January Snow Days, Part II

Continuing with the story of our snowy weather last month…

So Tony’s and my expedition through the snow to get supplies in town was ill-fated. Three miles from home, and a mile and a half from the highway (plus another four miles into town), the truck got stuck in a snow bank.

Tony tried to dig his truck out, but beneath the snow was a scum of fresh mud from the rains that came before the snow. His tires spun fruitlessly, and we knew that there was no way out.

We made the decision to walk home, based on an arrangement that my younger brother Lehi would get Tony’s other 4x4 vehicle and meet us as we walked towards home. The fact that someone would meet us at least half way was comforting.

For the first ten minutes, the walk was easy. We walked in the truck’s tire tracks. But the wind shortly blew snow over ruts, and we were trudging through knee deep snow.

This was very strenuous activity for me. I had not done much physical activity since I was diagnosed with a blood clot in my leg last August. In fact, as my heart rate shot up and I got short of breath, I started wondering how all of this physical activity was going to affect my clot.

A few minutes after we started walking, the sun dipped below the horizon, and the cold settled in. I had to stop and pant every few steps, and soon Tony was ahead of me. As it grew dark, we got a phone call from my brother Lehi. He had got the other vehicle running, but he got stuck on a half a mile away from our house.

It sunk in – there was no one coming for us. I would have to walk all the way home in the dark, in the snow. Tony disappeared over the horizon, and I was alone. Exhaustion was starting to overwhelm me. It is one thing to walk three miles. It is quite another to walk that far in over two feet of snow.

I felt like stopping to rest, but the cold would start seeping into me every time I stopped. I knew that if I stopped, I would freeze to death, so I pushed on.

One of the most frustrating moments was when my oldest brother called to see how I was doing. I told him that I was tired, but pushing on. He wished me luck and then hung up. To me, it felt like someone telling me, “I hope you make it.”

My hands were numb. I couldn’t feel my feet, and there were a few minutes where I started to actually get worried. I started to pray out loud.

I followed the trail that Tony blazed. He left the road and began to cut across a large meadow that would take us more directly to our house. On the horizon, I could see the flicker of headlights where my brother Lehi was stuck. I started to walk towards that point of light. A fog rolled in, and soon I couldn’t see the headlights. I couldn’t see anything. I was walking blind through the snow. I kept heading in the same direction, and soon I could see the headlights again. But there was this weird phenomenon where it seemed that no matter how much I walked, the headlights seemed to be getting further and further away.

After what seemed forever, I arrived at the truck. Tony and Lehi were trying to dig it out. I got into the truck and sat down. My muscles were buzzing. My head felt numb, and the warm air from the heater hit my lungs. I started coughing and coughing until I gagged and nearly threw up.

Tony got the car going, and we started for home. We got stuck again, but only one hundred yards away from the house. So I walked home, where I was greeted by Martha, Temple and the worried kids.

They sat me down by the fire and wrapped a blanket around me. I didn’t want the food or hot chocolate that they had prepared. All I wanted was tepid water. I immediately went to bed and fell into a deep sleep. I woke up a couple of hours later, and both of my legs were cramping up very badly. I writhed in pain for a while until the cramps went away.

But the next day, when I woke up, I felt better than I had in months.

That Saturday, my brother-in-law David returned home in his four-wheel drive truck, bringing some of our food with him. He got stuck in almost the same spot that we did and had to walk home.

Sunday was a beautiful, sunny day. The sun glistened off of the white landscape. I made a decision. I had survived the other night. I was tired of being afraid of physical activity due to the blood clot. I don’t know what came over me, but I decided to hike back out to David’s truck and get the food. Temple decided to go with me. So did my children Sophie and Christian. This time we were better equipped. It way daytime, and we took Gatorade with us.

We set off in the tracks that I had made previously. Tony joined up with us, determined to get his truck. I let them get ahead of me. I set my own pace and enjoyed the walk. We made it to David’s truck, and then decided to push on to Tony’s truck. We managed to get unstuck, drove into town, got supplies, but on the return trip, we got stuck again. And had to make the trip back. But I felt good after this walk.

We were snowed in for close to a week, and the kids had to stay home. After the county sent snow plows, we were finally able to get the car out. But then we were forced to stay in Concho for close to another week, because the mud was so horrible that our poor sedan couldn’t make it home.

What a joy it was to finally make it home. And what a joy it was to experience such a snowfall. Still, I will be glad once the summer is here.

Slow Recovery

So after I got back from Montana, I spent an entire week on my back, trying to recover from DVT, or having a blood clot in my calf.

I went to the doctor, and he took a blood sample to see how thin my blood is. Then he instructed me to stay off of my leg as much as possible.

Within a couple of days, the swelling went down. It seemed as if the swelling acted as some sort of barrier to the pain. Because as soon as the swelling went down, the pain increased. It was almost more than I could stand. The doctor had instructed me to only take over the counter ibuprofen. I was downing a cummulative 1200mg a day. Also, I was sleeping several times during the day. It seemed like sleep helped with the pain.

A week later, I was not feeling well, but the next event was upon me - the Coconino County Fair in Flagstaff, Arizona for the Labor Day weekend.

I was pleased to see my Muslim friend Ali there. I was also pleased that my friend Joy, whom I have known since high school, allowed me to stay at her home. Having a comfortable bed to go to after work helped.

The fair in Flagstaff was busy (but rainy). I sat behind the booth in a camp chair, with my leg propped on a pillow while I took orders. But leg started swelling up again anyway.

On Sunday, my wives and some of my younger children made the two hour drive to the fair. While I worked, they had a fun time at the fair. We also had a fun time visiting with my friend Joy and her husband, and we took the long drive home the next morning to see some other dear friends in the Verde Valley (and introduced them to Temple for the first time.)

The next day, the swelling had spread up my thigh. It was all the driving. After consulting with my doctor, I made a tough call. I was due to leave the next morning for the Utah State Fair. That was a ten day event. But the weekend in Flagstaff showed me that, even with my leg propped up, my leg was going to swell as long as I worked. The driving was also not good on me. Logic dictated that traveling to Utah was going to make my leg worse, rather than better.

So I opted not to go to Utah.

I don't know if you are aware of what a tough decision this was. Utah State Fair was my last chance in the foreseeable future where I will make any money. The fair season is ending soon. I don't know what I'm going to do after that. Going to Utah, I would have made enough money to take care of our bills for September and some of October. Not going, I won't have any means to pay my bills. At all.

But I knew that my leg was not going to get better unless I stayed down with my leg elevated. So I decided to stay home.

And I have been going stir crazy! I love being with the kids. But all I do is lay in bed, reading. That is fun for about three days. When I want to watch a movie - which is not often, as we are trying to conserve gas for the generator - I have to rely on my own DVD library.

But the most frustrating is not being able to go out and provide for my family. I can assure you - this is anathema to the self worth of a man, not being able to bring home the proverbial bacon. Worse still, Temple has been out looking for work. Because my research has shown that blood clots can take MONTHS to dissolve. And there is a real chance that this could be permanent. In other words, who knows when I will be able to next go out and work?

And there is a part of Temple that resents this, I know. Years ago, there was a couple of months when she was the only one with a job, and the only one working. She has never let me play that down. There is a part of her that understands that I have a life-threatening condition and should not work. But there is another part of her that only sees the lazy bum, unshaven, in the same pajamas for a week, crashed out on the couch...

What woman wants THAT for a husband??


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