Within hours of typing the last blog post, our boat hit some rough international waters. No one else seemed to care, but I went to bed because laying down made me feel better. I didn’t sleep well, because then we entered the Drake Passage and things slipped, slid, and fell all around me. By 6am, I had slept for no more than a few hours and my stomach was getting queasy. I wasn’t nauseous yet, but I figured I better take the pills to prevent any seasickness. I slept for about an hour after taking the pill, and then got up to shower and head to breakfast. It was all downhill from there, and soon enough I was vomiting here, there, everywhere. Greg, an elementary school teacher from Sydney, pulled me up to the top of the boat and took me outside for fresh air – I puked. The front desk receptionist gave me a Dramamine pill, within minutes I brought it back up. Greg brought Malcolm and I some bread, and it stayed down for no more than a few minutes. I felt like death warmed over, AND I was shivering from cold. Water made me puke, tea made me puke, a small bit of bland bread made me puke. Malcolm’s wife Fiona checked on us and the headed to the doctor. She returned with pills and instructions to hole them under our tongues for 5 minutes and then stay still watching the horizon for 1 hour while drinking nothing. Within 15 minutes, I was filling up the white vomit bag I had been carrying. I hadn’t eaten anything in 12 hours (expect the bite of bread that didn’t stay down) so now it was just bile or whatever. Gross! So I made my way down to the doctor. She told me I looked “terrible” which was fitting because that’s exactly how I felt. I was dehydrated from all the vomiting, but water wouldn’t stay down ever when I sipped it.
The doctor offered me a “behind-the-ear-motion-sickness-patch.” She warned me it would make me drowsy, with a dry mouth, and blurred vision. I’ll take the patch and blurred vision for $25, please, doc. She placed the patch behind my ear and sent me to bed, where I stayed for the next 6+ hours. I tried to go to one of the four lectures, and I ate half of a saltine cracker with some mint tea. Within minutes, it all acme back up, and I headed back down to bed. I found that I could sip water while laying in bed, so I sipped a few ounces of water while I dozed on-and-off. I missed the camping meeting and everything else. By the time dinner was announced, I knew I had to get something in my stomach. I felt better, so I headed up to the dining room and ate some vegetable soup and light pasta, followed by a little fruit. I came back down to rest and slept another 9 hours. I learned that, although I don’t get car sickness or air sickness, I am definitely prone to mal de mer.
Here is a pic from a porthole as we passed through the Drake Passage (I didn’t take it, because I was sick, but Gerry loaned it to me):
I am so grateful for all the folks who checked on me and helped me throughout the day, and I’m relieved that the day is over!
No comments:
Post a Comment