The epic of the Kankles...

Behold the kankles! I had some swelling in my feet when I got off the plane. It actually usually happens if I don't remember to walk around a lot and annoy all the people trying to sleep peacefully on a 747. (Which is a vain pursuit anyway unless you are tired to the point of hallucinating.) It was a little annoying, but went away by the end of the next day. I thought I was home free... no worries at all. No problems at the Frary home. Completely normal looking feet. With real ankles.

And then there was the grueling overnight bus trip from the Frarys to Chiangrai. Twelve hours on a bus. GRANTED it was the most AMAZING BUS EVER! Really... you've never experienced anything like it! More leg room and nicer seats than any plane flight I've ever been on! BUT... 12 hours of sitting. We did have like 2 pit stop breaks... one of them longer so that we could get some food. At the end of it all, Susan Staples picked us up from a really cool coffee shop by the bus station.

My feet were a little swollen after getting off the bus. Okay... they were considerably swollen. I was a little freaked out. We walked around a Hmong villiage on the way to Chiang Khong where Susan lives and works. They swelled more. It was gross. Truly frightening.

I didn't want to spoil everyone's day by going to the doctor. Especially since here you don't just go to the doctor. You go to the hospital. In my mind a hospital is for people who are facing death, not people who are facing ballon-feet. So I declined Susan's offer to go to the nice hospital in Chiangrai right off the bus. Stupid me.

Well... in Chiang Khong they got worse. Truly monsterous. It was really getting uncomfortable (not painful mind you...) to walk. It was really freakin me out. And we were within walking distance of the hospital. So finally at like 8 PM I decide to go. I know... I'm an idiot. But at least I went.

The hosoital was a lot of fun. I was sort of a novelty. The doctor had me do every test conceivable. If I'd known they were gonna draw blood and make me pee in a (VERY small and easy to miss) cup I would have skipped the whole thing!

Susan came to check on us after an hour and a half or so (She'd been teaching her English class). It was so comforting to hear how the very hospital I was in had misdiagnosed a patient with appendicitis and tried to talk him into letting them do an appendectamy only to have the much better hospital in Chiangrai prove that he didn't have appendicitis. And then they told a woman who's appendix was bursting that she was making it all up! The good hospital in Chianrai scolded her because she'd nearly been dead!

At the end of the day, the doctor had no idea what was wrong, but gave me a couple meds to help reduce the swelling. I slept with my feet propped up and started the meds in the morning as instructed. Slowly, the swelling reduced. After the second night with my feet propped up, I had real ankles again!

Thanks so much to all you who prayed! I feel like Larry the Cucumber, except that instead of "I love my lips," I'm saying, "I love my feet."