A Fungus Amongus

“Begin your day with an ‘I get to’ mentality instead of an ‘I have to’ thought process… I GET to go to work. I GET to have a busy day. Whatever it may be. We often dress our opportunities as stress, but they are in fact, blessings.”

~ Unknown

I GOT to manage the flesh-eating fungus that has found refuge on my hands.

The inconvenience of seeking medical care and treatment in a town with a population of 6 and no cellular towers, having to say goodbye to the majority of my Tramily, and incurring the costs surrounding another night’s stay- were opportunities. Lessons in acceptance and faith for what I could not yet see.

After a myriad of technical glitches and the commitment to her patient care, I connected with my dermatologist in Pittsburgh via a telemedicine visit while quite literally huddled on the floor in the far East corner of my hotel suite in the village of Fontana Dam, North Carolina. This was the only landing pad that afforded me almost 1 bar of 4G reception. A bar that I was MOST grateful for after over 2 weeks of general practitioners near and far being at a loss for what was plaguing my hands. The Hydrocortisone creme wasn’t working, people!!

She instantly identified that I had come into contact with a thorny plant, of an exact specificity that she was unsure, that had embedded its sap deep into the tissues of my fingers through its punctures. The resultant fungal infection had become inoculated, unable to release itself and heal. I would need to take oral antibiotic pills.

For an entire month.

But the nearest pharmacy was 29 miles away. Not only did I not have a vehicle on hand, but I had walked from Georgia.

I was insistent that Deja and Flamin’ Hot leave for the Smokies without me while I sorted out my affairs. I couldn’t bear the thought of stifling another hiker’s hike despite our intangible bond and the trepidation that we all had in taking on the Smoky Mountains. Now I would have to do it alone the next day.

They simply wouldn’t leave me until I had a plan. Despite Deja’s own ankle injury for which she needed every waking daylight hour to make it to the first shelter. Despite Flamin’s overall timeline for completing his hike to make it back to Chicago for a friend’s wedding in July.

We love one another.

We embraced in the lobby and formulated a plan for me to catch up with them over the next day or two. This wouldn’t be “goodbye”.

I nestled into an overstuffed leather chair next to a collection of luggage racks, waiting for my antibiotic to be called into Walgreen’s, when I saw 4th quarter. He had to stay behind as well as he waited for a mail drop that had never arrived.

He refused to let me find my way, let alone hitch, across town to retrieve my medication. We were in this together, he said.

Then came Zydeco, a 1987 thru hiker who had just finished a section of the Benton MacKaye Trail. “You thru hikers?”, he asked.

The next thing I knew, Zydeco, 4th quarter and I were sharing egg salad sandwiches at Lynn’s Diner, 29 miles away, in Robbinsville, NC while I waited for my pills. He drove over a collective hour out of his way before his SEVEN hour drive back to Memphis, TN to help me. Without me remotely having to ask. He wouldn’t have it any other way.

This is the stuff I had only read about.

The trail is magical.

10 and a half hours…homemade strawberry-topped cheesecake on the curb of a handicapped parking spot…a persistent suitor named Seth…a hitch in the bed of a pick-up while sipping on gifted ice cold Yoo-Hoo (my new favorite!!)…a mild babysitting jaunt…toasts of Bulleit Rye with “Grandpa”…and a serendipitously developed kinship with 4th quarter later, I had my Lamisil tablets in hand and also my best day “on” the trail.

4th quarter and I will head into the Smokies later this morning, prepared for the snow that Clingmans Dome (the highest point on the entire AT) often brings.

My unexpected itinerary change has and will continue to intersect me with people and experiences that I wouldn’t have otherwise had without my friendly visiting fungi.

I embrace them. I welcome them. They are waiting for me.

I will walk to them.

Lobby hammy stretch!

Tramily “goodbye” 😥

Breakfast of champions!

Zydeco’s lift 🙏🏼

L > R: 4th quarter, myself, Zydeco

Hitch, courtesy of Shawn!

Aspen, 10. Sully, 5. Yes, Sully, you ARE awesome like your Dad (Shawn)!!

Grandpa

My big 3!