Wednesday, December 11

Day four of being stuck in bed began very well!  My leg is much less swollen and red and only a few clumps of small blisters have popped up.  Looks like I may have escaped the huge blisters that cause such trouble.  I might be on my feet within a few days instead of a few weeks!  But I'm going slow and easy and being wise.  Thanks so much for everybody that has been praying for my leg and the malaria.  This morning is the first morning I haven't needed a nap, and I can feel my body slowly getting stronger.

Aaron and the kids went down to Marulaon's market this morning.  I don't know if my absence scared my friends, but I went from no visitors in three days (a really good thing, actually) to three visitors this morning.  Ofoaen and Kate came by to see if I would agree to having my leg "pulled".  That wanted to take some special leaves and rub them on my leg.  I agreed, Leku had done this for me last year when I had cellulitis.  So Kate hustled off to find the right leaves, and Ofoaen stayed on the porch and we traded questions back and forth.  Shortly after Kate returned, Daisy stopped by to check on me.  So all three of them chatted while Kate crushed the leaves and, beginning at my knee, rubbed them HARD down to my ankle.  It hurt.  I was thankful I had taken ibuprofen with breakfast and even more thankful that my leg was much less tender today than it was yesterday. 

After she rubbed the leaves on my leg, she chewed up something and spit it on my leg and rubbed it in some more.  I asked what it was and in unison my friends replied, "Lime".  Lime?  Like what you chew with betel nut?  Because it certainly wasn't the fruit.  I couldn't figure out exactly what it was.  Then I asked about the leaf.  What was it?  My friends exchanged glances, and Ofoaen told me that I would have to go down to Kate's house later and ask her when it was just the two of us.  Ofoaen and Daisy weren't allowed to know which leaves to use.  Kate told me she learned from her mother and would pass down the knowledge to one  of her sons.  Wow.  We chatted for a while, then my three friends waited for me to stand up and deal with the pain before I hobbled back into the house toward bed.  I felt so much better after Kate rubbed my leg and after chatting with my buddies!