Date: 2008-07-02
To: MRSA sucks!
Miles today: 0.0

After Catawba the large group of us decided to go to Bonnaroo in Manchester TN. Dirty Girl, Pilot, Truckin', and My Way procured Greyhound bus passes. Atreyu, Voodoo, Spring Loaded and I left Catawba that Saturday and were fortunate to make it to Chatanooga, TN. that evening. Our first hitch on Hwy 81S was golden. JennyJo Woods was a Priest (yes a female priest) who not only moved us a couple hours up the road but also treated us to dinner in Abingdon, VA. From there we had a couple small hitches one we took mainly to keep Atreyu from beating the crap out of some redneck locals near Bristol. The final ride we got to Chattanooga was from a Mexican family. Voodoo, Spring Loaded, and I could understand a little Spanish each, enough to put together that they we commenting on our smell and laughing about how and what gringos smelled like. 3 hours later we were in Chattanooga where we got a room and hit up the Waffle House. The next morning when we were finding breakfast we ran into Manuel again and made sure to let him know we had a chance to shower that night. On the way to breakfast we found a crackpipe and one new left-footed shoe. So we kept an eye out for a one legged crackhead or a crackhead walking in counter-clockwise circles. Finally, we got out with one last hitch to Manchester, TN. Hotels were reasonable because it was not time for Bonnaroo yet so we hung out and sang Kareyoke. The skirts came in on Sunday and Truckin' got a room to rest his swollen cankles. Evidently when you leave trail and just sit for several hours straight your ankles swell. Not to mention the guys were still in shock over their Greyhound experience. We sang some more Kareyoke that night. The next few days were spent helping set up the vendor we were working with. In this time others from the trail came in like Bearpaw, Windjammer, Rambo, Poker, Resin, and the New Bitch. During the day Saturday the 14th my right leg started to feel very sore and by the end of my shift I had difficulty walking. After my shift I went to the medical tent at Bonnaroo thinking I had been bitten by a spider and they prescribed some antibotics. I was out of commission and could not work anymore.The doctor suggest that I no longer use the $5 showers because he says that is probably where I picked up this infection. We all got another room Monday night and Tuesday I had to go to Nashville to rent a van for the 10 of us to get back to trail. I am never going to take one for the team again because the rental was in my name and therefore I was the only one insured to drive it. We stayed in Catawba so Pilot and I could pick up our packages at the PO and the next day we were going to Waynesboro so everyone could Aqua blaze. I had to get the rental to DC by 2:00pm and barely made it with 3 minutes to spare otherwise I would have been charged another days rental. From the rental drop off place I went to the emergency room where the Doc decides to lance the infection. I could see the local anesthetic spurting out of the boil mixed with pus from the wound. It was quite painful. They take a swab of whatever is seeping out of my leg and prescribe some pain meds for me. The infection only spreads in the next few hours so I had to keep squeezing it. I finally saw a dermatologist and he took a brief look and set an appointment with a surgeon immediately. My surgeon told me that the lancing was only spreading the infection and set up an appt for me the next day to go under the knife. My post-op confirmed it was MRSA. In the mean time, I have another great friend from the trail who lives near DC and is allowing me to stay with him until I get better. Heald and Chou Chou who had hiked in '06 have been awsome these past couple weeks after Bonnaroo. It is now almost 2 weeks after my surgery and there is no sign of infection. However, I have a nasty hole in my leg which I have to stuff with fresh gaws daily. Though I can walk fine now, I do not wish to become infected again. I guess another 2 weeks and I ll be able to hit the trail with a well dented pocket book and a new scar.