A Shout Is In Order!

On Saturday morning (June 25), I walked my 10-year-old granddaughter to the 'waterfall' near my home.  It's not really a waterfall, but that's what my grands have called it since I began taking them there when they were toddlers.   I took pictures of her and the resident ducks and geese before heading back to the house.  As we were walking home, the back of my knee began to itch.  I realized something had bitten me but didn't think too much of it.  By evening, the itching was intense. 

On Sunday, the back of my leg was itchy, swollen and red.  After church, I noticed the affected area was very warm and was growing.  I thought I might have cellulitis, something I was hospitalized with for three days more than 10 years ago.  If you haven't heard of cellulitis, it is a common, potentially serious bacterial skin infection that could rapidly turn life-threatening if untreated (source: MayoClinic.com).  I called my doctor and after telling him my symptoms, he instructed me to immediately take Benadryl and come to his office at 8:45 a.m. the next day.   I purchased Benadryl pills, took two of them, and returned to church for an afternoon service.  For those of you at church that afternoon, now you know why I wasn't my normal self!

ROAD TRIP CANCELLED?  The next morning, my doctor confirmed that not only did I have an allergic reaction, I had cellulitis and might need to be hospitalized.  I was very concerned about the possibility of going to the hospital because this was the last week of my grandchildren's visit; there were things I wanted to do witih them.  On Friday (July 1) my husband and I had a 8.5 hour car drive to take my grands home.  I had action items to handle for the church Prayer Breakfast scheduled for July 9. 

My doctor determined that we'd wait a day and see how I fared after beginning two prescription antibiotics.  He instructed me to take the medicine immediately and return to his office the next morning.  When I returned the next day, my doctor expressed concern that I might have a blood clot in my leg.  He eventually concluded that my leg looked slightly better than the day before and prescribed another medication for the itching.  I asked if I could take the car trip on Friday.  He told me I was pushing it!  I asked what if I postponed my trip to Saturday?  He ok'd the trip with conditions.  I was to elevate my leg for 30 minutes three times a day and not to stand on it for prolonged periods.  He told me to call the next day to update him on the status of my leg.  He also said if the swelling didn't go down, he was going to order an ultrasound of my leg.

No problem!  Except, it's hard to keep a good woman down!  When I left his office on Tuesday, I had some errands to run and hadn't taken my antibiotics.  While out, I took the medicine without food.  BIG MISTAKE!  Half an hour after arriving at home, I threw up - twice!  The medication for the itching didn't work after applying it multiple times, and I, unintentionally, stood on my leg too long.  The burning sensation I felt by evening could have been from the infection, from the medication, or because of how long I had stood on my leg.   Hmmm, I was beginning to think the road trip wasn't going to happen. 

SCARY SITUATION  On Wednesday I had begun to turn the corner.  YEA!  On Thursday, my aunt called and told me her son was in intensive care and he might not make it.  My cousin, one month younger than me, is related to me through both my mom and my dad.  He lived away while serving in the military for 15 years.  Although he's been back for several years, we rarely saw each other until he became ill this past November. 

After going to the hospital, I wept when I left his room because he was on a ventilator and had an I.V. in his neck.  When I went back on Friday, they had removed the ventilator, and he was awake.  His nurse said his doctors were going to decide Saturday morning if he could be moved to a step down unit or a regular room.  YEA!

PRAISE GOD  With this good news, and my leg healing, my husband and I, along with my mother took the grands back to their parents, celebrated July 4 with my son, his family and his in-laws, and returned home to wonderful news.  My cousin was moved to a regular room.  Big IFs - if I hadn't gone to my doctor, if my cousin (already battling a serious illness) hadn't moved in with his sister the week before, if his brother hadn't stopped by unexpectedly and saw how sick my cousin was ... only God knows what our family would have been facing.  Thank you, Lord, for Your divine omniscience and orchestrating our minds and actions that testify to Your power.  Thank you for answered prayers for me and my cousin.  Yes, a shout is in order!!!  Feel free to join me!  And keep praying - I'm still on antibiotics and my cousin is still in the hospital.