It was just a year ago today that I sailed into Oxford and discovered on going ashore that I was in crippling pain. I spent the next couple of weeks in intensive physical therapy to get to the point I could continue cruising If I hadn’t had a good friend there to find a berth for the boat, provide me with a place to stay, and take me back and forth to PT, I’m not sure what would have happened. It’s quite unlikely I would still be writing these posts.
Other than that injury, I’ve been remarkably healthy since first setting out on this adventure. I’ve only had a couple of colds that never took hold and just left me felling less than 100% for a day or two.
It is strange then that I could be so sick today. Last night I was so sick that, looking back on it, I probably should have called 911. I suspect food poisoning but it could also be something like one of those cruise ship viruses and realize now how these things can actually kill you, if only through the strain precipitating a heart attack. I have torn and aching muscles all through my back and sides just from the vomiting.
It felt like some sort of neurotoxin was at work because my body seemed to have lost the ability to breathe automatically. If I sat still and tried to just let everything settle down, I would realize that I wasn’t breathing and was getting lightheaded and faint. Maybe I was simply slightly delirious but I spent hours consciously breathing in for fear that it wouldn’t happen if I didn’t will it.
My systems have settled down a lot today and I’m slowly reintroducing food but I think I have a significant fever and I feel unsteady enough that I’m glad I don’t have to get off the boat. With my usual luck, I’m tied securely in a slip at the Hampton Public Piers.
One of the things I wonder about sailing around alone at my age is what happens if something like this should strike in an open bay dragging anchor or underway with sails up. It came on so suddenly that I could easily get caught in a bad situation.
Other than that injury, I’ve been remarkably healthy since first setting out on this adventure. I’ve only had a couple of colds that never took hold and just left me felling less than 100% for a day or two.
It is strange then that I could be so sick today. Last night I was so sick that, looking back on it, I probably should have called 911. I suspect food poisoning but it could also be something like one of those cruise ship viruses and realize now how these things can actually kill you, if only through the strain precipitating a heart attack. I have torn and aching muscles all through my back and sides just from the vomiting.
It felt like some sort of neurotoxin was at work because my body seemed to have lost the ability to breathe automatically. If I sat still and tried to just let everything settle down, I would realize that I wasn’t breathing and was getting lightheaded and faint. Maybe I was simply slightly delirious but I spent hours consciously breathing in for fear that it wouldn’t happen if I didn’t will it.
My systems have settled down a lot today and I’m slowly reintroducing food but I think I have a significant fever and I feel unsteady enough that I’m glad I don’t have to get off the boat. With my usual luck, I’m tied securely in a slip at the Hampton Public Piers.
One of the things I wonder about sailing around alone at my age is what happens if something like this should strike in an open bay dragging anchor or underway with sails up. It came on so suddenly that I could easily get caught in a bad situation.
