Captain’s Log: Surprise, Surprise…..

June 13-28

Hi All,

Well…..surprise, surprise….you know one of those events that change things in an instant…yep…had one of those last Monday, 6/22….emergency umbilical hernia surgery in the midst of a pandemic…..oweeeeeeee!!!!

It’s Day 6 and I have now gone 24 hours w/o pain meds and no C19 symptoms…yea!!! It’s still pretty sore but everyday I’m improving….but I’m restless, bored, tired of reading and seem to be getting angrier/more depressed the more I read the news…..arghhhhhh!!!

So John, what happened….well…..the last blog on 6/12 we were still in the San Juan Islands waiting to see if the Canadian border would open…..well, it did not, in fact as we read, most Canadians do not want to open the border….I mean who can blame them….Americans have not proven we can be responsible….arghhhhhh:((( The best guess on the border is next fall/winter. So we asked the Sidney marina to let us out of our contract and they did….nice people….of course, no refunds for the 3 months already paid!!! We called Eric at Boat Haven marina in Port Angeles to see if he had space….well, since you left a month ago we have filled up, never been this full in the summer…oh no….but, for you guys I can let you use a spot that is owned by a charter boat that went to Alaska until it comes back in Sept…well, will take it for as long as you can give us….and, oh heck, you guys are good people so I’ll figure something out after that….oh wow, Eric, that’s super….thanks so much!!!!! So, we set a plan to drive to CA around Monday 6/29….going home for a grandkid fix!!!!

After many emails/phone calls Spectra finally shipped our watermaker parts to the distributor in Seattle. On Thursday, 6/18 we went the 60nm to Elliott Bay marina and picked up the parts that Friday. On Saturday, we came back the 65nm to Port Angeles. On Sunday, I spent 8 hours in the lazarette installing the new manifold….this was the last straw for the hernia. I imagine an experienced tech could do this in 2-3 hours with all the correct parts. Unfortunately, Spectra had sent several wrong parts requiring me to reuse some of the old parts which required considerable rework. Then, a stubborn solenoid refused to be removed….at 5pm I applied some PB blaster and said to the pesky solenoid, think about it overnight….it was after all Father’s Day and several wee drams, a huge steak and a bottle of Merryvale 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon awaited me:))))

Yes….I know long winded….back to the surgery….well, ever since the “keyhole” hernia surgery in 2016 in Malaysia I have had an umbilical hernia (they used the belly button as one of the three holes for the laparoscopic procedure)….it rarely bothered me and I could just push it all back in. But, it had been getting worse and I had said to myself I’d get it fixed back in California this fall….it is major surgery with ~4-6 weeks recovery. The hernia did bother me overnight and that Monday am it was really hurting. It was double the size, discolored, not going back in and 7-8 on the pain meter. The Chief Medical Officer said take 2 aspirin, cross your legs and call me later….NOT…she said to the hospital you go…..arghhhhhh!!!!

We take a taxi to the local Level 3 hospital….they do all the appropriate C19 entrance protocols….let me into the emergency room but make Kathy wait outside. I eventually see a PA and she says most times we will reduce the hernia and send you back home/CA….then she examined me and you hear under her breath….Oh God, and she grimaces….uh, I’ll be right back…need to get the doctor…oh great. Dr Levy arrives….nice guy, in his early 40’s….does the exam and says yep, it’s not too bad, seen worse, but it needs to be repaired….ok, doc, no offence, but how many of these have you done….I see his eyes twinkle with mischief…you mean, besides this one….I go bug eye and he has a belly laugh…got ya….hmmmmm…..he says he has done too many to count, this is fairly straightforward/easy as long as the bowel is still in good shape…if not, well, then I’ll resection and you will not like me in recovery….arghhhhhh!!!! OK….is there anyway I can talk with Kathy….the nurse looked surprised…your wife is here…yes, outside…ok, I’ll go get her and a few minutes later I hear her talking with the doc and she comes in and says get ‘r done…

I entered the hospital at 11am, surgery started at 2pm, lasted an hour or so, wake up in recovery at 4:30pm feeling nausea and god-awful, go to Mystic in a taxi at 6pm….wow!!!!! Some other curious tidbits….they gave me morphine for the pain in the ER. I’ve never had morphine….they gave me a shot…ODG, what a rush but not a good one though…made me dizzy and somewhat nauseous….they did give me some anti-nausea meds as well….the drug did take away the pain but made me foggy, slow, and well, I just didn’t feel right….and they kept talking to me….I’d answer but wonder who was talking….yikes!!!!! As they were wheeling me from the ER to OR, I said out loud that I did not like this morphine but liked Vicodin….can you give me some of that…it was indeed my outside voice and several nurse/docs in the hall all turned around and looked at me astonished….like…are you serious, are you a doper….I kept my outside voice quiet after that:))))

I’ve been a good patient….Kathy has even commented and has parked Nurse Ratchet for the week….all I’ve done is read, sleep, look at the internet/news, try to eat and drink properly, no alcohol et al. I did start walking on Day 3 and now up to 1.5 miles. We see the doc next Tuesday, Day 8, to remove the stitches and hopefully get clearance to drive back to CA….it could be he tells us to wait until 2 weeks to travel which seems to be the normal advice on recovery (well, on Google at least) so we shall see!!

Hope all is well, wear a mask! and please be safe!!!!

John
Mystic Moon

Port Angeles WA

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