AZ Day 15

Day 15 – Sandy


In the morning, Sandy told me that she couldn’t warm up all night. She had the chills, a slight fever, and an upset stomach. She had an infection that she was familiar with and knew that she needed some antibiotics. She also wanted to stop at a tire place and get a new tire for her van, so she asked me to drive her to a local medical clinic – in her van.

First, let me say that, compared to my van, hers is a monster. She also has a Roadtrek but it is the largest model they made. It is four feet longer and at least a foot wider. It is also a Chevy; I have a Dodge. Everything was different about this van: its length, its girth, its instrument panel, its field of vision. I felt like I was driving a yacht in uncharted waters.

We managed to find the Medical center without too much problem and as I pulled into a parking spot, scraped one of her storage compartments up against the curb. I felt horrible; she said not to worry about it. We weren’t in the Medical center long when she came out and said that she had to go to the hospital immediately. Her blood sugar was sky high and the medical staff thought that her infection, an abscess on her abdomen, needed surgical attention.

So, with sweat pouring down, I backed her behemoth out of the parking lot and mangled my way through San Antonio’s streets looking for the hospital. I left Sandy off at the Emergency entrance and told her I would be in as soon as I found a parking spot for the beast. The parking lot was FULL. I drove around and around and finally ended up parking in a handicap parking spot. I felt guilty because I am not handicapped, but it wasn’t my van and Sandy did have a handicap sticker, so I took advantage of it. The one spot that was empty was under a low lying tree which I did not really see until I heard the branches scraping the hell out of her roof. Oh, boy. More guilt and stress.

I was impressed with the hospital, or as impressed as anyone can be with any hospital. The staff was far quicker and attentive than any Emergency room staff I’ve seen in any hospital in Connecticut. Perhaps they weren’t; perhaps it was just my dull, denial, “I don’t want to be here doing this” mood. My emotions were all over the board. I didn’t want to leave Sandy laying in an Emergency room in a strange city, but I didn’t want to be there, either. Who does want to be in an Emergency room?

I stayed with her for three hours before she kicked me out and told me to go take care of Hope. When I left, her condition was not good. Her blood sugar was still elevated, her white blood count was elevated, and they didn’t know the prognosis of her abscess. They wanted to do a CAT scan on her to find out if they could just cauterize the sore or if they would need to surgically take care of it.

So, once again, I had to maneuver around San Antonio and find my way back to the campground in Sandy’s behemoth. Before going back to the campground, I stopped at a tire store and got the spare taken care of for her. At least, that would be one less worry for her once she got back on her feet.

When I got back to the campground, I backed Sandy’s van into her spot and backed right up into a tree. Oh, God, I can’t stand it. My nerves are now shot. I have had her van for a total of five hours and have managed to nearly destroy every inch of it. On top of that, I noticed that the brake or parking lights were on. I couldn’t figure out how to turn them off. Her headlight knob on the dashboard is nothing like mine. It had weird pictures. Eventually, I tore her van apart looking for the operator’s manual, getting more stressed by the moment because I couldn’t find it and felt like a voyeur opening all of her drawers and cabinets. I eventually found it in an overhead compartment over the windshield. After all that work, it was no help. I don’t know what I did, but I eventually got the back lights to turn off.

Sandy has a little Chihuahua named Cody. She is a cute little thing and very quiet. When I got back to the campground, I brought Cody into my van but Hope intimidated her and Olly made ugly faces at her, so I brought her back home to her own van. I spent the rest of the day running back and forth between the two vans taking care of everyone.

By bedtime, I felt bad leaving Cody alone in her van, so I brought her in with us and had her sleep next to me. I don’t think I got much sleep that night. Everyone left her alone, but she shook all night. I vaguely remember Sandy telling me that Cody shook all the time. Still, I worried about her and kept wrapping her up in blankets and holding her against me. She eventually stopped shaking when she fell asleep.