HA! Somethings don't QUITE work out as planned...

In my last post, I listed the next four steps in my journey. I'm beginning to learn that I shouldn't do that because when God knows my plan, He always changes them.

First off, I never delivered the boat with Keith. Turns out we never even made it out of the New River. One mishap after another (to save Keith's dignity, I won't go into gory details, but I will say that we had to dock at Bahia Mar twice in one morning!!), and I jumped ship before anything else when wrong. After I left, all seemed right with the world. I guess I'm not so lucky for Lucky Dog?

I actually DIDN'T jump ship because of Keith's boat. Actually, I got a phone call from the interim captain off Pastime inviting me to come back and clean up the boat! YESSSS!!! So, I quite literally am a boat hopper, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. The boat was as I left it, but missing the captain and his cranky wife. Missing is too nice of a term. Celebrating the VICTORY of their untimely departure is more like it. I started immediately getting the boat in order and what a JOB it was! I stirred up mold and dust that had been trapped behind drawers and under beds and inside closets for years. Needless to say all the cleaning supplies and swirling allergens didn't help my head one bit and over the course of the week, my body just started to wind down.

But, we never made it to the Abacos. Dave, the captain who agreed to take over while Mr. Boss found a permanent captain, determined the vessel *as nicely as possible* not seaworthy. Turns out the portside engine had overheated and an alarm ignored twelve times. Now the engine needs to be replaced -- how? They aren't sure. May have to have a hole cut into the side of the boat to take the whole thing out in one piece. ALSO, the fuel line was worn down nearly paper thin... and the fuel line runs OVER the transformer that HAD had a fire in it and has to be replaced altogether. SO, it's highly likely the boat could have caught fire in the engine room. BUT the story doesn't end there. The fire detection system hadn't been checked in recent years and the air vents that are supposed to shut the engine room off to oxygen had been propped open with sticks. But WAIT! There's MORE!!! The EPIRB -- a device that sets off a signal telling Coast Guard where liferafts are -- was still registered to the boss's old boat, and the life rafts were only for 10 people when the boat has ALWAYS carried 12. I guess this is another one of those "Prior proper planning..." moments. Can you IMAGINE what would have happened if we'd had an emergency? And, not to freak anyone out, but the ocean around the Bahamas is MILES deep. If something had happened out there, we'd be fish food before anyone would miss us.

But, I got a job aboard the boat playing the role of Cinderella... until Tuesday of last week. AH! the REAL adventure starts here!

Monday all day I had felt "off"... more off than usual. I just wrote it off to being around all the filth and chemicals. We had gotten a new, permanent captain that day, so Iain and I wanted to impress him so we could keep our jobs, and I did my best to stay on my game all day. But, I knew something wasn't right. Monday night when my friend Shannon invited me out for a drink, I really didn't want to go, but I did want to see her, so I agreed to go out for one libation and some chat. Then it HIT me like a round house kick to the gut. I could literally FEEL myself turning a puky green yellow and a sharp pain began to grow in my side. I tried to ignore it. I'd had gas before, and I wasn't going to let this get me down. But it kept growing and by 9:30, I had Shannon drive me home on her scooter. I went to bed and tossed and turned all while watching the clock go from 10 to 10:30 to 11 to 11:30. Finally at midnight, I threw up everything I'd eaten in the last 12 hours. Feeling somewhat better, I washed my face, brushed my teeth, and decided that was that. But, my body had a different plan. Again, I tossed and turned watching the clock from midnight to 12:30 to 1 to 1:30 on up to 4 in the morning. I fell asleep and woke up again and again. Needless to say, once 7:30 rolled around, I felt like a train wreck. From Iain's expression when I emerged, I didn't look much better.

The LAST thing I wanted was for the new captain to think I couldn't be trusted to go out and come back and do my job. The last captain told him horror stories about how I drink and party with the guests until all hours of the night, so of course he'd be inclined to believe the B.S. with evidence seemingly in his face. I tried to paint on a happy face, but the pain in my gut kept growing and I couldn't walk well, my smile was more of a grimace, and I was exhausted. Just giving up, I told the captain what was going on, how I'd only had one drink and I'd gotten sick at midnight. He told me to go back to bed until I felt better and come on back to work. I slept until 2 pm. The pain kept growing, despite my taking Gas-X. By that time, the captain decided to take me to the hospital. "Oh, GOD! I thought, this better be more serious than GAS!!! Otherwise, I'll never keep my job on this boat!" Well, it was. Lots.

After a blood test and CAT scan, the ER docs decided that I DID in fact have appendicitis and that my right ovary had a huge tumor on it. The doctor said huge, not I. He said the tumor was 7"x6"x5"... basically I had a coconut growing in my abdomen. Speaking with an OB, I discovered that they couldn't do the appendectomy laparoscopically because the ovary was in the way. They'd have to create an incision which meant that they might as well go in ONCE and get it all done. Multiple surgeries would put me at higher risk for infection. So I relented and consented to having everything taken out at once, so long as I could fly home once I was released from the hospital.

And so my SECOND adventure in a hospital begins... but that is another post... and believe me, it's QUITE a post. I even made NOTES for it!! But suffice to say, I survived that hell-spital and am back at home in Georgia allowing my family to take care of me. At the moment, my mom and step-dad are working, my sister's at school, and my brother is still asleep... Needless to say, they won't be getting THEIR Christmas bonuses from me! But the pups... if they could fix me drinks and daub my brow with rose-scented water and sing sweet songs if healing to me (not that my family would do those things either), they would. I just know it. But, their greatest gift is to lay beside me and give me their warmth. That's really all I need.