Home for the Holidays…

Not very long after I wrote that last blog, I asked for permission and was cleared by Peace Corps to come home for the holidays.  After a grueling journey filled with mishaps and missed connections and 41 hours in the air and on the ground (mostly the latter), I arrived at JFK, late evening just before Christmas Day.  Luke drove up with a huge smile on his face and a travel coffee mug in his hand…filled with ice.  In his other hand appeared a flask, filled to the brim with the elixir I’d done without for months: Jack Daniels.  Now why wouldn’t you come home when family treats you like that? 

Halley and Karim flew in from Oakland the next day (another big reason I had to come home) and we Darigans spent a rollicking time together.  We got a tree…trimmed it…

 

…ate too much food!

…and certainly drank too much!

Ah, but what fun!

There was another reason I came home.  I had been having trouble with my ankles and feet especially while we were in Stand Fast in Kenema.  They took a beating as we walked all those miles on the undulating and rutted roads there.  However, I also noticed in the weeks before I departed West Africa, that my right foot was flopping down when I walked.  In fact, I couldn’t control it either flexing or stretching. It was very frustrating.  I figured it was either a bad muscular reaction to my orthotics or something more serious.  So, upon arrival home, I called my faithful family doctor, Shabih Khan, and got worked in that very day.  After a quick check he said, “You more than likely have foot drop.  It’s often caused by a pinched nerve in the spine.”  He ordered blood tests, and his wonderful staff set me up with visits to three specialists.  After X-rays, EMGs, MRIs, and myriad follow-up visits, I got the diagnosis.  I have moderate to severe neuropathy, weak nerves, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, peroneal neuropathy (foot drop), and bone spurs on my left ankle. 

None of this was or is serious.  In fact, I was told medication was unnecessary and not recommended and that I should merely get new orthotics, start wearing high-top hiking boots, and hustle back to Africa.  A week later, Peace Corps lifted my Medical Hold so on Thursday, January 17^th, I’ll be heading back up to New York’s JFK airport with Luke (sans the whiskey since we’ll be leaving with the morning rush hour) and heading back to Sierra Leone. 

What a wonderful holiday I had…spending it with family, friends, and getting a clean bill of health wrapped in one big, beautiful package.  I also got the treat of a White Christmas…and I volunteered to do the shoveling!