First, we just want to say thank you to all for your notes and emails. We really appreciated them.
We finally made it home around 11:00am on Tuesday, not long after news broke out that the Royal Thai Army had staged a successful coup d’etat against the Prime Minister. Beth’s mom met us at Atlanta airport and whisked us off. She had set up a doctor appointment for Lauren at 2pm and one for Beth with an orthopedic surgeon for 3pm.
Lauren’s knee looks like ground up hamburger patty. But the doctor says the infection is minimal (it looks like it’s gone now) and we think she’s getting the stitches out on Tuesday.
Beth has now seen three orthopedic surgeons, none of whom agree. The last one, though, is a specialist in “difficult fractures” of the knees and legs. He does not think that surgery is needed (surgery being installing a metal plates or multiple pins). Her cast is now off — She’s in a brace that restricts her movements but can move her knee a little. (More importantly, she can take a bath.) Still no weight on it though. He says Beth won’t be 100% for 4-6 months, but we are determined that she’ll be back on the trail by Christmas even if that means she’ll have to have a wheely bag and a cane.
Right now, though, Beth cannot understand why anyone would pay money for Vicodin. On the plane flight home, she continued her upchucking legacy, and it seems to be linked to the painkillers. She’s constantly either nauseous or unconscious from the painkillers and has downgraded herself to just Tylenol. The pain is not as bad as the painkillers, it seems.
Lauren’s leaving on Tuesday to head up to Cape Cod for a week, and then she’s back off to see the Thailand coup herself. (Actually, she’s probably catching a flight straight to Chiang Mai so she can avoid the coup action.) She’s meeting up with her friend Abby to go to Laos and Cambodia. Vietnam, China and the Siberian Railroad are all TBD right now.
Beth unfortunately will be observing all from the states. 
But she’s determined to figure out what it was that she always has wanted to do if she had 90 days on her hands with no obligations…
i know your mama’s glad to have you in your care. hope the pain eases some soon. would love to see you. s + t will be back from memphis in another week or so. m. is in london with family until tomorrow. i’d bring a southern casserole but that would really make you sick:-( let us know when you feel up to visitors
September 26th, 2006 | #
So I’m killing time in front of the computer and I think, “Gee, I wonder what Beth and her lovely lady friend are up to in the world. I’ll check out their nifty website.” I then log onto Girls Gone World Wide for the first time and take one look at the photo, then proceed to read with some horror “Lauren’s knee looks like ground up hamburger patty.” Immediately I think MOTORBIKE, which doesn’t make me feel so good knowing that I have managed to miss passing out this very important travel tip to my dear friend who will be drinking sweet tea until she decides what to do with herself. It does give me a good excuse to see South Carolina sooner than I would have otherwise!
Ladies, I hope that you have some really good battle wounds to show off and that you never have to hear the words “iodine” or “straighten” again.
September 27th, 2006 | #