ouch

Well, I'm back from Pakistan. I returned in one piece, in fact, only to find myself in this compromising position just yesterday evening. No worries, pictures from my trip are on their way, but in the meantime, here's a little taste of the drama behind that glorious white piece of plaster on my leg.

The relatively old, Arabic-style house we live in has had quite a few problems since we moved in, from mice sneaking in to oven doors breaking and leaking air conditioners. This has been a running joke since we never know what's going to happen next. To say the least, here's what happened next. In our bathroom, there is a ceramic counter of sorts very delicately anchored to the wall that holds our sink and toiletries in place. Getting ready for a fun night out, I rested my leg on the counter top for some leverage since I was shaving my legs and the mere weight of my leg, metaphorically speaking, was the straw the broke the camel's back. The entire counter fell from the wall, shattering into hundreds of broken chards that I subsequently slipped and landed on. I had no idea what happened until I looked down to find a pool of blood that had generated from a 2 1/2 inch deep by 6 inch long gash in my right calve muscle and some other beauties on my right side. The reaction from my room mates from seeing the purple muscle within and the multiple layers of fat and skin was enough to convince me that I'd need more than a band-aid.

Fortunately for me, my room mates knew exactly what to do, putting pressure on the wound and wrapping me up tight. Within 5 minutes we were on our way to the Welcare hospital where I stayed for about 5 hours until they were finished with me. The process involved thorough cleaning of the wounds, a tetanus shot, IV, x-rays, around 20 stitches both internally and externally, and a plaster cast to keep things in place. I'm stuck in bed now, taking about 4 pills 3 times a day to save me from pain and infection. I've got a pair of crutches that so far have facilitated one trip to the bathroom as well as 3 different types of apple juice, courtesy of my amazing room mates. I am so rich with wonderful friends and so lucky for them. I think at one point I had 8 people in my little room, complete with kisses and flowers and hands for squeezing. Hopefully someday I can repay the favor. For now, I guess I'll milk this TLC for all it's worth since I'm expected to take about 10-12 days to heal - no driving, walking, drinking, etc. I'm doing some work from home and taking it easy, throwing in a nap here and there and hoping to catch up on some movies and books I've been meaning to consume since I got here.

Sarah took some lovely pictures of the damage so I'll post them on picasa for anyone who's interested. In the meantime, I'm alive and well and lucky in many ways. This still REALLY SUCKS but hopefully it will pass quickly enough so that I am ready for St. Patricks Day at the Irish Village!