In the hospital.

Yep, I've been in the LUMC for almost 5 days now. How did I get here? What happened? How am I doing this post. I will answer that one first.

I made Brian bring me my computer for those times were I was board Dutch TV just isn't entertaining for me. I found out there was a Internet connection. As I slowly have the energy I get on a post a little bit more and write about my fun experience her.

A lot of people ask "Why am I in the hospital".... I say... "I stubbed my toe". Which is the truth. I stubbed my toe on Thursday night on the end of the table. It pulled up my toe nail, it bleed a bit and it immediately swelled and began throbbing. I went to bed with an ice pack rapped around my foot.

On Friday I went to the beach with my friend Erna to meet my friends, Amy, Angie, and Claire. Believe me with my sunburn there was no plan for any type of allowing the sun to see my body, I was just really looking forward to good conversation. Erna and I parked at a different part of the beach then they did and I couldn't find where they were at. My foot hurt so bad after searching I bit I gave up and sat down. I was so glad I didn't walk far away from where we had parked because about 2 hours later I started getting really cold and feeling really sick. I asked Erna if we could go and made the painful short trek back to the car.

By time I got home I lay down on the couch and just shivered. I felt so sick. I decided to try to take a shower to warm up and then I laid down on my bed for a while.

Around 5pm I started thinking about Susan. I promised to pick up Susan from the train station at 6:00 to make it to our ward temple night. Susan doesn't have a car so she rides down to my train station and I take her the rest of the way. I knew if I didn't pick her up know one else could. I didn't want to leave here. I began thinking about how busy this month was and how this really was my only chance to go to the Temple. So I began praying and asked Heavenly Father if I should go, make it so I could go. At 5:30, I got out of bed, got dressed went to the Temple had a nice session. Put my own name on the temple prayer roll (I hope that isn't to selfish of me.) Then I went home. I got lost driving home with my GPS but thank fully it worked its way out of what ever really bad turns I took. I love my GPS.

When I got home, I sat down on the couch and began shivering again. Heavenly Father really does bless you when you need to do his work.

Saturday morning I was throwing up and had a 104 fever. My foot was swollen past my ankle and there was a visible red line going from my toe up my foot. Brian, had to force me out of bed and get me dressed and take me to the weekend doctor. The wait (45 minutes) seemed like an eternity. The doctor saw me when she called me name and said "you are sick". I told her what was going on and she said I either had a blood infection or a bone infection and to go to the hospital.

Off to the hospital we went, the saw me asked 2 questions took my temperature and put me on a bed in a room. Brian left to go feed the girls because they hadn't had lunch yet and he needed to find a sitter for them. The Anger family in our ward had volunteered to take our kids so we could go on a date and we were taking there kids this Friday. Brian went and found there number got the girls cleaned up and feed and then asked if they could take our kids early. They were so sweet and offered to take them over night however visiting hours are only from 2:00-4:00 and 6:00-8:00. They let Brian stay through non-visiting hours to find out what was going on but they sent him home by 8:00 and I was on my own.

The first day they did a lot blood test and x-rays put me on antibiotics and such and finally moved me into my own room. My Room mate was a nice quite old lady. It was a nice room to be in. On Sunday she went home. I had the room all to myself, I didn't have to worry if I will wake up my roommate while I throw up or what ever in the middle of the night. They did more blood work. In fact every day they have done blood work and they haven't told me why until yesterday I'll explain it later. They examined my toe and found that the swelling in my foot had gone down but my toe was one really big blue lollipop looking thing but not so edible. (yuck!) They marked with a pin where the blue was and wanted to see if the antibiotics made it get less the next day. So we waited with lots of pain and flue symptoms I waited until the next day.

Monday morning came and at 8am everyone came to look at my toe (6 different doctors). My toe was now 2 times as blue as before, the infection was winning over the antibiotics. It was decided that they needed to take me into surgery to cut of my toe nail and examine what is making my toe so blue. This was a happy moment for me because maybe the sharp shooting throbbing pain in my toe might come to an end. There was hope.

I was taken into surgery and given a choice do you want local pain killers, do you want to be numbed from the legs down. I looked at the man and said.. "If you are cutting on any part of my body, I will be asleep for it and completely unaware of anything you are doing." Although putting me to sleep wasn't an option it became an option and off to sleep I went. Those were the happiest sleeping hours of my life.

But then I here "Mrs. Ashcroft, Mrs. Ashcroft wake up." I said "No, I don't want to." They said I had to, so I opened my eyes and looked at them hoping it would satisfy them so I could go back to sleep. But NO, that was just enough for me to realize how much pain my toe was it. In fact I started crying.

With painkillers the pain was less I was back in my room and I slept most of the rest of the day. I was in and out enough to realize that in the afternoon the took the bed out of the room. I knew they were going to get some one to bring them up but who? About 4 hours later came a man. Followed by a serious of people. Detectives police asking all sorts of questions. I really wished that my dutch was better. Why did my Dutch have to be so bad. If I'm going to be stuck with a MAN room mate, at least it is an interesting one.

Tuesday morning I woke up and all the doctors wanted to see my toe so it was un-bandaged. O man was it so gross. (Let me just say now that I asked Brian to bring me my camera many times but he forgot. This was one thing I wanted a picture of) My toe was missing more then its toe nail some flesh was gone and they had drilled 3 wholes down to the bone (yes I can see my toe bone). I am so glad I was asleep. I guess there was all sorts of infection in there they had to get out. Good thing is, I don't need pain killers now and although my toe hurts it really is healing well.

After all doctors clear away, my room mate and I get to talk. I asked what happened to him and he seems to have been jumped just before he got home and stabbed in the back and punctured his lung..... "over nothin" he said. He later in the day calls his friend Peter. My best translation of his dutch was "you were my life long friend, why did you do this to me." Peter hung up on him and he declared "f--- You" a few times more then I wanted to here. Police came in later with a photo and he said "yea that is Peter "sack him". I guess he had the wrong friend.

The rest of my stay is doing pretty boring since the surgery each day I'm feeling a lot better. My kidney's reacted to the medicine so they are switching things around trying to find a medicine that will fight the infection and not kill my kidneys.

My roommate got moved to a different floor today it is lonely being in a room all by yourself all day long. He was a chatty one too. Not always to me. He chatted on the phone a lot to his sister, his friends, his lawyers, the detectives. I kept trying to make my Brain work to translate the dutch but really honestly only the f---- you's were coming through loud and clear. Still miss all the noise.

It has taken me all day to right this post so I still get tired here and there but I am so happy Brian brought me my computer and the hospital has a wireless Internet for patient. It has made my life so much more pleasant. It gave me a project to do today. Hopefully I will be out as soon as my kidneys are normal again.

Thank you to everyone who is helping to take care of my children while Brian still has to run to work here and there. You don't know how wonderful you are.

Last If anyone has read this all the way through I need help on one thing. I need a XXL night shirt big and comfortable one to where while here in the hospital. They say I can have my own night shirt which would be great because they want me to get up and star walking but their hospital gone in front is a mini skirt and in back there isn't enough fabric to cover the bum. So women from the Netherlands. Where do I send Brian to get a nice big comfortable nightshirt?