Friday night during my party, I had noticed a red patch on my shin. It was warm to the touch, and kind of throbbed a bit. Not painful, just uncomfortable. I knew exactly what it meant, but ignored it so I could enjoy my party. 🙂 The next morning, however, I let Chris know that a trip to the hospital was in order, and that I may be staying there for a few days. Of course, the kids were very upset when they heard the news. They have been on this roller coaster with me before, and don’t like it one bit. The only consolation I could give them, was that at least I would be in the hospital right down the hill, not the one in downtown Zurich, so it would be easier for Papa to bring them to see me. It didn’t help much. Sophie was just bawling, poor thing, which got me teared up. There were a whole lot more activities planned for the next week, and I really didn’t want to miss any of them. But, when you have a raging bacterial infection in your leg, you kind of have to do whatever it takes to get rid of it. So off to the hospital we went. Chris dropped me off, and told me to call with any updates, while he went back to the kids.
I had brought a book with me to the waiting room, which helped pass the time, although in true Swiss fashion, I only had to wait about 15 minutes to get seen. They took some blood, asked about my history, read the file on when I was admitted last time for the same thing, and then left me to read while they waited for the lab results to come back. Basically, it was exactly what I thought. That strange infection I got several times while expecting Alexandra was back, and I was going to need to stay off my foot and take giant sized antibiotics for a while. But they were going to let me go home! I had to promise the doctor I would stay off of it. He knew me from my last few visits, and I knew him. Youngish guy, long well kept hair, nice smile….Anyway, he was aware of my family situation, lots of kids, but also that I had a good support system in place should I need. Hurray for the Church! So, he agreed that I would probably be able to rest just as much or more, at home than at the hospital and released me. I, of course, made a follow up appointment with my regular doctor for the next week, and that was it. I was free!
I called Chris very excited, and the kids were cheering in the background. Seriously, it is so awesome to have so many adoring fans. He came and picked me up with Sophie and Alexandra in tow. Sophie was off to a school soccer tournament, and needed shin guards in order to play. We don’t have any actual soccer equipment, but cleats weren’t necessary. It wasn’t that serious of a game, but they did want the kids to have some protection. I waited in the car, with my foot up 🙂 while they ran into the store, and then we dropped her off up at school. All the older kids could have participated, but Sophie was the only one in the family who wanted to. She definitely has the most athletic leanings of all the kids.
We stayed to watch the first few minutes of the first game. She was running all over, kicking that ball, we even saw her score a goal! Woohoo! The tournament went from 1 to 5, so Chris went back to pick her up when it was over. Sophie was all grins, as her team had come in first place overall, having scored 17 goals!!! They beat the older kids, which was very, very exciting for her. And they got these cool medals.
All that for a 5 Franc entrance fee, and they had teachers refereeing and drinks for the kids as well. So nice, and she is already excited to do it again next year. Good job, Sophie!