by Judy Handley | May 21, 2011 | Sailing Logs Year 6, The Carolinas, USA |
Day 208, Year 6 Report on the Plumbing Problem
Date: Friday, May 20, 2011
Weather: Overcast; 75 degrees F
Location: Lightkeepers Marina, Little River, South Carolina
Today Mark had his cystoscopy and learned a bit more about his condition and the options for treatment. Apparently the prostate is only moderately enlarged and only moderately constricting the urethra. The bigger problem is that his bladder has been stretched and is not responding normally. Thus the need for the catheter. As the doctor explained, this is not a simple case. In fact, there are many things at work making it very complex. In addition to a bladder that is not contracting normally, Mark two large stones in his bladder and a large diverticulum (pouch). None of this requires urgent care, but it does require that he keeps the catheter as his constant companion until the different issues can be tackled. So for now Mark is on a new drug to further shrink the prostrate. That takes some months to be fully effective, but there could be some results as early as three weeks. So we will go back the first week of June for a reassessment of whether or not the catheter has to remain in place. But the bottom line is that we need to find a really good urologist in the Boston area to continue the investigation and make further recommendations. Mark is taking all of this in stride and hasn’t complained once about the catheter. The doctor convinced him today that he could learn to self-catheterize so he would not have to leave the catheter in all the time. Ouch! I’m not sure I would be taking all of this without complaint. So Mark gets some extra points for this one!
by Judy Handley | May 19, 2011 | Sailing Logs Year 6, The Carolinas, USA |
Day 207, Year 6 A Little Bit of Heaven
Date: Thursday, May 19, 2011
Weather: Another Beautiful, Sunny Day; 76 degrees F
Location: Lightkeepers Marina, Little River, South Carolina
Heaven has a lot of different definitions, but one of them must include strawberries and blueberries straight from the field, new potatoes, peas straight off the vine, corn on the cob and beautiful green peppers from Florida, and fried green tomatoes. Early today we went to a nearby farm to pick strawberries. But when we got there, the array of fresh fruits and vegetables was overwhelming. I think we bought a little of everything and then spent the rest of the day cooking. Tonight we will have fried green tomatoes, stuffed green peppers, corn on the cob, and new potatoes with peas from Joe’s garden. Then for dessert we will have strawberries and ice cream over the last of a fabulous chocolate cake my sister made for our arrival. Tomorrow night, we’ll eat more of the same but add freshly baked shortcake for the strawberries. Patsy worked all afternoon making strawberry freezer jam and tomorrow morning we’ll have blueberry pancakes. What a gastronomic delight. We will then spend the weekend exercising to lose some of the weight that we will gain eating all of this delicious food. There’s not much else to report from today, but we’ll make sure to let you know how delicious everything tasted in tomorrow’s log.
by Judy Handley | May 18, 2011 | Sailing Logs Year 6, The Carolinas, USA |
Day 206, Year 6 The Waiting Game
Date: Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Weather: Heavy Rain Overnight, Beautiful Day; 73 degrees F
Location: Lightkeepers Marina, Little River, South Carolina
Mark had his appointment with the urologist this morning, but as we suspected, there are no quick answers. We just have to play the waiting game. The good thing is that the urologist loves sailing and public radio, so he and Mark have plenty to talk about. There is no bad thing yet, just the waiting. The doctor took out the catheter and made an appointment for a cystoscopy for Friday. This little exploration will allow the doctor to view the inside lining of the bladder and urethra to give him a better idea of what is happening. At that point, hopefully we will know more. We returned home, but had to go back to the urologist later in the day to have the catheter reinserted. That plumbing is just not working right but we simply have to wait until Friday to find out anything new.
In the meantime, we are enjoying life here. I am reporting the location of Windbird in South Carolina, but we are staying at my sister’s home across the border in North Carolina. The backyard is adjacent to Hole 13 on the Meadowlands Golf Course which provides a great place to walk early in the morning and again in the evening when the golfers go home. My brother-in-law has a bluebird bird house in the backyard and the babies just left the nest. They are still hanging around, almost as if they want back in the bird house. There are many other kinds of land birds and a few herons. So I’ll be able to bird watch from the back deck.
We visited Windbird twice today. Well, actually I visited once and then both Mark and I returned later. When we got to the doctor’s office in Myrtle Beach this morning they needed his Medicare Card. He didn’t have it with him, so I had to make one trip to the boat to get it. We returned later to pick up a few more things that we need here. But I think any serious boat work will be put off until next week. Right now we are just enjoying a little R & R with family.
by Judy Handley | May 17, 2011 | Sailing Logs Year 6, The Carolinas, USA |
Day 205, Year 6 Arrival in the US of A
Date: Monday, May 17, 2011
Weather: Mixed Sun and Clouds, 66 degrees F
Latitude: 33 51.80 N
Longitude: 078 38.31 W
Miles Traveled: 1230.96
Location: Lightkeepers Marina, Little River, South Carolina
Passage Statistics Puerto Rico to South Carolina:
1231 miles in 240 hrs 55 mins (10 days 55 mins)
Sailing Hours-101 hours 25 minutes
Motor Sailing Hours-139 hours 30 minutes
Average Speed-5.1 knots per hour
It was a bit of an emotional day for me. We arrived early this morning and just after passing through the markers at the entrance to the Inland Waterway, we found ourselves motoring with beautiful sand dunes on either side of us that then opened up into vast marshland. Birds were singing, egrets dotted the landscape, and harbor porpoises were swimming by. We have sailed in here before and all of a sudden I was overcome-somewhere familiar that sounds and smells like home. It brought tears to my eyes. We arrived at the entrance of the Lightkeepers Marina and our good friend Leroy called to say that he would be on the dock to catch our lines. Just after arriving I went down to make coffee for Leroy and soon the manager of the marina called and said that there were other people looking for us. My brother-in-law Joe and one of my brother’s best friends, Wade Hickam, were coming down the dock. My sister Patsy, sister-in-law Conda, and Wade’s wife Nora were down by the entrance to the marina waiting for us to arrive. I think they only missed us by minutes. I walked down the dock to find them walking our way. It was so exciting to see everyone, but I was struck by the absence of my brother who died in February 2010. This is the first time I have been home since his death and I think the reality didn’t hit until today. He would have loved to have been there to welcome his little sis home, but I can’t express how much I appreciated having Wade there. I think I’ll start calling him my substitute brother. So thank you Wade and Nora for being there. Thank you Leroy for being a super hero friend and getting the appointment with the urologist and a space in the marina for us. And a very special thank to my sister, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law for always being there for us, especially today.
After my brother-in-law took us out to lunch, we returned to Windbird to clean off some of the salt. We are now at my sister’s house and will spend the night here-on land-in a bed that doesn’t move. Tomorrow morning we head to the urologist and hope to get some answers about Mark’s issues and then we will begin our Carolina adventure. It is truly wonderful to be here. It is not the tropics, but it is a very beautiful place with people who are very special in our lives.
