Our First Visitors

How exciting – we hosted our first Illinois visitors this weekend! Our friends from the medical world in Peoria, Arthur and Paula, were in North Carolina this weekend. He interviewed for the minimally invasive surgery fellowship in Charlotte on Friday (and was intending to interview at Wake Forest on Monday, but scheduling issues caused a change in that plan).

It was fun showing them the town, going out to dinner, and walking around campus Saturday morning. There really isn’t a connection between us or what we did that day with this picture of the Chapel on campus, but it’s a pretty cool building. The only shred of connection is that Arthur used to be a pastor before entering the medical field, which I think is pretty remarkable as well.

Paula’s Saturday plans initially involved running a half-marathon trail race here, and unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective), that didn’t work out either. She had asked me if I wanted to do it as well, but I knew there was no way I would be prepared for that distance. Plus, when I read the website’s description, I knew it wasn’t for me: “Running this race is a true adventure that requires more concentration than road running. The terrain is rocky and rooty and can be treacherous. Fallen leaves conceal rocks, roots, sticks, and holes.”

This apprehension from the mere race description was further solidified Saturday afternoon after Arthur and Paula left. Chris and I decided to spend the glorious day (a beautiful, sunny 75 degrees) riding our bikes out to Salem Lake and then running the loop around it. We have ridden our bikes on the loop several times, but this was the first time we were going to actually run out there. About 10 minutes in to the run, I stumble on the outcropping of a dark rock. I took a one-legged lunge forward to try to catch myself (to no avail!), and then finished it off with a full-body, two arms outstretched, sliding-into-second type of skid on the sandy/rocky terrain. Right as I hit the rock, I let out a giant gasp (as I do in most startling situations), so Chris was pleased that he at least got to see the whole thing in action. His estimated measurement of my skid marks was 15 feet!

I laid there for a second, hands stinging but otherwise seemingly unhurt, and thought, “I’m gonna be tough here. I’m good. Chris is going to be so impressed that I’m going to just get right up and start running again…” And then I saw the blood trickling down my fingers… Obviously my hand wasn’t gashed open or anything, but there was definitely a lot of blood coming from my hand (Chris will even attest to that) – especially when you consider how tiny the wound actually was. (I can’t even see it today – it was the tiniest pinprick of a hole). I didn’t have a clean swatch of cloth to wipe it on (as my entire torso was covered in the grimy, red sand), so I sat there trying to stop the bleeding with the inside of my sock.

Chris kept telling me to stand up – there was a bug that was going to crawl up my leg. Seriously? A bug? I don’t care! I’m BLEEDING! Between bugs and bleeding, I’ll take bugs any day! After a few more seconds of insisting, I finally stood up. And that’s when my ears got really hot and things started to go dark. I sat down quickly enough so I didn’t actually pass out (I’ve learned to recognize those signs and know that the closer you are to the ground, the better off you are – less distance to fall and all…) And that’s when I started to cry a few tears – dang it! I just wanted to be tough.

We did carry on and finish up our planned route, but for the rest of the run, I had to endure Chris telling me to watch out for every rock we ran by. I suppose I deserved that. But then he also had to ask me if I thought I had MS (as I did trip over an uneven sidewalk a few weeks ago as well) – but I figure it’s not like I’m falling on a flat surface without some sort of catalyst. And then he commented on my vasovagal reaction to the bleeding and asked me how I was ever going to make it through childbirth…Yes, I know…thank you very much. Yet another reason I’m apprehensive about it.

We are having more visitors this week – two who probably hope I get over the childbirth thing soon so that they can have some grandchildren someday… Mike and Jane are coming in for the Clemson game on Thursday night. (It’s the ESPN game of the week – we’ll be sitting behind the Clemson bench about 30 rows up and Chris will be on Wake’s sideline of course, if you want to try to catch a view of us…)

I promise I’ll try not to wipe out or pass out or anything else crazy like that while you’re here!