It's slowly coming back...

It's funny what you eventually remember.

 

Even when I wanted to remember, tried to remember, made a point to remind myself to remember, all the amazing and funny and touching and special and downright hilarious moments during AIDS/LifeCycle, I just couldn't.  It was complete and total sensory overload.

 

But it's all coming back in flashes and snippets.

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Day 5, in the med tent... After they brought me in, I asked someone if they could please track down Kristen, my tent mate.  I was still wearing my damp, sweaty cycling clothes and I was freezing.  I wanted nothing more than to put on warm sweatpants and my wooly boots.  Kristen was a roadie working for Information Services, so she should have been pretty easy to find.  Plus, because of her assignment, we were allowed to set up camp "off the grid" and pitch our tent behind Info Services instead of out in the main sea of tents.  Some time later, I saw Kristen walking past me and said, "Kristen!  They found you."  She looked a little confused.  Come to find out, she had taken ill in camp around noon the same day.  The whole time, she'd been recuperating 4 beds down from me.  Because we were both so wasted from illness, we didn't see each other.  She was being discharged at that time.  I still had some medicating and napping to do and wouldn't be released for a few more hours. 

 

Kristen made her way back to Info and retrieved our gear.  Our tent had not yet been pitched, and she was in no condition to do it.  A few of her very kind, helpful, awesome work-mates pitched out tent for us, laid out our bed rolls and sleeping bags, and helped her rifle through my bag in search of my desperately-desired warm clothes.  Bless her sick heart - within 1/2 an hour, Kristen was back at the med tent with everything I'd asked for.  I finally changed my clothes, then promptly fell asleep with the IV in my arm.  I was so very grateful to her.  It's a good thing she had brought my clothes because by the time I got back to our tent, I had ZERO energy left and couldn't even change into my jammies.  I ended up sleeping in said sweats.  How awful would it have been to a: sleep in nasty riding clothes, or b: try to find my jammies in the dark while still queasy and slightly mad?

 

Thank you, Kristen.  You were the best tent mate a girl could ask for.

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Also on Day 5, in the med tent at camp:  So here's something you probably don't say to often.  Or maybe you do and you just live that sort of life - in which case, that's way more interesting than mine and where can I join you.  Anyway... you may recall from my previous post that Day 5 is Red Dress Day, when everyone - riders, roadies, drivers, medical personnel, EVERYONE - gets decked out in their finest red garb.  So I've been taken back to the medical tent at camp, and I'm half delirious with dehydration and general discomfort when "Dr. Eric" introduces himself.  Nice doctor, treated me kindly, got me all better, but most importantly, wearing the most fabulous red sequin dress.  Lookin' good, Dr. Eric.  So, the good doctor hooks up another I.V., and while I take a little nap, he takes a break - and changes into more "standard" med-tent togs.  Later when I wake up, and he comes to check on me, he says, "Ami, it's Dr. Eric.  How are you feeling?"  I rubbed my eyes, scratched my head, and all I could say was, "Oh.  Dr. Eric.  I didn't recognize you.  You took off your dress."

 

Really - when will I ever get to say that again?

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Stay tuned.  I'll continue to update as the memories reveal themselves.

 

-Ami