I am so glad that I decided to not “man it out” and wait to go to the hospital. Only waiting a few days could have made the difference between the antibiotics working and me having to cut off my foot. Yes, it looked that bad. The doctor was already concerned that the antibiotics would not work because it was really infected. I’m sure I would have noticed it was infected sooner had my whole body not been feverish. Only after the fever broke did I notice that there was something really wrong. However, I did the smart thing this time around and my leg is looking so much better.
I’m thinking this may be my last night in the hospital. I’ve got other fish to fry right now. I need to find a way to contact Xoom, and get them to respond, so I can get my money. I can’t leave the hospital until the bill is paid and I can’t pay them without the money. I need a real computer, not his phone so I can …. never mind. Just as I was writing that last sentence, I got a text from Xoom saying that the money issue is resolved, and I can now pick up the money.
One of the expats that I don’t even know very well, Cyril (from France) and his wife showed up early this morning to visit me, around 0700. He wanted to know if I needed anything, and they ended up staying around for about 30 minutes or so.
When it got around 0800, I sent Nening to get the money and pay the bills. I figured she might just as well bring me back some coffee and a couple of PB&J’s also, which she did. She returned only about an hour later and we stored all the money in my black bag. We stuffed it in the cabinet in the room and we all watched it like a hawk.
Around 1000 another friend, Bill, showed up to visit. He stayed about 30 minutes also (seems to be a trend) and while he was there the doctor popped in to tell me that things are looking great, and I should be able to go home tomorrow morning. Good news for me. He also was surprised, as most of the doctors are, that my glucose level is normal. These doctors seem to think that just because you are large, you have diabetes. I fool them all the time, but I’m not going to get cocky about it. It might bite me in the butt someday.
Right around 1245 Cyril returned. This time he brought me some spaghetti from Mango. He only stayed a few minutes. His wife was not with him, and he was on his way to meet her but wanted to make a quick stop to bring me something to eat first. Such a nice guy, right?
No sooner was he out the door when Nelson showed up for a visit. He did stay a bit over 30 minutes and he also brought me some Sea Salt & Vinegar Pistachios. I have never tried those before (and still have not). They are in my cupboard waiting for me to open them. That actually sounds like a good thing to try tomorrow.
Around about 1407 (2:07 pm) I took my phone off charge, but it was frozen. It would not do anything. I’m so glad it was not like that earlier in the day or I still would not have had the money. Titing, who was there with me at the time, talked me out of throwing the phone at the wall. Yes, I need a new phone. I don’t use it much, but it comes in handy sometimes. More important things always seem to come up when I think I’m ready for a new phone. I can’t get a new phone this month because of the extra amount I used on the hospital bill, which I will reveal in the final post for tomorrow.
We have been living here for over 13 1/2 years and we still do not have a microwave. I told my wife we would get one in January. A crockpot/slow cooker is also something we’ve been wanting. Titing left to go home to eat just at 1700 (5 pm) and he brought my soup with him. I had soup there that I did not eat because Cyril brought me the spaghetti. The soup needed to be reheated (in a pot, no microwave, remember) but it sure was good when it did make its way back to me. Even in the hospital I tried to maintain my intermittent fasting because I really need to do something to lose weight. At the moment it doesn’t look like exercise is going to be easy to do with the way my leg/foot keeps flaring up.
When he returned with my soup, he also returned with his wife. They, again, spent the night there in the room on a couple of mats on the floor. During the night, when I needed something, Nening was there, always ready to help. The next post will be the last of the series. I’m not sure how long it will be, but I’ll also add in a few other, after the hospital, events.
Salamat Y’all
About the Author
You’re a lucky guy to have caring, honest, loyal folks around you; like Titing and Nening. According to my relatives from Metro Manila, it’s very difficult to find hired help nowadays.
Get well soon!
Nening is “hired help”, almost like an angel from heaven because she works so hard, but Titing doesn’t work for us. He is my wife’s first cousin. We are lucky though to have them around.
The leg that had the infection seems to be healing fine. A couple of days ago my other leg got a pain at the ankle and then behind the knee. Hurt too much to walk. It’s feeling better this morning though. I can walk without much pain but I still can’t bend my knee without pain. Maybe tomorrow.