Dear F&F,
April 30, 2009
I awoke at 2:30 a.m. with raging right ear pain. Skye, Linda & probably many others of you know what this feels like. I was only off antibiotics a week from my finger wounds & now began Levaquin. I was not willing to rely on just the ear drop antibiotics & want to wipe this out ASAP. Codeine knocks the pain down pretty well, but I am one of the few weird people that do not get drowsy from Codeine, if anything a bit hyper. So I did not sleep much by the time our 5:30 a.m. alarm went off. I told Scott he was on his own with the diving, make sure to bring back great video. Off he went with Wilson, plus Roberto, \”The Boss\” driving the dinghy today.
Five hours since the first codeine the pain started escalating again. I do not believe in suffering, so took another. With the edge of the pain & a burst of energy, I changed our sheets. A job Scott usually helps me with as it is akin to \”diapering a whale\”. I also dug out our awning poles & searched multiple lockers not remembering where we stow the big tent. When Scott returned from dive #1, he told me it was buried under sails in the sail locker. So I climbed down there, pulled out fenders, hoisted out the spinnaker & unearthed the tent.
Meanwhile, Scott during Dive #1 kneeled full shin, on a sea urchin. The spines penetrated his rather worn out wetsuit giving him about 11 pricks in the shape of some unknown constellation. There were no spines imbedded, but they left what looks to be dark purple blood blisters, poor baby. After his shower we rinse the area with vinegar & daube on topical antibiotic cream. Good thing we brought all these meds along!
I got Scott to help me put up the tent. If I\’m going to be stuck on the boat all day & not get any cooling benefit of diving, I want all the shade I can get. It helps dramatically. Right now at 4:00 pm it is 87 degrees inside & 89 outside. Usually by this hour it has been more than 4 degrees hotter inside than out & it does not cool off in the house until the middle of the night.
Scott has just returned from dives #2 & 3 with reports of large schooling fish & turtles. Some shark action. I am not feeling too sorry for myself. I hope I feel well enough to dive again here, but if not, at least I had 3 good days & can see Scott\’s videos. I am slogging away at Mark Twain. In today\’s chapter, I learned about where the term \”thug\” comes from. If you don\’t already know the history, you don\’t want to. It is simply awful & yet another reason that India is not high on my list of desired destinations. Alternately reading chapters of Thich Nhat Hahn, I am keeping my sense of balance. This experience will simply add to my appreciation & joy & diving without pain. I am in pain, but I am not suffering. Blessed be the invention of antibiotics & narcotics!
Scott & Cindy