The Last Month Or So

Hello there Cyberspace,

Yes, Yes, I know it’s been quite some time since I’ve written, but I have a good excuse…at least for the last month or so.

First of all, I’ve been in hospitals for three out of the last 5 weeks. While there I was treated (and continue to be treated) for two different infections and a couple of bad ankles. And now I have casts on both feet, I’m stuck in a wheelchair and I get to go to the hospital every day to receive IV antibiotics.

Several weeks ago, while we were at a school in Syracuse, NY, I fell ill. I thought it was just a stomach bug so I didn’t really think that much of it. I ended up missing Friday of that week, which always bums me out missing part of any week, but fortunately we were staying there for the weekend so I had a few days to recover.

On Saturday, while still deliriously ill, I was sitting on the edge of my bed, I went to adjust my position and slide down a couple inches. As it turns out, I didn’t make sure my right foot was flat on the floor and felt a little snap, that snap might have actually been my foot sliding out from under the leg, on x-rays taken in the hospital, it’s pretty clear that my right foot is no longer in line with my right leg. Anyway, back to the story…this put me on crutches and had me hobbling around for a while. Fortunately, I had a wonderful Coastlands teammate with me that weekend who ended up doing almost every thing for me, as I was deliriously ill and on crutches. A huge thank you goes out to Allycia Veilleux.

After we left Syracuse, we headed to Hudson Valley Christian Academy, and that is where my hospital ordeal begins…Unfortunately, I never actually made it to school that week as I was still sick with what I thought was a stomach bug and my ankle was killing me, I couldn’t get up without being in way more pain than I should have been, and getting dizzy, and it taking so much effort that I was soaked in sweat by the time I got anywhere. On Monday, I noticed my leg had swollen to about 3 times its usual size, that’s when I decided to go to the hospital. Tuesday, after my brother, Adam was able to get back from school (oh, by the way Adam was volunteering with Coastlands that week) I called the ambulance and had them take me to the hospital.

So anyway, I was admitted to Hudson Valley Hospital Center and was there for 10 days. That’s when I found out that I had cellulitis, a strep infection in my leg, neuropathy in my feet and two ankle joints that were broken. For those of you who don’t know, neuropathy is something that diabetics can develop; it’s the condition that can possibly cause them to lose a foot. Here’s the problem…I’m not diabetic. So, I was in that hospital for 10 days until they released me with several different prescriptions, two of which were oral antibiotics.

I left that HVHC with the intention of heading to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. From New York I first headed to my grandmother’s house, she lives about half an hour away from DHMC, and has a wheelchair ramp on her house. I got to grandma’s on Friday night and stayed there until Sunday morning, but Sunday morning it was obvious that the oral antibiotics weren’t cutting it, so back to the hospital I went.

And now you already know where I ended up after DHMC. Still on IV antibiotics and casts on each leg/foot. I’ll be in casts for 3 months, and taking the antibiotics for at least 3 more weeks. If this all doesn’t work then things get a bit more dire, the casts are on for ankle support and to hope that my ankle bones fuse together into some sort of usable ankle joint, but if it all doesn’t work, then amputation does come back on the table.

The best thing I can do is lose weight, the good news on that front is that at last count I had lost somewhere near 75 pounds, maybe a bit more, I’m not sure because I haven’t been weighed since I got the casts on.

Weight loss tip – get really sick, I had only lost 35 pounds before I got sick and went into the hospital.
(Please note, the above statement is totally sarcastic, I do not advocate getting sick to lose weight. While getting to a healthy weight is a good thing, do it in a healthy way.)

I would like to share a couple things with you because I don’t know the good that will come out of this. I know good will and I know that thanks to Romans 8:28…

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Since I’m stuck in the middle of dealing with infections, broken ankles and 21 days worth of hospital bills, I am still looking to find the good that will come out of it. My pastor’s wife sent me a quote from C.S. Lewis I’d like to share with you…

“We are not necessarily doubting that god will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be.”

I think that does a good job of summing up my feelings right now. Let me also share a verse that I read while I was doing my devotions this morning…

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
II Corinthians 4:16-18