Goodbye October

Feb 28

Written By Tamara Dayle

If months of the year could have a personality disorder, October 2024 has been the one.

Bipolar October I shall call it.

It started off glorious. A quick trip to Mexico with some close friends. Incredible.

A terrifying wave assault at Destiladeras Beach, I now call Death-tiladeras. Not so incredible.

Did I also mention, that I almost came home with a Mexican market chihuahua?

Back to the land of non fun and sun, and elbow deep in reality. I’m juggling fall photo sessions, and some brand/content stuff for clients. Oh ya, and of course edits.. always edits.

Then Thanksgiving weekend happened.

It was Saturday and my sister had a bad fallen down some stairs, ending up with a nasty gash on her right arm. With some underlying medical issues, by Monday night her arm was seriously discoloured, black and blue, bubbled with blisters. Vommiting started and she was barely able to get off the bathroom floor. Her children (young adults) called an ambulance none too soon they later tell us. Small miracles.

She was rushed to emergency by ambulance. They operated that very night, removing as much of the dead and infected tissue on her arm, that they could. I called our parents who live in British Columbia to let them know what had happened and that they should get a flight as soon as they could, as this could go either way. I will never ever forget that call. It was one of the hardest things I had to do.

My sisters arm was infected with necrotizing fasciitis (flesh eating bacteria) and her frail shell of a body had gone septic.

Two days later they operated again, removing any remaining infected tissue, there may have been a third surgery to remove additional necrotized tissue but I can’t remember.

One of the most heart wrenching, and scariest moments I’ve experienced, was seeing her laying there, intubated and unresponsive, in a medically induced coma. Full of tubes. Silently fighting for her life in ICU. And there I stood helpless and full of regret of all the things could’ve, should’ve, would’ve..

Two days later she was struggling to breathe and after many conversations with multiple nurses and a doctor or two, she was diagnosed with pneumonia. Common with extended intubation we’re told.

Wow, this just keeps getting better.

Some pneumonia aggressive antibiotics were administered on top of the kick-ass cocktail she was already on for the flesh eating disease.

And after 2 and a half months that tough chick made it out of the hospital. Fully recovered from that pneumonia, but a long road ahead for any kind of functionality in her arm.

Multiple skin grafts and physio have taken place over the last year and a half. Fast forward to Feb. 2026, and she is still without full use of her arm. It is deformed from muscle tissue that was completely eaten away by the bacteria, skin, tendon, and muscle, all destroyed or removed for the sake of life and limb. Literally.

But thankfully she still has her life arm and hand.

I know we’ve all heard it before, but life can change in an instant. Your health is so important. Without it, we have nothing.

Hold your people close. Tell them that you love them.

Good bye October don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

While respecting the privacy of family, below are some photos taken to document this crazy time in our lives.