This Forum

[Roger Long]

This forum was supposed to be the inspiring blog of a strange old guy sailing around on a shoestring budget. I’m very sorry that it seems to be turning into Roger’s agony and whining column. I don’t propose to take you all through the medical adventures that lie ahead of me. There probably should be a forum somewhere on the Internet (and SBO would be a good place) covering the medical issues of cruising but it should be moderated by a doctor; not by me.

I have a PT appointment this morning. Barring a miracle which I think it would be unreasonable to expect, Strider’s next move will probably be to a storage yard. Right now, just the motion of the boat sitting in a slip is causing me enough pain that I may have to move ashore to a friend’s house. I think I will sign off here until such time as I can report about cruising under sail.

If you do want to know more, you can Google “sacroiliac joint pain”. It’s enough of a problem when a healthy joint get’s injured and arthritis has been eating away at mine for over a decade.

I’ve known since before I decided to start cruising again that this was down the road but I figured, if I was going to hurt, I might as well hurt on a boat as in front of a TV. Easy to think and say in the comfort of chair in front of the computer on shore buy the reality is that it not only isn’t any fun at this pain level, it’s dangerous. The fatigue from the energy expenditure of the body doing isometrics to keep muscles that tight amazes me. Pain is fatiguing by itself as well as distracting. Singlehanding like this would probably bring me to a much more depressing (and final) end to this saga than this one.

I pulled out of the apparent cruise ending engine problem so it isn’t over till the body mass challenged lady sings. I’ve always had amazing luck, and not just on this cruise. If it comes through for me this time, I’ll let you know when and if Strider next heads for someplace more interesting than a storage yard.

 

[Terry in Naples]

Your adventure

I for one have enjoyed your posts. I too had hoped to pull up anchor and sail off but I am now entrenched again with little chance of this happening in the near future. I am not complaining. I live in beautiful Naples florida, on the water and have a great Catalina 34 in my backyard. I take various trips with my wife and I do this year round. Still, the one best trip ever was 15 years ago before we moved to NAples. My wife and 2 younger teens, took off and spent 6 weeks sailing the Keys. It was magical not having to rush here or there just sailing along on "Caribbean time". I assume this is what you imagined for you for the next several years?
I could picture myself in your shoes ghosting along the coast and stopping to get a better look at some town or needing a repair, meeting intresting people and taking life a day at a time. Most reading this will never do that.So Roger, thank you for sharing your story so far. I for one am glad to have found you on line and had the pleasure of reading your thoughts.
Terry

 

[Jimm]

This forum was supposed to be the inspiring blog of a strange old guy sailing around on a shoestring budget. .....

Roger - I'd say you succeeded remarkably well by this criteria!

 

[kloudie1]

Definitely agree with Terry..
Thanks for your sharing of notes and random thoughts and great pictures. Hoping for a swift recovery for you, Roger.

 

[Ron20324]

Roger - I'd say you succeeded remarkably well by this criteria!

Yeah, What JIMM said. Ron

Here's JIMM,Roger,Ron:

 

[bria46]

Don't stop. Us old farts love to read about your sailing adventures INCLUDING medical "stoppers". Carry on you are a friend to all active sailers

 

[LuzSD]

Roger, what you are experiencing, all of it, IS the story, and if you pick and chose what you share with us, then we all lose. I found it completely fascinating how your pain influenced every other decision and outlook, and then once you were rested and clear headed, everything changed.

Please keep writing and giving us the perspective of the moment, it is a very interesting read and we care about you.....so now we are invested!

For all those who write back to you consistently there are lots of us who just check in to see how you are..... please don't drop off now. Best of luck to you, Patti

 

[TomY]

It helped make for an enjoyable winter following your trail down the ICW from Maine. It's good to learn all the new things another person experiences. And it brought back many fond memories of a couple trips ourselves down the coast...and some not so fond memories.

For one, you remind me, I had one of my worst bouts with back trouble on the ICW. In fact, it grew worse and worse until I was laid up in Bahamas. And I was much younger then! But your post about cruising and medical conditions made me think.

Motoring a sailboat all day long is probably one of the worst things you could do for a back acting up. When you're off the coast under sail or power, you can usually let an AP of some kind take the mule work of standing or sitting(both poor positions for back maintenance). Plus, on the ICW it was long days motoring with little exercise between.
My abdominal muscles need regular excercise to keep my back solid.

I won't bore you with my back, only to say I eventually had surgery(a spinal lamenectomy to remove herniated disks hitting my Sciatic nerve) nearly 30 years ago now, and I've never had any problems similar since(I'm a still active design/builder).

But hopefully you'll find a better solution. These days, even less invasive proceedures are available for all of us getting older(my mother in law got a new hip at 86 is now spry as ever).

Another thing your post above made me think about. Who has insurance cruising? I'm also following another guy about our age on the ICW that doesn't have medical insurance because of the high cost. Or how many have high deductibles that make them useless for good real medical care? That's a cruel joke.

All tough stuff. On the bright side, your back problems will get better, I'm sure. With your engine problems behind you(it's not new but sounds like it'll serve you for some time to come), what about your son(s) taking some of the trip back to Maine as you rest up?

Good luck and keep your forum going for all of us.

 

[Mrs. JimR]

Roger, thanks for sharing your adventure. I've really enjoyed the highs and lows written with transparency. You must do what is right for you, not for your readers. I for one will miss checking in daily to see what's going on, however. Hope you get the help you need for the pain quickly.

 

[Benny17441]

It has been a great thread. The pictures and descriptions of events made us a crew-member on the trip. When adversity showed up we scratched our heads to work up and advise you on options to the engine dilemma. We rejoiced upon the news of a positive outcome. Then came the physical ailment and we could understand the worries and exhaustion. I'm sure we all learned something of real value from the thread. Thanks. The good thing is that a cruising trip follows no timetable and interruptions for personal reasons are part of the journey. Whether for one day, a couple of weeks, months or longer an interruption is just an interruption and not an end to the trip. We look forward to its continuation.

 

[Stephen Trapani]

Sacroiliac joint dysfunction is one of the most treatable spinal maladies IF skilled spinal manipulation is available. The "arthritis" eating away at the joint is not what most people think of as arthritis (a systemic disease in the blood that attacks joints), rather it is localized wear and tear of the joint caused by long term aberrant motion at that joint. All joints in the body require normal motion to stay healthy. Spinal joints are particularly prone to tighten and lose motion chronically.

Spinal manipulation partly remedies this situation via restoring motion to individual motion segments. Combining the segmental restoration of motion with good stretching exercises and the latest core strengthening exercises provides cure of these problems as never before in history, mostly due to advances in knowledge of core strengthening and rehabilitation.

There really is no debate about the value of spinal manipulation for these problems. The literature is clear and those health care professionals in this field who are not educated about this should be ashamed of themselves.

The third and last necessary ingredient to cure these problems is, as with all injuries, the protection of the weakened area until it is strong again, and long term protection from unreasonable loads. Making long term changes as with an anchor windlass in order to provide long term protection against the severest of loads is wise. Being on a boat per se may be unwise in the initial acute phase, but long term can actually be very beneficial due the rehabilitating effect of activity on unstable platforms to core muscles.

How do I know all this? I am a chiropractor specializing in treatment of these conditions. I have successfully achieved long term success in treating low back conditions like Roger's for 26 years (Actually, we don't know if it actually is a sacroiliac problem or even treatable as I describe here, but it sure sounds like it is).

 

[Bob J.]

Thanks for taking the time to post your adventure for all of us to enjoy. Personally I always looked forward to seeing what the next story was.

Hope you get well soon & here's to a speedy recovery.

Bob

 

[Bill Roosa]

So now where am I going to live vicariously through someone else???
RATS!

 

[Shoaldrafter]

Roger,

As people get older, say past 60 it takes much
longer to recover. Give your self a few weeks
and I believe you will be well enough to take boat
back to Maine...

I agree with Stephen that your back is fixable
just as the engine was. I repeat, as people get
older, recovery takes longer. Just do not rush
the recovery.

So now go to the drawing board and design a
way for mounting a windlass on Strider.

That will probably take much less time to solve
than for your back to fully recover.

Maybe visit Newport, R.I., there are a couple of
used boat parts places there. Buy a used windlass
and figure out how to fit it on Strider. Just do not
lift it.

Again, now that boat is tied up, disappear for
a week or two...

Ed K

 

[DeniseO30]

Roger I'm guessing there are enough people here on the forums that would be more then willing help sail and motor your boat up the coast and home. Now If your Doc gets you to a point where you can be a "passenger" on your own boat; maybe just, maybe you won't have to store the boat. We are all with you in pain and pleasure! (hope that doesn't sound strange)

 

[Stu Jackson]

Roger, I've had enough poor diagnoses, in person, over the years to recognize the futility of trying to have boaters try to tell you what to do on an internet board. This simply isn't webMD.

Listen to your body and with Barbara's help, do what YOU think is right for you and Strider.

 

[Roger Long]

Actually, we don't know if it actually is a sacroiliac problem or even treatable as I describe here, but it sure sounds like it is.

It sure is. You win the tee shirt, oh wait, sorry; the contest is closed to professionals.

See my latest thread.

 

[Ron20324]

It sure is. You win the tee shirt, oh wait, sorry; the contest is closed to professionals. quote]

Hey, Roger, while you're land-bound see if that friend will put that iron-on onto a nice shirt for you!

 

[WayneH]

What Patti said....

For all those who write back to you consistently there are lots of us who just check in to see how you are..... please don't drop off now. Best of luck to you, Patti

A friend of mine says if you can put a number on it, it's science. Otherwise, it's voodoo.

Here's some science for you. I have my settings to show only posts for the last week. There are currently 6 topics listed as of 3/28/2012 8:48CDT. There are 113 replies in those 6 topics. BUT there are 7392 VIEWS of those same 6 topics.

That's your audience. We care. We may not have any answers for you so we don't clutter up the topic with non-sense or just to see our words on the screen.

I will say that cruising for me sometimes means working really hard to get an anchor off the bottom or trimming a 155 genoa with a 3 speed winch and trying to get that last foot in. Yeah, the next morning can be slow until the aspirin kick in but I'M SAILING!!!! :dance:

 

[Rick D]

Re: What Patti said....

Wayne H... that about sums it up for a lot of us! Nice job.