D's Adventures: The marathon that didn't happen.... ATHENS, GREECE 11-10-24

The marathon that didn't happen for me!

From google….

~~The Athens Marathon is recognized as the original marathon course and it was the same course used in the 2004 Olympics held in Athens. In 1896 the organizing committee who revived the modern Olympics, were inspired by the bravery of the Athenians at the Battle of Marathon in 490 B.C., as well as the legend of the messenger who ran from the town of Marathon to Athens with the news of victory. The Athens Marathon starts near the battle field area at Marathon and finishes in the magnificent all marble Panathenaic Stadium that was built for the first modern Olympics of 1896, it is a short distance from the Acropolis. ~~

As a runner, running in Athens is a dream trip!

I was not supposed to be on this trip to start. Penny and Hardy were going to have a little romantic getaway and do the marathon. Hardy’s work schedule changed and it didn’t take much for Penny to twist my arm into going with her.

Passports in hand and ready to travel to GREECE

It's a long way to Greece!

so tired from travel.. happy to have finally landed in Athens.

So what happen after our long 15 hours of travel?

copied from my FB post.. :

~~How’s Greece going?? Well, so far I’ve seen nothing of Greece except a hospital. The day we arrived we got in our hotel and decided to get a shower after 15 hours of travel and take a quick nap. Our flight to Santorini was not till early the next morning.

I woke up during nap in severe pain and vomiting. 🤮 luckily there was a clinic right next door to hotel. So we went over there where they observed me and said yep kidney stone and you need to go to hospital. So Penny got to ride with me in the ambulance and off we went to hospital. Where I spent several hours in ER with them running test and examining me. After the CT they said my Stone had obstructed my kidney and that’s why I was in so much pain, running fever and vomiting. They admitted me like 1am.

They did surgery yesterday. Put in a stint and started me on strong antibiotics. They just did more blood work this morning and said my infection is so bad they need to give me IV antibiotics for 2-3 more days so I’m stuck here!😭😢😭😩.

I’m so sad we missed our 3 days in Santorini! And I’m so sad I’ve kept Penny Pruitt Smith here at my bedside missing our planned tours. She’s been the best nurse! She’s been in contact with my whole family updating them and right at my bedside taking care of me. She’s an angel.

My prayer is that I can maybe get out of here by Friday. 🙏🙏🙏. I told Penny that since I’m more awake and out of pain now I want her to go do the tours we are missing and take lots of pictures for me.

It’s not been the trip I had longed for, but I’m glad the stone waited till I was off that long flight. I don’t know what I would have done on there is I had for sick then. You never know when a kidney stone will hit. They are the devil!!! Hurts so bad. And when they obstruct your kidneys it’s bad. This happen to one time many years ago and I spent a week in the hospital very sick.

The marathon is not till Sunday and it has an 8 our time limit. I hope if I can get out of here and feel some better I might consider walking it. I have told Penny she is doing it no matter what! I will cheer her own.

Please whisper a prayer for me.

I will say the people here at the hospital have been very nice. Many don’t speak English so that’s been some of a struggle. They have been taking good care of me. I even asked doc today if they could just give me antibiotics by mouth so I could get out of here and he said now your infection is dangerous and you need IV. I'm leaving it all in Gods hands. 🙏~~

Penny took pictures for memories...

After surgery they brought me back to the room naked!

Being in a hospital in a foreign country with your family miles and miles away is very SCARY. I was scared to death I might die and never see my family again. I can't describe to you what all was going on in my head. Yes, many people have kidney stones, but I knew from past experience that if they didn't get my infection under control and I went septic it would be BAD. I could not sleep... which there were no private rooms. I was sharing a room with another lady and her husband stayed 24/7 sitting in a metal chair between our beds. He was a chain smoker and apparently you can smoke anywhere in Greece! It was awful. They did not bring me no hospital gown nor did they bring me any water! But they kept telling to drink plenty of water. I have no idea what I would have done if Penny had not taken care of me. I will never be able to repay her.

Copied from my FB post:

~~As I sit here in the hospital for the 4th day in a row. We are 7 hours ahead of you guys back home. I have looked at my tattoo several times. It was just a skinny Cross with the word strength as the body on the cross. I got it to remind me where I pull my strength from … the good Lord.

I went back and added the flowers and a hummingbird and she darken up my cross. I love it and I’m really not a tattoo person. And I know some people will look and think I’m crazy. But you know what .. I’m 58 years old and if it pleases me … I don’t care. We should never judge a person by their outside anyways 🙃

When you’ve had alot to deal with in your life sometimes you need reminders that one day there will be no more pain. No more missing loved ones so badly. I know where I’m going when I die. I draw strength from that.

And hummingbirds bring joy and delight. And they also stand for strength and endurance.

I’ve prayed all week for God to give me strength. I know he’s right here beside me in this foreign country where half the doctors and nurses don’t speak English and you are just not at FGH in a private room. There are no private rooms here. It’s very interesting to say the least. I’ve had no sleep in 3 days due to this. My bags under my eyes are huge. But I’m praises God that I got the medical service I needed and I’m improving each day. 🙏🙏❤️❤️~~

After 5 days.... They are releasing me! Man I am praises Jesus right now. I’m so glad to get out of here this Friday around lunchtime. Get a shower! Haven’t had one since Monday.

I’ll be going home with this stent. I will have to follow up with my urologist when I get home. The doc here says I need another surgery … he recommended kidney abalation to clean out my kidneys because they are other stones and as usual when they put the stent in it pushed the stone that had my kidney blocked back into my kidney. It may come out with this stent …. But last time I had this in 2009, I had the stent for 4 weeks and the stone never came out! I’m telling you if you have kidney stones you know what I mean … they are HORRIBLE.

Anyway, he’s giving me antibiotics to take for 2 more weeks and said if I have any fever to go straight to the hospital. He stressed and stressed how serious this can be if you don’t take care of it.

So I will not be doing the marathon on Sunday. I’m sad and mad but I know my health is more important. They don’t really want you doing any vigorous exercise while you have the stent. You can walk, but I’m so weak I’m not sure I can walk 26.2 miles by Sunday so it just wasn’t meant to be for me. Maybe one day I’ll run the iconic first marathon here.

The marathon tours lady has been so kind checking on me

Every day and she’s going to see if they will switch me to the 10K that is on Sunday. I can go walk that easy and not stress my body and then cheer Penny at the finish line of the marathon. Penny and I have both cried because we wanted to do this marathon together.

But sometimes life throws you those curve balls and as rocky use to say … it’s not about winning … it’s about how many times you get knocked down and get back up. I’ll be back up soon. Just need a little downtime to recover and heal and also figure out what we going to do about these other stones since apparently they try to kill me when they get ready to move.

I can’t thank all of you that have prayed and sent such sweet words to me. It’s been so scary being here in a foreign county with no family here going through all this. I felt all of your love and support and it means alot to me. God bless you all! 🙏🙏🙏

Thanks to my kids for FaceTiming the grands to me! They perked me up! Love yall so much. Can’t wait to get home to get some hugs. Erin Brown Whitney Wood Ann Sellers Brett Wood

After escaping the hospital. I was able to go to expo yesterday afternoon with Penny. It was the biggest expo I’ve ever seen! Vendor booths for days …. However only like a 8X10 space of race stuff. Penny Pruitt Smith and I were very disappointed! We did not buy a single thing at the expo. That’s a first!

After we left there we had maybe an hour or so before dark so Penny took me to the Acropolis where she had went on the tour that morning. I am so glad she went back to let me see it! It is only like 1/2 mile walk from our hotel. I was super glad of that.

The Acropolis is basically a high city and it is one of the greatest wonders of Greece history. The Greeks often built high cities to easily defend themselves. Once up there we saw the Parthenon. The architecture is just simply amazing!

I am so very thankful I was able to get some vitamin D and feel alive again. 🙏🙏🙏🙏. Counting my blessings!! 🙏❤️🙏

Friday afternoon after getting released from the hospital:

Saturday:

So yesterday we had a easy day. We had a bus tour with the marathon tours group that took us to the most southern point of Athens to see the temple of Poseidon. The ride along the coastline was incredible. The water is so beautiful. Penny Pruitt Smith and I both had moments where we thought about how we missed our flight over to the Santorini island.

The weather was beautiful except when we finally got up that mountain to the temple the winds were like 10-30mph! I should of brought a hat and never fixed my hair that morning. I was glad I had packed my lightweight jacket that had a hood even though it would barely stay on because the wind was terrible. It was hard to stand around and really enjoy the scenery because at times it felt like the wind was going to blow you down.

We left there and had a meal at a local restaurant before coming back to the city. We sat with a family from Chicago where the younger daughter is running her first marathon tomorrow with her dad. He had a goal of finishing all 7 continents. I think most everyone napped on the bus ride back. Most are doing the marathon so they were taking every moment to rest and I sure was enjoying the rest myself.

When we got back Penny and I walked over the the Plaka that is like a block from our hotel and walked the marble streets to shop and just enjoy. The streets are amazing. Lost of gifts shops and restaurants with outside sitting. Really reminded me of Paris in a way. We sat at one and had us some amazing fried cheese with honey and a drink. We meet an older couple from York, England while sitting and had a wonderful conversation with them. They had been on a cruise around the Islands. I would love to come back and do that!! My taxi driver from the hospital that day told me I need to come back and go to the islands and get out of the city of Athens to really see the true beauty of Greece.

We ended the night with the marathon tours group with a pre race dinner which was very nice. I can’t say enough about marathon tours. They do a marvelous job planning and booking everything for you.

#countingmyblessings

#greece2024

#WhatAMemory

The best fried cheese and honey!

They say drink beer with kidney stones.. so I did.. ha

new from Greece!

Sunday (race day) copied from FB post:

I forgot to take a pic of Flat Deleica last night. I guess I’m all off since I’m not running the marathon today. Penny Pruitt Smith left on the bus at 5:30am this morning to travel to the start line. We had us a big hug and cry. There are no words for our feelings today. It’s hard to describe and especially hard to describe to a non runner. Not to mention everything we’ve experienced this week. As one of my good friends reminded me …. Embrace where you are at and just enjoy today. It’s not the marathon I hoped for but I’m so thankful for the blessing of health and being able to be here in Greece.

Penny designed our outfits. I was very Leary of the white. We never run in solid white. I sweat way too much. 🤣🤣🤨. But I absolutely love our outfits. Since I’m walking the 10K I don’t have to be ready till 7:30am , but got dressed with Penny so we could take a quick photo before she left. Oh I love this girl! She was my angel this whole trip. 🙏❤️🙏❤️. Please pray for her to have strength and endurance for the marathon today. We keep hearing how hard the course is and even though Penny has ran several marathons by herself, she’s missing the girl gang and of course me. 😊. We were supposed to be twins today 🙃❤️. I’ll meet her at the finish line for my photos later! Love you girl! Go run with that big heart you’ve got!! Remember Hebrews 12:1 ❤️🙏❤️🙏

Thanks for all the prayers back home from family and friends ❤️🙏❤️🙏❤️🙏.

I finished the 10K walking. It was HARD seeing people running all around me and past me. But I’m so glad I decided to do it. What an incredible experience finishing in the Olympic Stadium. 🏟️. Headed to room to shower and rest so I can come back to watch Penny come into that finish line.

I finished the 10K walking!

The stadium wasn't quite as full as when the 21,000 marathoners came in!

Penny Pruitt Smith finished and with a great time! I am so proud of her and glad I got to capture her coming into the stadium. I cried watching her cross that finish line. 😊😊❤️❤️❤️🏟️🏟️🏟️

We barely found each other to grab this pic! the Stadium was packed by this time with families waiting to see their marathoner!

We had to take the "normal PPRF" pic of our medals. I truly am so very proud of Penny! She completed a sub 5 hour marathon on a hard course all by herself. I was very sad I was not with her, but I was so glad the good Lord blessed me to let me walk the 10K and finish inside the stadium. It is something I'll remember FOREVER. The stadium is HUGE! I can't imagine watching the Olympics there.

MONDAY: After 2nd flight delayed causing us to miss our connection in Atlanta, then changed to later flight in Atlanta and it was delayed….. Home after around 20 hours of travel and VERY LITTLE sleep. Praising God for safe travels. 🙏

I copied most of this from my FB post. I'm still recovering and my hands for some reason want to cramp when I type for awhile. This antibiotic I'm on makes me crazy. My skin crawls and my stomach just isn't right. I saw my hometown Urologist yesterday. He wants me to finish these antibiotics and then he's going to do test to check to see if my infection is all gone. Monday I go back for a CT scan. he wants to see where the stone is at and we'll get a game plan on removing this stent. AND hopefully figure out what we are going to do about these stones. I'm supposed to fly to Tokyo end of February which is a LONGER flight so I'm really praying he can fix me up because guess what I learned.... Flying can interfer with stones and make them move! Pilots with stones have to be clear of stones before flying I'm told. I had no idea!

I could write a book on my friend Penny! Honestly I am just speechless. I have no idea how I'll ever repay her. She missed Santorini and so much more due to staying at the hospital with me. There was no where for her to sleep at the hospital so she had to extend our hotel room at Athens (extra cost). Each day she would come early in the morning and bring me food and water and sit all day with me before going back to the hotel room to sleep. She was in constant communication with my family giving them updates. She could have went on the plan to Santorini and left me in the hospital those first 3 days, but she didn't. I felt so bad for it all. I could not believe I was in a hospital for 5 days of our 7 days of our trip! She was my angel!!! She never left my side. They say in this world you'll have friends and then you'll have TRUE friends. Penny is a TRUE friend. She'd give up her shirt off her back to help someone. I hope God blesses her always because I will forever be in her debt!

Let's just say yep, I went to Greece.... and I saw something others don't see.... a hospital and socialized medicine. I literally left the hospital and did not pay a dime. HOWEVER, I hope to never have to do this again! I did come home with a painting that I can't wait to hang in my home and of course... hospital records in GREEK 😁