Wackydoodle

Things come in threes…

Three left handed nurses in a row last week, three nurses called Sara this week, three averted disasters!!

The Canada Day week started off with visits and treats from Kevin and Lynn, Keith and Brenda, and it’s so nice to see them all.  We think it’s just a matter of a few days now that the Skipper’s INR level is starting to come up and he’ll be home.

It all started late Tues night, Sideways Sally, being a bit of a night owl that she is, was winding down her day.  After a lovely visit in the evening with our good buddy DJ, most know him as JD on Day Dream and getting all up to date on Skipper to Skipper news,  SS returns to OMOO to find the carbon monoxide alarm beeping away at her.

Hmmm…. checking the setting, it’s low for any detection, but still detecting something.  It’s mystery as there’s no gas on, there’s nothing running like heaters etc and no reason for anything to set it off.  Sometimes these detectors beep at you if they are low on battery but it wasn’t that either.   After checking everything thoroughly and opening some hatches, SS hunkers down in the stern berth with her adrenaline pumping netfix show on Mexican drug cartels,  whaaaaat?? Doesn’t everybody watch something relaxing like this right before bed??

Well good thing I did.  Around 1 am when needing a visit to the head, the sniffer went off.  The smell of hot wires was just at my feet so I threw back the bedding and mattress to uncover the battery bank and there it was, the starter battery was frying itself.    Eeeuuuck,  and there’s acid bubbling onto the floor.  OK, call VIC!!   He’s over in a flash and disconnected the battery and helped slop up the acid and wash down the floor.  After we got it all sorted and thinking it’s all good, I went and made the bed up in the V-berth and by the time I checked on the stern berth I could still see smoke coming up from the battery.  Call VIC again, and he’s back quickly.  This time he took the whole damn thing out of the boat.  THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!  I luv my dock husband!!

The next day the Skipper is thanking our lucky stars  when I tell him what happened, since that could have ended up very badly.   Not only was he stuck in the hospital, but he might not have had a boat to come home to.   He instructed me to pull off the back of the motor cover and check for more acid  on the pan below all the hoses, which there was so I pour baking soda all over the place which sends up a sizzle as it neutralizes the acid.  More water, and let it sit.  WHEW!!

Scroll and click on pix for headings.

starting battery compartment

battery bank under the bed

So… Thursday comes along and things seem ok, our good friends Richard visit with the Skipper in the morning and Ken comes by in the afternoon with crib board in hand.  I leave them sitting outside at the picnic table to go run some errands.  I come back as Ken is leaving and I go up to see Hershey.  But something is wrong, he’s gone whacky doodle.

He couldn’t remember Richard visiting, and he couldn’t remember his nurse Sara #3’s name, and he said to me, “why are you here?”   When I tell him the sequence of the day and how I’d just met Ken as he was leaving, he started to get frightened.  His worse fear is that he’s having a stroke, although he’s hooked up to heparin and taking warfarin, which is all the reasons he’s there… to avoid a stroke.   So I ask him to lift up his arms, which he can, his face is not drooping, but he’s having trouble with the date, and still thinks he’s in Royal Jubilee in Victoria.

This is really weird cause the hallway bed is definitely not the room with the view, there isn’t even a window!!  So we call Sara over who tests his arm strength and neuro-vital signs which are all normal.  She calls Dr. Gisela (our most amazing primary care GP) who comes right over to do her assessment and orders labs and urine spec.  The whole time Hershey is holding my hand and asks  the same questions over and over, and I tell him each time the sequence of the day and reassure him he’s not having a stroke.  They test the urine,  OF COURSE THAT COMES BACK POSITIVE.  (He’s been sharing the bathroom with 8 other patients)  That’s the reason for the confusion, a urinary tract infection.  WHEW again!!  Stands to reason that this would all be very upsetting.  He relaxes with the news and later gets his dose of antibiotic.

Next day Hershey is all there again, and friends Dave and Beth visit while I make a mad dash to Vancouver to get some medical treatment from my ortho-spine team for my old lady back.  (I frickin luv steroid spinal epidurals)   Out with the tequila and salonpas, in with the new back.

Getting by with a little help from my friends.

Harbor Air is one of my best friends.

Sideways Sally is ready for anything else that comes our way!!

Mostly thinking that’s gonna be a BIG WELCOME HOME PARTY for the Skipper any day now.

Thank you everybody for all the visits, calls and treats.   From the Skipper and SS – YOU ARE ALL AMAZING!!