We landed in Boston late and the first shock for me was the Christmas decorations. We had seen none in Praia and I had almost forgotten our custom here of decorating so completely. The Boston airport looked beautiful with huge Christmas trees. The second shock was the cold as we climbed into the shuttle that took us to our hotel. I had only brought cotton skirts and blouses to Cape Verde so I was hardly prepared for Boston.
The first thing we did in the hotel was drink from the tap (no filter) and turn on the TV (something in English). The next morning we had to get up very early to catch a flight to Dallas. We had a one hour layover just minutes from Jessica's home where Danielle was visiting. But alas this is the Saturday after Thanksgiving and the busiest travel day of the year. There was no way we could go out to see them and make it back in through security to catch our flight in the little time we had. So close ... It hurt. We did call them from the airport. But still ...
From there we flew to Salt Lake City. One of Paul's friends picked us up as he and Mark, with family, were driving back from having Thanksgiving with Grandpa in Las Vegas. Once at Paul's apartment we picked up our car and drove right to Walmart. What were we thinking entering Walmart on the Saturday after Black Friday?! It was insane but we were able to buy a phone and minutes to put on the phone. We called our children to tell them we were there safely and what our phone number was. Then we called the doctor as we were instructed. I honestly didn't think he would see me until Monday but within an hour of us calling, he opened his office to examine me. Over two hours later, he had seen my ear, consulted with his partners and lance my eardrum. It was bulging so much that after lancing it, he had to suck out the infection behind it. One word - ouch! Then he had to figure out what to give me. I am allergic to the most effective antibiotic for this type of thing so he went with another oral antibiotic and gave me some antibiotic ear drops.
When we finally got back to Paul's apartment he was home but Mark and Mandy had already left to get up to Brigham City before it got to late. The grandchildren were disappointed as where the grandparents.
I spent the next few days laying around Paul's apartment. I was so sure that I would just bounce back now that I had been treated properly. But by Wednesday of the next week I felt worse. I had actually fainted twice. I went back to the doctor and they discovered that a lot more had drained out of my ear and had hardened on my eardrum, which was causing pain. The doctor had to scrape it all off my eardrum. Another word - ouch! They also determined I needed to be put on an IV antibiotic. We went from there to the hospital but after 8 tries they could not get an IV into my arm. Finally they gave me something to eat and lots and lots to drink. Then they brought in an ultrasound machine and found a vain big enough. Sigh. We went to the hospital every day after that for a week. Finally they determined the infection was gone but the eardrum had not closed back over. Normally a lanced eardrum will close up in three to five days. It had been two weeks and no healing. They had to put a patch on my ear and told us that the patch is designed to fall of when the hole is gone. We would have to wait at least 2 weeks, as the doctor felt it would be at least that long before the patch would dissolve. He also suggest I get checked out for the fainting spells and see if anything secondary was going on as my strength was not returning. (It was later determined that all of this may have been a bout with the shingles - in my ear. That would explain the pain and also why I did not respond to the antibiotics at the first. I had had a case of shingles many years ago so this was not as intense but enough to cause problems and eventually bring on a bacterial infection in the ear.)
Waiting a few more weeks was a bit of a disappointment. We were anxious to get back to Cape Verde but it was also a silver lining. We were going to be with our family for Christmas, or at least with part of them.
I also have to say that being in Salt Lake City around the holidays is inspiring and very comforting. The lights on Temple Square, the Nativity exhibit and the Temple lit made for a beautiful and quaint picture. When it snowed it felt like we were in a snow globe.
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