We went back to Philly Wednesday afternoon and William and Mary put us up for the night after feeding us a nice supper. I felt like we kept them up and didn’t realize they sacrificed their own bedroom for us til after “lights out”. It was a wonderful gesture but we felt bad. Mary made us breakfast Thursday morning then took us to the Septa train station. Public transportation can be confusing but we wanted to give it a go; it seems that “When in Rome…” I like to learn as much as I can.
We went from Exton to 30th St Station then we walked to Perelman Center. On the way to Perelman we saw what may be the most helpful sign in Philadelphia. So intuitive.
It was supposed to rain but it held off and we even had a few moments of sunshine break through and light up our walk.
I had enough time to get the chest X-Ray they had ordered then head upstairs to see Dr Desai. Turns out the good doctor had an emergency surgery about 3 am Thursday morning and we were to see him at 10:45. Our appointment was a bit beyond an hour late but he didn’t rush us once we got our turn.
Instead of sunshine and roses, it kinda felt like a kick in the guts as we had initially been led to believe there was NO ACTIVE INFECTION when the surgeon was in there only to have him reiterate Thursday that there was way more damage from the infection than he expected. He also said there WAS a significant infection at the time of the surgery and he cut away A LOT of tissue to be certain the damage and infection was removed. He went on to say that if I have ANY additional infection it would be likely to end badly as there’s nothing left to stitch to; precluding any further repairs. To make sure there is no further infection, Dr Desai wanted me on “suppressive antibiotics” for another 6 months (to start with). He contacted (the ID Doc) Dr Tirupathi and they discussed it. As much as I am concerned about being on oral antibiotics for 6 months after being on IV ANTIBIOTICS for 14 weeks, I do trust Dr Desai and I believe his personal experience trumps anything from any textbooks. Textbooks don’t discuss a complex surgery such as he performed on me and since Dr Desai does a multitude of these “special cases” we will trust. I still firmly believe God’s hand led us to Dr Desai and because of God and the Doctor, I have a second chance. Dr Desai did lift my restrictions except I am not supposed to lift more than 1/3 of my weight…
We had been told by Tom McC that if we get a chance while in Philadelphia we needed to check out Reading Terminal Market. http://www.readingterminalmarket.org/
The rain had started and Rita got us an Uber driver to take us from Perelman to RTM. What a deal, it was under $9 and stress free; our driver was a Philadelphian for the past 15 years and darted through the streets as if laser guided. She even spoke English and was quite informative as we always seem to have questions. There were tons of food vendors, bakeries, etc. I had to try a Steak and Cheese sub I mean geez it was Philly right and Rita got a Turkey Reuben (some call that sandwich a Rachel). Truth be told I liked hers better.
From Reading Terminal Market we walked to Jefferson Station and got on the train back towards Exton. We had been in contact with Will via text and told him what train we were on. Will jumped on at 30th Street and met us. After an hour on the train, he took us back to his place.
Once back to Will and Mary’s place we got to see Lizzie’s chickens and check out the equipment the Davidson Boys Landscaping uses to get their work done. All 4 kids are very well behaved, musically talented and not afraid to work.
Since we headed home between 4 and 5pm they told us an alternate way to get to Route 100. It helped get us onto the turnpike probably 20 minutes faster than the way we came in.
We stopped in Chambersburg for supper and saw another awesome rainbow. Wishing I had a better zoom on my cell. Yes it would have looked better w/o the glare from the window and w/o the buildings but I think you can see how vivid it was.
We were blessed to have a safe trip and overall a good trip. I am concerned about my immune system as we still do not know how I got an infection in the first place. Taking antibiotics will have benefits and risks like anything we do medically. Taking probiotics and doing the NutriBullet shakes will help but we must trust Father God for His continued protection for the rest.
Be Blessed
Sam
Youre quite a blessing.
How are you doing now, Sam?