Alright guys,
Hope all is well and sorry for the temporary lack of attention that I have given the blog. Unfortunately the internet and/or libraries aren't as important in some of these towns as we might think. I meant to update in Demascus, Va but the library was in between location changes. Therefore I am finally getting the time to update here in Marion, Va. A lot has happened since we last talked. If you weren't aware Ed has headed home in hopes of seeing his first niece/nephew being born. Alsobrook reluctantly left a little earlier in the trip due to a pretty serious injury to the foot. No worries, he is currently in recovery back in Memphis and has left me with a link explaining his situation. Brasky has a way with words so if you aren't one for details I put an arrow next to the juicy stuff. I love Brooks (even if you cant say it back ;) ) and Ed and will miss them dearly on this trip!! Can't wait to see you guys soon again in the M.
My Guardian Angel
Wears a Hardhat
Written by William Alsobrook aka “Brasky”
I’ve been home for 2 days, and it is boring. This is only exacerbated by the fact that I
am somewhat resigned to the couch/bed. But
in my boredom, I came to watch The Last Waltz, the final concert of The Band. I had actually never seen this before and
when Eric Clapton came on stage to play with Levon and friends, I remembered
how this all started. “Wait, what?” you
may say. I’ll explain what’s going
on.
Well, it all started Sunday July 22, 2012; see we were on
our way out of Hot Springs, NC very much anxious to break into the 300s in
terms of mileage. On this particular
day, we were set up to do about 15 miles, but were off to a slow start due to
some extenuating circumstances (one of us was ill, but that’s not my story to
tell).
Ever since we had left Hot Springs, I could feel my little
toe on my left foot rubbing against my shoe, but the irritation didn’t seem like
much and did not occupy my thoughts. I
had other blisters that were doing ok; it seemed to just be part of the
experience. I did find it strange that I was having blister trouble now after
having been walking for 4 weeks already, but it’s always something, isn’t it?
Now it was about mid-day on this Sunday and we were taking a
break at Allen Gap (mile 286). Water was
somewhat scarce or unreliable and we were about to climb. Before we got ready to go, I offered to
backtrack a little ways to throw our trash away in some canisters that we had
passed. On the way, a song by the name of “Further on up the Road” played in my
head. (This is the same song Clapton
played with the Band, here is a link if you are so
inclined to have a listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6IGH53PZ6Y
)
As I walked, I could feel that my toe was definitely not
liking things and it started bothering me.
I knew that I was going to need to try to patch it up before going any
further on up the road. The band-aid
already in place was not enough. When I
took off my shoe and sock, there was no blister, only a very tender area. I thought placing some moleskin over the area
would alleviate things, so I did my best with duct tape and the moleskin and
put my shoe back on. It definitely
burned pretty good for a few minutes.
It took a while to warm up and the toe began to become the
focal point of the walk. I had to move on,
though; we had something like 11 miles to our destination. It was a rough 11 miles. Half a mile from the shelter, Robert saw a
huge black bear heading towards him on the trail and I was feeling out of it;
lethargic would be a good word and maybe add flu-like in there as well. I didn’t want to eat when we got to Jerry
Cabin Shelter, and I sure as hell didn’t want to take off my shoes and see the
damage. I ended up just setting up my
hammock (with the help of Robert) and called it a day at 8 o’clock.
I woke up the next morning feeling much better, except my
toe was a mess. For what was probably 30 minutes, I attempted to drain the
blister on my little toe, using a lighter and a sewing pin. But the small holes would close off and the
blister would fill back up. I sat there
just wondering how in the world I was going to patch it up to walk on it. I ended up just wrapping the toe in clean
toilet paper, putting some moleskin on top and prayed to my guardian angel to help
me out.
We had a big day planned, as we were going to Ed’s cousin’s
house for a night off the trail, but we had 17 miles to get to the pickup
point. Over the course of our hike, we
had come across a sayingl, “It’s just walkin’.”(or sometimes “It’s just
Christopher Walken.”) So that’s just
what we did. We walked those 17 miles
and the thing is, my toe never gave me too much of a problem. It hurt far more the day before.
Jim, Ed’s cousin and provincially an MD, picked us up at
Sam’s Gap. After stopping and cooling
down, I started feeling lethargic. We
got to the house, where Margie, Jim’s wife, greeted us. We took showers and then ate dinner. So then it came time to look at my foot. Margie had some nursing experience in this
area and led the examination.
I’ll describe it (there may be a picture somewhere out
there), my left foot was entirely swollen, red, and hot to touch. My little toe looked bruised and had evidence
of some bleeding. The blister was on the
inside top part of the toe and consisted of the full length of it. I also had blisters on both heels and
underneath the left big toe. The most
telling sign, though, was a red streak going up my left leg. A visit to the emergency room was suggested;
I conceded.
In the ER, I got tested for tick related diseases, X-rays,
blood cultures, blood work, and cultures from my blisters. I also received and IV of Rocephin. The attending physician told me no hiking for
5-7 days, gave me a script for Doxycycline, and discharged me. I went to sleep that night wondering what the
hell was going to happen to my wilderness excursion, but that would be decided
for me shortly.
The next morning Margie woke me up, wanting to look at my
foot before Jim went off to the hospital.
It was still pretty swollen and hot, but it appeared the red streak had
retreated, slightly, down to my shin.
Jim recommended I go see a podiatrist; again, I followed his suggestion.
I called my sister, Anna, the night before and told her the
news, now it was time to inform my parents.
I had already come to terms that I would not be able to continue but I
did not know how the next step would play out.
I looked for ways home, bus rides from Knoxville and plane tickets from
Charlotte. Anna was going to meet me,
coming from the area on her 3 days off, and we planned on going to Knoxville.
Margie, on her day off, drove me the 30 minutes to the
podiatrist’s office. Another set of
X-rays were in store and another person I had to tell my story. Well, I’m not sure what I expected when I
walked into that office, but I was not mentally prepared for what was in store.
Dr: “Well, I know you probably don’t want to hear this, you
having been on this long hike for several weeks and you probably have just now
settled into it.”
I thought, “It’s ok,
I’ve already come to terms with stopping for a week or two.”
Dr: “But with the state your foot is in and the rapid onset
of symptoms and that red streak…”
“Here goes him telling me I’m going to have to quit for a
few weeks.” I thought
Dr: “I think you need to be admitted to the hospital.”
“WHAT?”
Me: silent (imagine that, I don’t think I said a word)
He tells me he is going to call some colleagues in Asheville
who do hospital rounds. He then goes on
in the next five minutes conveying the seriousness of the situation and
thoroughly freaking me out. He says that
depending on how deeply the infection had infiltrated would determine the
recovery time. Amputation was very
unlikely, but... “But…why say but? No,
there is no but.” I thought.
Well, change of plans.
I was a direct admit to Mission Memorial Hospital in Asheville. Margie drove me there. Anna met me there. I was really there. I hadn’t been in one place for more than a
day since we left over a month ago. How
long would this take?
Margie stayed until I got situated and all I could do was
wait. The podiatrists wouldn’t be there
until around 7 or 8 at night. There was
talk of debridement (cleaning of wound/excision of dead tissue and infection)
so I did not eat anything. Then around 3
they say, go ahead, eat, they won’t do anything tonight. Well, first thing Dr. Moore talks about is
debridement. “When did you last eat?”
she asked. “Haha, for real?” I thought. I had to wait until midnight for the
procedure.
In the OR they said I was the healthiest patient they had
seen Dr. Moore work on. I guess she
sees a lot of diabetics. All said and
done, it took about 40 minutes and I was back in my room asleep. Thanks be to Anna for staying with me for 2 ½
days and for sleeping in a chair and all on her days off work.
So basically I waited around for days for the cultures to
come back so the infectious disease doctor could figure out what oral
antibiotic to give me. Meanwhile, I got
IV antibiotics, slept a lot, and had to explain to countless people what had
happened. I also had more X-rays
(totaling 3 sets in 2 days). I finally
got out of there after 3 ½ days and my parents came up (thank you) to take me
back home, which is where I’ve been for 2 days.
Hopefully in a short time I can get back out there; I do still have both
feet and ten toes. I know this was a bit
anticlimactic, but I realized it was getting longwinded and I needed to finish
this up.
----> ****To recap this whole ordeal; I got some blisters, blisters
got infected, walked some, met up with some extremely helpful people, went to
the ER, went to a podiatrist who scared me, went to the hospital, sat around
for a few days, got antibiotics, went home and that is where I am now; bored by
sitting. The food ain’t so bad, though.
I want to say thank you so much to Margie and Jim for
everything. They went above and beyond
in order to take care of not just me, but all of us. They called every day I was in hospital just
to see how everything was progressing and to see if they could be of any help. It was a blessing to have run into them at
the time we did; my situation could have been much worse without timely
intervention.
So in case you noticed I was missing from some previous
conversation, or maybe you had no idea I was even on the trip, that’s my story
and maybe, at some point, I’ll be able to go further on up the road.
Here's some photos from the day after we left Erwin, TN. The campsite we found was my favorite by far, everything seemed to work out this day. Great water, great fire, and great location.
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| Ed (formerly Jax, currently Jude) creating fire with bolts from his eyes. |
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| Trying to capture the little glimpse of sunset we got. |
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