Day 51 - Heading Back

I woke up several times in the night in agony. I knew something was seriously wrong when I realized I had no appetite, so I said goodbye to my fellow hikers and walked with Brandon back to the highway. My plan was to hitch to Tahoe somehow and get to a hospital.

Brandon waited with me for about 20 minutes until someone picked me up. Soames and Tracey were really cool, but they could only take me as far as Highway 395. I figured it wouldn't be too hard to hitch from there, since it's the weekend and everyone should be heading up that way. Almost immediately after they dropped me off, another person stopped to pick me up. His name is Paul and he was out for a drive. He was sweet enough to drive me all the way to Tahoe. He even bought me lunch! He dropped me off at the Apex Inn, a place that was rumored to be hiker friendly. Turns out that's not so true. Since it was the weekend, AND there was the celebrity golf tournament, I got gouged. The didn't seem to care when I mentioned I was a hiker, and all but rushed me out he door after paying the outrageous price. Oh well, there were no other rooms in town, and this place was near the hospital, so I guess it worked out.

I walked on over to the ER, and was put next to a guy who almost cut his thumb off. Nice. The nurse did her little nurse things, then the doc came in and asked some questions. I had to give a urine sample, and shortly afterwards, with no explanation what-so-ever, they diagnosed Urinary Tract Infection, gave me a prescription, and sent me on my way. Yay, more antibiotics. Maybe that's why my kidneys hurt....

So, I'm sitting in this tiny and expensive motel room, eating pizza, and taking the few vicodin they could spare until I can get to a pharmacy. Oh joy.