my leg
with a Q-tip. Then stuffs my leg with
gauze. Again, I’m like, “is this guy serious?�
I got all bandaged up, and was told to come back in the next
day. One of the more painful things I’ve
ever experienced.
Got some meds in me, antibiotics and cheap painkillers. Then begins the start of an awful few
days. Turns out I had to go back to the
hospital every day for them to redress my wound. The nurses would pull my bandage off, along
with all my leg hair (that may have been more painful), pull out the gauze in
the leg, clean it out, and re-stuff it.
I was able to go 4 days, when then we were flying to Africa.
I had some sort of bad reaction to the meds, on top of that
had to start taking my malaria pills. I
was in the weirdest mental state. My
whole body would get hot on occasion, intense nausea and dizziness. And I had trouble holding down my food,
making it harder to keep the meds in me.
Dehydrated.
And… off to Africa.
Talk about an uncomfortable plane ride.
Anything I could say would be a gross understatement. Ethiopian Airlines… wow! I can hear the engineers, “let’s make a plane
that is as uncomfortable as possible.�
Another all day of travel, and I was miserable. I spent the later part of the ride hanging
with the airline attendants, bag in hand.
Landing in the Ethiopian airport, aka, a freezer… we had a
few hour layover.. no place to sit except a tile floor as cold as ice. I froze in my sickness. Curled myself up inside my sleeping bag liner
in the middle of the floor, longing to feel normal again.
We get to Uganda, a two day stay before heading to
Rwanda. In Uganda at this Christian
guest house, pretty sweet, I took one look at a clinic nearby and said, “no
thanks.� so we attempted to do a bandage
change on our own (this was supposed to continue every day for another 10
days). Although my leg was less swollen,
the open wound was just that, open, almost the size of a dime. (i will spare you the pics)
We are slow to learn… we heated up scissors and again,
without letting them cool, rested them on my ankle… !!! its okay, it made for a good laugh. And we got the change done. Props to Shannon for all her work… she
was unbelievable!!
During the change I had the first real concern that this
thing needed to be taken care of, to not be messing around with this. I just had no assurance if this thing was
getting better or worse… and heading into Rwanda where I had no idea if there
was any clinic was a little worrisome.
So I end up staying back in Uganda while the rest of the
squad heads to Rwanda. Michael also
stayed back with me, and we went to a British Medical clinic where there were
white people (sorry) that spoke English!!
Why is that so comforting? So the
doc rips off my bandage in between jokes I didn’t get or didn’t think were funny,
and all he says is, “Beautiful.� He was
happy with it, sends me to the nurse, and the next thing I know she takes a
syringe full of honey and pumps the hole in my leg full of it. That’s a new one for me! (has an osmosis effect
to draw in nutrients). Was sent off
saying I’d be fine, just to re-patch it in three days.
Then a 12 hour day of travel, including about 9 hours on an
African bus… wow!
My leg is all good now, on the road to recovery… after two
weeks it is just now scabbing over!
Thank you for all the prayers those of you that knew and were lifting me
up! Thank you mom and dad for all your
wisdom and skyped in doctor visits, sorry to make you worry. You’re the best!!
