Hey, I’m back!
So, the 3day did not quite go as I expected this year. I figured my time would probably come, considering I’ve had virtually no problems at all for the past two walks. This time, I was the fallen homie. A couple nights before the event, I started having some pains that I tried to disregard as nothing major. I had some discomfort during the walk on Friday, so I called my doctor and asked what to do. She told me that if I had the same pains or a fever that night, I should go to urgent care. I finished the 20 miles that day and felt fine til dinner, when it started to become apparent that something wasn’t right. I flopped around with a fever that night and had bizarre, panicky dreams. In the morning, the fever was gone, and I felt fine. My legs and feet were good, too; I had the first blisters I’d ever gotten on the 3day, but who didn’t have blisters? Wendy’s were the size of her head. After much discussion and some crying, we decided that I should walk with them to the first cheering station at mile 7.6, and from there Matt could take me to the doctor. Hopefully it’d be nothing too serious, and I could come back soon. By the second mile, my fever was returning. While I was waiting to be picked up by a sweep van, we met another girl who wanted to wait, too; Wendy told her we needed to each make sure the other didn’t pass out, and they walked on. I took a van from mile 3 to the stop at mile 6, and waited for Wendy, Melissa, and Stephanie. We walked the remaining mile and a half to the cheering station, and Matt and I went to seek out a doctor. I drove over to urgent care at Fairview Southdale right as it opened. They sent me to the emergency room. I spent the next 7 hours there, four of them in a hospital bed. I kept wondering how the hell that had happened. If you don’t want to read about girl-parts, you can just skip past the next paragraph. I suspected it was a problem with my new IUD, because infections are really common at the beginning. In the ER, I had an ultrasound and a pelvic. The good thing is that everything is as it should be: the IUD is in the right place, and everything looks normal. I do have some kind of infection, but they can’t tell exactly what it is without taking the thing out and investigating further. They told me they’d put me on antibiotics, and I should be fine within a couple of weeks. Also, they told me I was really dehydrated, so they put me on a drip while I was there. That made me feel a lot better, though I’m still pretty frustrated by that fact: last year on the 3day, we learned exactly what happens when people don’t properly hydrate. We were so good about it. I couldn’t possibly have taken in any more water, or I’d have been peeing in the bushes in between stops. I’m just going to assume it was exacerbated by the infection (and vice versa), and that under normal conditions, I’d have been doing exactly what I should have been. Sunday morning, Matt and I met the rest of the Ladies’ Auxiliary at the cheering station near the capitol. It was really incredible to be on that end of it for once, seeing the long parade of people all there for the same reason I was. We clapped til our hands were sore and handed out mardi gras beads, ‘I love boobs’ pins, and stickers with Wendy’s dog, Riley, on them (he’d become a celebrity amongst the walkers). Tom, Willis, Matt and I went to eat, and then stopped home to change so I could rejoin my team at the end. I met up with Wendy at the last pit stop and we sat and waited for Stephanie and Melissa. Wendy’s blisters were so bad she could hardly walk. Melissa had her knee wrapped in gel, with a brace around it so it wouldn’t move at all. Stephanie left the stop with a bag of ice taped to the back of her knee. We were a mess, just like we always are on the 3day, and we crossed the finish line together. Next year, we’ll be back. Of course. But next year, we’ll be on the crew. They’re the people who keep us going along the way, and we love them (not just because Kaye and Jumi set up our tents and brought pizza to us at the end of the walk). It was so awesome to be able to cheer the walkers, I want to have that experience on the crew as well. Also, crew members don’t have a fundraising minimum to meet, so we can focus on helping people who aren’t that great at it. We’ll get a break from the blisters, too! Tomorrow I’m going back to see my regular doctor, and I have my fingers crossed that she’ll adjust my medication. The ER doctor seems to have gone with a scorched-earth policy as regards my antibiotics, one of which is used to treat people who have been exposed to biological weapons. I’m almost certain I don’t have anthrax, dudes. It’s affecting my vision, my sleep, making me want to throw up every time I eat, and I have this seriously awesome corroded-penny taste in my mouth all day. I’m supposed to take them for two weeks, and I’m worried I might sprout another limb by then. It’s concerning. In every other way, things are awesome as always. We’re going on a date tonight, to see Snoop tomorrow (HELL YES), and to the fair on Thursday before heading off to Seattle for Labor Day weekend. Go take a look at my many 3day photos, please, and I’ll be back again before you know it! Jenni