Little Buddha

Hey Folks,

When you send out an email telling people you need to have surgery on your leg, you get a lot of questions in return. Hopefully this post will answer some of those questions.

The first weekend in February I was in Sichuan Province and I decided to climb Emei Shan (Mountain). At 3077m tall, it is one of China's highest mountains, and is also known as one of the "five holy mountains" in China. The mountain is dotted with monasteries and temples (one of which I spent a night at), thus it's "holy" status. It is also a "UNESCO World Heritage Site" (something they were very proud of, but means diddly squat to me). It's also famous for its monkey park , varied terrain, and spectacular views.

The first day I headed on up, hiking for eight hours before spending the night at "Elephant Bathing Pool Monastery". Then the next day I woke up at 3:30am and resumed climbing in the hopes of catching the sunrise at the summit. Four hours later when I reached the summit there was so much fog, I couldn't see a thing. Feeling tired, disappointed, but still victorious, I made my way back down the mountain. I was trying to get from the summit to a small village about 40 minutes away so that I could catch a bus to the base of Emei Shan. I was descending an icy/snow-packed staircase when I slipped and started sliding down the staircase. It was a pretty steep staircase, and I had about twenty pounds strapped to my back, so I picked up speed pretty quickly. The only reason that I stopped sliding was because my right leg slammed into the iron hand-rail. Obviously, it hurt.

I was pretty sure nothing was broken, so I made my way down the rest of the stairs to the road, tried unsuccessfully to hitch-hike, and instead walked along the highway for a half-hour before catching the bus to the base. The next day I went back to Chengdu and took it easy at a hostel for a few days, did some laundry, wrote some emails, and tried to stay off the leg as much as possible. But after two days of R&R, I was itching to hit the road again. The leg was bruised and sore, but nothing to really worry about (or so I thought).

I made my way out west, towards the Sichuan/Tibet border. After two days of travel I arrived at my destination, a small little town called Litang, 4500 meters up in the foothills of the Tibetan Plateau. It was heaven on earth as far as I was concerned, but unfortunately my time there would be cut short.

Litang, Sichuan

I think it was a combination of too much too soon, combined with the sudden increase in altitude, but as soon as I arrived in Litang, my leg took a turn for the worse. What had previously been nothing more than a bruise on my leg suddenly swelled up like a baseball and turned a rainbow of colors. My ankle, which previously had given me no trouble at all, suddenly swelled up also and turned a really nasty purple (the faint of heart are encouraged to scroll past the following photo):

Ouch.

At this point I realized that the damage might have been more extensive than I originally thought. So after consulting with my nurse (thanks Carrie!) I emailed Maryknoll and let them know I was coming back to Hong Kong earlier than expected. They were great, really supportive, assuring me that the insurance company would cover all expenses, and encouraged me to get to Hong Kong as soon as possible and to not worry about the cost. The only real problem was that I was way out in the middle of nowhere and I knew it would take me awhile to get back. First I had to take an eight hour bus ride through the mountains to the Sichuan/Yunnan border and spend the night in a little podunk town. The next day I had to endure a "memorable" eight hour car ride into Yunnan, where I again had to spend the night. The next day it took ten hours and three flights, but I finally arrived safe and sound at the Maryknoll House.

I went into the hospital for x-rays, which came back negative, and the doctor advised me to take it easy, keep the leg elevated and iced, and said that the swelling would go down with time. I followed the doctors orders, went in for a check-up a week later and he was happy with the progress, but told me to stay off it for another week. After the second week, I called in to see if I could get a refill of my prescription. The doctor was surprised that the swelling hadn't subsided yet, so he called me back in to have a look. I went back in, and he referred me to an orthopedic specialist. After examining the hematoma (Dr. talk for "bruise"), the specialist advised that I undergo a minor surgical procedure, which he said would release the pressure that had built up, would drain the excess blood that had collected, and would allow him to "scoop out" (his words, not mine) the clotted blood that he suspected was the root of the problem. He was afraid that if I didn't go in for surgery and tried to wait things out, the wound might become infected.

So Saturday night I went under the knife, for the first time in my life (if I keep writing in rhyme, I'll never find a wife). Highlights include (A) being too long for the operating table and forcing them to bring in a table extension, and (B) waking up to find my sheets and my left leg splattered with blood (apparently when the surgeon made the first incision, there was so much pressure that a bunch of blood "splurted" all over (again, his words, not mine) (and they did change the sheets....right before I left the hospital). All in all it was pretty uneventful. I got to spend 36 hours with a tube hanging out of my leg to help drain the wound(kind of like a reverse I.V.). That was a unique experience. And now I get to sit around the House one more week, watching movies and getting fat. I have to go back in for a check-up on Friday, and if all goes well I'll be flying back to Jilin on Saturday.

So that's the dramatic conclusion to a vacation for the ages. A million thanks to one and all for your thoughts, emails, well wishes, and prayers this past weekend. They were much needed and much appreciated.

If I have the time (and motivation) this week, I'll try and post some more "uplifting" stories from my travels.

Until Then....