What I Did On My November Vacation

You can tell by the beard and the hair that I just got out of the hospital.
You can tell by the smile that I am home. :)

Some of you know the history of the title of this blog, I'd Laugh But All This Happened To Me!  Many years ago I decided that if I ever wrote a book, that would be the title.  I had so many amazing experiences in life, and particularly in youth ministry, and so many of them were humorous...especially if you were not the one the were happening to!  By the time I got around to starting this blog in August of 2009, the scope of my adventures (and misadventures) had become even bigger, and the name seemed appropriate to use here. I assumed I would be telling stories about my past.  But life, as we all know, keeps happening.  In my case, November 2012 happened. Here is that tale...

I should have seen the storm coming, but I chose to ignore it.  In mid-October a small place appeared on the bottom of my left foot, and I couldn't get it to stop bleeding and oozing. As the days went by I began to feel tired and rundown.  Then one afternoon I pulled off my socks and shoes and realized that the toenail on the big toe of my left foot had fallen off. I wrapped it and put an antibiotic cream on it and assumed it would heal itself like my toes had always done before. I was in no pain.  A few days later I was out walking my dog when my right knee buckled. Within 24 hours it was twice its normal size, and it hurt.  So I forgot about my foot and worried about my knee.  The knee got better. The toe did not.  Soon it was oozing and smelling bad, and I was getting weaker and weaker.  My appetite was gone. I began to get light headed, and Marilyn make an appointment for me to see a podiatrist on the afternoon of Halloween.  I was taking a shower to get ready to go when my head went all fuzzy and collapsed while getting out of the shower. Unable to make it the doctor that afternoon, we went at 8 am the next morning.

The podiatrist took one look at my toe and sent us to the emergency room at St. Joseph's Hospital.  When they looked at me there, 3 things were quickly evident.  My blood pressure was very low, my blood sugar was very high and they would have to do surgery on my toe, which by now was turning black.  The doctors and nurses used all kinds of words to describe what needed to be done- remove, reconstruct, take, purge- while trying not to tell me that the big toe on left foot needed to be amputated.  And quite possible my entire foot.  I also was told that have type 2 diabetes.  I was so weak that I just took it all in and waited for surgery without any of that bothering me too much.  That night they did indeed remove my big toe and opened up the right side of my foot to remove further infection.  It it all very much a blur.  I do remember waking up in the recovery room in no pain at all (it has never really hurt) and hearing the staff talking about going to The Cheesecake Factory when they were done with me.  I'd laugh, but...

I spent 2 weeks in the hospital being pumped full of antibiotics and insulin, and being taught about diabetes.  I had a wound vacuum attached to my foot, and IV in my arm (antibiotics) and constant checking of blood sugar.  I was able to stand up and move around within about 24 hours of the surgery, and no one could believe that.  They sent physical therapists to help me, and they left feeling totally unnecessary. At first they talked about me being there 3 weeks, about me having to take the wound vac home, and about all kinds of other drugs and precautions. In the end, I left after 2 weeks with only insulin and appointments to be pumped full of antibiotics for 2 more weeks.  I am done with that now as well. I am just resting, keeping my foot up up, and waiting for the wound to heal- all under a doctor's care.

Despite all the turmoil and my feelings of stupidity for letting it all go so far, I am ready to face life with the same gusto I have always had- just without a big toe on one foot. I understand more than ever that God is good all the time and that I am blessed to have so many people who love me.  I just have to to view my November vacation as another of life's great adventures.  I guess it really is true. I'd laugh...but all this happened to me!

Because of Jesus,