Or at least we think it was probably a spider…

In any case, on the morning of Lent 1 my foot hurt. By the afternoon it was swollen and had a little black mark on the side. I thought it might be a bruise or that I’d kicked something the night before.

Sunday night I tried to get up in the middle of the night and it wouldn’t support my weight.

The next morning, M took a look at my foot. Not only was it swollen and hot to the touch but there was a rash all over it that was heading up my leg.

By the time we were seen at the Urgent Care Clinic the rash was up both legs; by the time I left in an ambulance for the nearest hospital it had spread to my chest and back.

They tell me my body was in a state of septic shock when I arrived at the Emergency Room but that something they did there gave it the chance to overcome the sepsis (If you ask me, it was putting in the catheter; I’ve learned that “you may feel a little pressure now” is medical jargon for “we’ve developed this fascinating new way of infliting pain and want to give it a try on you…”)

After that I spent three days in the ICU and another four on one of the regular medical floors before being discharged. The central problem throught was a strep infection that entered my body in my foot and moved into the bloodstream. The ambulance crew id’d it as a brown recluse spider bite right off. My infectious disease specialist says that’s likely, but it could have been a strep bacteria on the foot already that made its way in through some kind of puncture.

In any case, that’s why I haven’t been around recently. M has been doing a tremendous job taking care of me and tending to the girls while in the midst of dealing with a pretty nasty sinus infection herself. Having her in the hospital with me was wonderful; Despite the pain, the inconvenience, the IV meds and everything, I think this Valentine’s Day was the best we’ve ever had because I got to spend the whole day there with her–and I knew (and know) just how lucky I was to get to spend the time with her.

Although I’ve been out of the hospital for five days, the foot is mending slowly at best. It’s still swollen (though not as much as it was), and there still some infection lurking in there. We’re trying to knock it out with IV anibiotics. The doctor’s hopeful that I’ll be able to walk and drive on the foot by the end of next week, but he’s continuing to monitor it.

Thanks for to LP and Anastasia for helping with food and children and bls, the Lutheran Zephyr, Fr. Chris, Christopher and other for your thoughts and prayers. We’re better, but not out of the woods yet, so we’d appreciate y’all keeping our family in your prayers.