And the Plot Thickens

An entire month has gone by since my last post and not because there was nothing to talk about. Maybe subconsciously I wanted to forget the majority of what's happened in that time; however, this blog also acts as my journal that I'll one day look back on for memories. And as crazy as it sounds, I don't want to forget what I/we have gone through these past two months. I know that there will be times in the future when life is going to get really hard again for one reason or another and I want to be able to look back and remember that we made it through this, too.

If He brings you to it, He'll bring you through it.

So we'll pick up where I left off.....

Two weeks to the day following "the accident" I was scheduled to travel to Singapore on a program with Dallas Fan Fares. I had doctor appointments A LOT leading up to it and they kept telling me I was healing well and it shouldn't be a problem. I was put on blood thinners so I wouldn't get a clot which can happen when you don't walk for a period of time and/or fly.

October 8th came and while I was doing everything I could to be able to walk, I was still on crutches. I made it to the plane just fine with the help of the wonderful staff of Emirates Air. I sat down in my seat and a few minutes later a gentleman informed me I was in his seat. Turned out we had both been booked in the same seat and it was a full plane.....almost full. Guess who was upgraded to business class on the fancy plane? That's right! ME!

Gourmet meal, champagne, a seat that reclines into a full bed - don't mind if I do.

I enjoyed the lap of luxury from Frankfurt to Dubai. And then reality set in when I was right back in coach for the second leg of the trip to Singapore (7 hours). About 2 hours into the flight I started having a sharp pain in the calf of my right leg. I got up to move around/hop around for a bit, I massaged it, I drank lots of water....still nothing. It was getting worse so I informed the flight attendant and she said she would go clear off one of the jump seats (where they sit) so I could prop my leg up. An hour later, I asked if she had any luck with that. "Oh yeah, we're working on it. I'll be back in a minute." Never saw her again.

Landed in Singapore around 11 pm, made it to the hotel and all I wanted to do was sleep. But that wasn't in the cards. I could have sworn someone was setting my leg on fire and driving nails into it at the same time. Let's just say I didn't get much sleep that night.

I met the team the next morning and was fortunately feeling a little better. We worked all day and went out for an amazing dinner at Raffles Grill (home of the original Singapore Sling). Mid-dinner, the fire and nails pain was creeping back. Sure enough, by the time I got in bed I was just writhing in pain. Another night of a lot of tears and very little sleep.

The next day was about the same. I felt better throughout the day but at night I could hardly stand it. I honestly wondered if my body would run out of tears. Little did I know....

By Monday, I had had it. I called a local medical clinic as they had a department specifically for international patients. If you didn't know this about Singapore (because I didn't), they have one of the top healthcare plans in the world. People travel from all over for treatment/surgery because of the doctors they have and the care that is provided.

The doctor I worked with was concerned that my right leg from the knee down was very cold and the rest of my leg and the left leg was warm. Oh, and the wound looked infected. Lovely. He called a nerve and vein specialist to get his opinion and he found the symptoms strange and said he would like to see me first thing in the morning. I asked if there was any way he could fit me in that evening because I didn't know how I was going to take another night of the pain. Sure, no problem. He had a surgery scheduled that evening but agreed to meet me in the ER before he started his rounds that night.

After a lot of questions and a few tests he had an orthopedic surgeon come take a look. Between the two of them they narrowed it down to a rare nerve disorder that can be brought on by a severe injury, something wrong with my heart, or a blood clot. Ummmm, scary. They wanted to admit me right away so I could get on several medications to start ruling things out.

After the initial shock that I would be staying in a foreign hospital alone, all I could do was laugh. One of those "are you serious?" moments. I shared my room with the sweetest lady from Australia who was having some "work" done (I promised I wouldn't tell, only me and her husband know). We chatted for a couple of hours and I felt so much better. Then my dear friend, Kristin, brought dinner and sat with me for awhile. When we're onsite at a program, you rarely have time to leave the hotel and you take every minute of sleep you can get so having her there meant the world to me.

The next morning, my doctors determined I did, indeed, have several small blood clots in my leg as well as an infection from the wound. Now that we knew what it was, it was just a matter of treating it. I stayed in the hospital one more night and felt like a new person by the time I left on Wednesday. I picked up right where I left off with work stuff, went to dinner with the girls that night, and actually slept like a baby.

All was good on Thursday until I noticed my foot was swelling big time turning my toes into little sausages. Uh oh. I called my doctor and he said to swing by his office. Unfortunately, the antibiotic tablets that they had prescribed were not working and the infection was back to where it started. I needed to be on the IV version of the medicine which meant another stay in the hospital. Lucky me.

I sat in bed while the nurses tried to get the IV in....and tried and tried and tried. I have small veins to begin with, add blood thinners to the mix and it's almost impossible to find a good vein. After multiple failed attempts, they called some special doctor guy to come help. Right about the time he got started, the old lady in the bed next to me starts dry heaving. Are you kidding me?!? Somebody just knock me out!

A couple more nights in the hospital and I was finally given the okay to go home....well back to the hotel anyway. No flying for me until I'd had another ultrasound and that would have to wait until Monday.

The ultrasound showed the clots were still there but they hadn't moved, which was good. He understood that I needed to get home but did not want me flying in coach (since that's likely what caused it in the first place) because I needed to keep my leg elevated. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for flying in Business Class, but geez! Do you know how expensive that is? Whew!

I was given strict instructions to find a nerve and vein specialist as soon as possible when I returned home. The hospital on the base was absolutely no help seeing as how Civilians living over here are treated as second class citizens (but that's another story). We were able to find one at the same hospital where I'd had the surgery (ugh) and they've surprisingly turned out to be great.

Everyday I got a little bit better. Within about a week of returning home, I was off the crutches and getting around pretty well. It's still not 100% but getting there.

There's so much more to catch up on but I'll save that for another day. The good news is - I don't have bad news. All exciting stories coming up and no more about "The Foot."

Until next time....