I’m still battling with infected leg wounds, but things are a bit better than earlier in the week. I can at least sort of walk now.
What happened? I don’t fully know.
A month ago, a stranger nonchalantly walked up to me in a park, touched my right knee, smiled and walked off. Very weird.
A couple of days later that exact spot started feeling sore. I didn’t think much of it, but I ran out of disinfectant, and it rapidly turned into an abscess.
I got bandages and disinfectant, but then ran out again. I had to use moving tape to secure my last 2 bandages. I was able to get to a pharmacy but the moving tape created more sores, and those turned into more abscesses.
Somehow the abscesses jumped across to my other knee. The whole knee ballooned with one absolutely giant abscess. Over the past few days that has turned into a strip of abscesses that looks oddly like an upside down exclamation point. What are the chances?
Earlier in the week I was worried it might permanently affect my mobility, I could barely walk. I’m now worried about scaring. An improvement but not much better.
Dressing and cleaning these sores has been close to some of the most intense pain I’ve ever experienced. Having to spend literally hours at a time squeezing out puss, with the same intensity and force as an arm wrestle.
Something similar happened to me in India a few years ago, I’ve got a small scar from that experience. Looks like I’ll have a bigger scar this time.
There’s been a lot of unpleasant reactions from people, from mild racism to people finding it hilarious seeing a foreigner in pain.
I know these are a small group overall, but as with trolls in online comments, they can make it seem like the whole world is against you. I’m both mentally and physically bruised at the minute.
You might be wondering: Are you ok?
My response: No not really. #