Grandma Sparkle (my grandson gave me that name...isn't it sweet?) checking in. You know how some people post things on the Internet and then wait for them to go VIRAL.? Well I am going one step beyond. My posting is going BACTERIAL! Here is my story. In mid-January we arrived at the cabin that we stay in while Don is in the Legislature in Pierre. The moment I walked in the door I told Don that something had died in there. A couple of days later the landlord verified that the previous renter, a hunter, had left all of his birds dead and rotting on the linoleum floor. They had cleaned up the mess and I never really thought about the fact that I should scrub the floor well myself. About a week later I developed a cough and I tried an "old wives tale" of slathering Vic's vapor rub on the bottom of my feet and wearing a pair of cotton socks to bed. After doing this a second night I noticed a bright red spot on the side of my ankle. I assumed that the vapor rub had burned my foot. After a painful weekend, an acquaintance of mine happened to be the volunteer Doctor of the Day in Pierre. She looked at my foot and diagnosed it as cellulitis, not a burn. She showed me a small cracked callous on the bottom of my foot which was apparently where infection (presumably from the rotten birds) had entered my system. I started on a course of Bactrim and things seemed to improve. A couple of weeks later I had an infected tooth and my dentist also put me on a course of antibiotics. I think the antibiotics made me feel better...but I really was not healing. I had a small wound on the bottom of my foot and I continued to apply an antibiotic cream and essential oils to it daily. I thought that the wound was healing and that the blackening on it was it scabbing over. I was so wrong! The blackening on my wound was really a flesh-eating bacteria eating away at me and invading my bloodstream! In addition my problems were exacerbated by an untreated high blood sugar issue.
On Monday, June 5, 2017, as my septic body slowly spiraled toward death my Savior Jesus Christ very gently grasped me in His hand and placed me in the middle of an amazing medical team!
"The Lord delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in his unfailing love." Psalm 147:11.
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