It was New Year's Eve of the year 2011, I was getting ready to celebrate as I usually do, by going to bed. Around 9 PM, I received a phone call from a friend of Crystal's in Sanford informing me that Crystal had been taken to the emergency room that afternoon and was in the process of having her right leg amputated. This came as a shock to me because I had just talked to her the day before and everything was fine. She was facing her breast cancer quite well and was going into the New Year with a positive attitude. It seems that around 11 that morning, Crystal had begun to experience pain in her right calf. The pain increased to such a level, that around 3 PM she called her doctor, who told her to get to the emergency room as soon as possible. She called her friend Sharon Muldoon who came over and picked her up and took her to the emergency room. When the doctor saw her leg, he ran a few quick tests, and told Crystal, "you have a flesh eating bacteria, which means that if we do not amputate your leg immediately, you will probably die within an hour or so". Crystal immediately agreed to this, stating she did not want to die.
After receiving the phone call, I threw some clothes and necessities into my car, not knowing how long I would have to be in Florida, and left Tennessee for Florida just before midnight, New Year's Eve. I arrived in Sanford, about 10 in the morning. I called Sharon to see what the plan for the day was, if any. Crystal's daughter, Elizabeth, had driven up from the Keys, and had arrived about five in the morning. Elizabeth was staying with her boyfriend's mother in Deland. I was told to not stay in the apartment due to the fact that it might be contaminated. It seems that Crystal had contracted a Flesh Eating Bacteria, and they were told by the medical personnel that it was possibly still in the apartment. I had no problem dealing with that, so I found a room at a hotel. I called Sharon again and informed her where I was staying, and she told me that Elizabeth and herself would meet me at me at the hospital at 2 PM.
I arrived at the hospital on time and found Elizabeth and Sharon and Gay, who was Elizabeth's boyfriends mother already there. Crystal was in a room in the ICU, sedated. The doctor came and informed us that we could visit one of the time but that she was not aware of her surroundings. We all went in one at a time and saw Crystal. She did not look well at all. But seeing what she had just been through, and had been given a 40% chance of survival, that was to be expected. Since Elizabeth and I hadn't had any rest for over 24 hours, we decided to call it a day and catch up tomorrow.
On Monday, 2 January, the same group of people met at the hospital, with the addition of Crystal's sister, Tina, and a friend from Miami, Kent Knox. We were told we could visit, again, one at a time. Elizabeth went first for a few minutes, and said that Crystal had recognized her. I went in and Crystal was aware enough that I could communicate to her who was there, and that her cats were fine. Then, Tina went in and Crystal was aware of her. At this time a nurse informed us, that they would be sedating Crystal and that no more visitors could be allowed. So it was decided that we would all go have some lunch at the Olive Garden restaurant nearby. When we all arrived and were seated at the table, it dawned on all of us the gravity of the situation and how shocked we were at how quickly it had developed. We had spoken to the doctor, Dr. Cameron, and he explained about the bacteria that had taken her leg, and that he felt based on his knowledge, that it was safe to go back and live in the apartment.
This was still on Monday, and I was not ready to trust the apartment yet. I went to Walmart and purchased what I felt were adequate cleaning supplies to sanitize the apartment to my satisfaction. I also needed to go to the apartment and check on the cats. Crystal had three cats who were probably hungry and needed their litter cleaned. That was to be my new job. The way the situation had developed, I had no idea when I would be able to get back to Tennessee. I had enough clothes and toiletries to last me for a week or so, then I would either have to get home or buying new stuff.
When we left the Olive Garden, Elizabeth and Kent were going home down south. I was going to the apartment to check on the cats and then back to the hotel to gather my thoughts.In October right around her birthday, Crystal had been informed that she had breast cancer. She had gone through an operation to remove the growth and had been told that the doctors felt they had removed the bad stuff completely. But in the future, she would have to undergo several chemo treatments and then some radiation treatments. So in November she had the operation, and then on December 22, she had undergone her first chemo treatment. Then on the four days following Christmas, she had undergone one shot each day hoping they would boost her immune system back to a safe level. However, that didn't seem to work, since she had picked up the bacterial infection due to no immune system.
She spent the first six days of the new year at the Central Florida Regional Hospital in Sanford Florida. On the sixth day there, Dr. Cameron took her to the operating room to see if he could close her leg up. To everyone's shock, he discovered that the infection was still present in her wound. He told us that Crystal would have to be transferred to another hospital, Florida Hospital, in North Orlando. The reason for the transfer was that this hospital had Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber facilities, and that he felt that the only way to get rid of the infection was in a high oxygen atmosphere created by the chambers. The infection she had could not live in oxygen, therefore the treatments were needed and this hospital in Orlando was the only one in central Florida capable of providing these treatments. So, I received a call around midnight that Thursday informing me that Crystal was being prepared to be transferred and I was asked to please come to the hospital to assist in keeping her calm. So I went to the hospital, Crystal was totally sedated, and at 1 AM she was loaded into an ambulance and transferred south.
Crystal was in the Florida hospital in Orlando from 6 January until February 9. All of this time she was on the fifth floor in the ICU unit, looked up to many various tubes and machines. Her main machine was a ventilator, which assisted her in breathing at a normal rate. We were told that her condition was still critical, but that she was slowly improving. We would have to take their word for that because we couldn't see much difference. After five weeks at this hospital, we were informed that Crystal had improved enough to be moved from a short-term acute care facility to a long-term acute care facility. I met with a gentleman, Dan Perez, from Select Specialty Hospital, which was a small hospital next door to the big hospital. This small hospital was approved by Crystal's insurance company for Crystal to be transferred to. One of the specialties was weaning patients off of ventilators. This was to be Crystal's next major step towards recovery. So late in the afternoon of February 9, Crystal was transferred to this small facility. It has 30 beds total, and a large staff. Sharon Muldoon and I had examined it and found it to be clean and friendly. So we gave our blessings to the move.
Today is March 3, and Crystal is still in the Select Specialty Hospital. Two days ago she was moved from a private room into a room with another patient. She is still on a ventilator but she is breathing on her own most of the time. She is very aware of her surroundings and who her visitors are and welcomes them. She is aware that she is missing a leg and is dealing with the physical therapy that she receives each day. Yesterday Sharon, and Crystal's friend, Candy, visited her and "did her nails" since Candy is her manicurist. This made Crystal very happy. Tomorrow they're going to go and give her a facial, which is something that she needs to make her feel better yet.
It is hard to comprehend what the financial cost of all of this hospital treatment will end up being. I'm sure it will be much, much more than we have managed to save. But you can only do what you can do, so I don't worry about it. It does no good. The problem right now is- what does the future hold for Crystal and I. I do know that I probably will not live in Tennessee again, therefore I need to get up there and close out that house, put my stuff in storage, and prepare for a long stay in Florida, if not forever. Only time will tell, and at my age, that will come all too soon.
