With instructions to stop the newly introduced medication immediately and only a few minor adjustments to her other medications, instead of throwing the baby out with the bath water, relief washed over Elaine, followed swiftly by anger, not only at the agony she has had to endure these past few months, never mind the exorbitant costs, but to discover the introduction of this medication was completely and utterly unnecessary, not to mention, potentially dangerous.
With both of us fuming at what had transpired, unfortunately, the quick checkup we had both expected at the Dermatologist didn’t materialise either and we still had to endure some minor procedures after the video consultation, including one very painful injection into Elaine’s upper cheekbone area, more stitches in a separate area and confirmation of two more infections related to the new medication, requiring more medications to resolve those issues. So, by the time we left the hospital, both now steaming with anger, we needed comfort food. Dean and Deluca at the Boat Lagoon marina offered the perfect solution; scrumptious desserts!
To add insult to injury, though, by the time we made it back to Chalong Pier, after stopping to pick up a few provisions, it was raining, again, so we had a rather wet dinghy ride across the bay, back to Paw Paw.
After unpacking our purchases and sanitising everything, a light dinner, shower and bed followed in quick succession.
The Cadman Jr household, though, was in a far more festive mood with their beautiful Christmas decorations already erected both inside and outside the home. However, we certainly had a lot to be grateful for and that fact didn’t escape us; at least Elaine was back on a treatment plan that, not only was she comfortable with, but it was far less risky and significantly reduced the logistics around the completion of our circumnavigation, not to mention, how very appreciative we are of the specialist in Singapore who took the time to review all Elaine’s medical records since last seeing her in Singapore in February 2020 before all the borders closed due to the pandemic, highlighting just how unfortunate it has been that Elaine had been unable to continue her care with him; yet another consequence, sadly, of this pandemic!
Yesterday, having planned to set sail north to Phang Nga Province, unfortunately the various weather forecasts were all over the board, with no consensus on wind speeds or directions, varying wildly and making a choice of anchorage very difficult, so we decided it was more prudent to stay put for another day. This decision allowed us to regroup after the events of Thursday and for Elaine to get her medical notes up to date while everything was still fresh in her mind, sort out her medications, complete an inventory of what previous medications she still had onboard and undertake a cost comparison of her medications between the hospital and one of the well known local pharmacies, Grace Pharmacy, the owner of whom is a friend of Derrek’s, the Ao Po Grand marina and who had already agreed to provide our medications stock for our Indian Ocean crossing, all of which will provide a substantial savings compared to the hospital prices we’ve been charged over the past few months.
Roy, on the other hand, needed a nice long walk to clear his head, which he did after Elaine dinghied him ashore on the rising tide, but not before he’d completed one chore on Paw Paw; clear out and clean our spice and sauces cupboard in the galley. Afterwards, Elaine dinghied ashore a little later to meet him and enjoy a sundowner and a walk on the beach while awaiting another delicious takeaway from At the Beach restaurant.
We’d no sooner returned to Paw Paw, though, when the fishermen arrived to collect the rest of their “gifts” as planned; this time all our “old” house batteries, our spare deionised water, the battery watering system, a number of old cell phones, a sports watch, all of which were still in working condition, spare hosepipes we hadn’t ’t used, cloths, shoes and the list goes on. They were so excited, one of the fishermen placed a video call to the family back in the nearby fishing village so that they could see everything, wave at us and say thank you. Additionally, they gave us a huge fish, freshly caught and basically still alive. Our equilibrium had been restored.
This morning we woke to pouring rain; the front we’d been expecting, bringing stronger westerly winds to sail north to Ngana Nga Province, had arrived.
After breakfast and after the visibility had increased sufficiently, we prepared to set sail, but Paw Paw had other ideas. It was at this point we both jumped to the thought: “No good deed goes unpunished”; unfortunately our starboard engine refused to start no matter what we tried. With various components replaced over the past few weeks, including the starter battery, the battery combiner to accommodate the lithium battery solution and the starter relay, it was a case of finding a needle in a haystack. One by one Roy ruled out the obvious; the battery had charge, the starter relay was clicking as intended, the battery combiner was working in all states. Then he set about cleaning various contacts, but to no avail. Our starter motor had simply decided to pack up! A call to the local Yanmar dealer confirmed our suspicion and, with that, plans were cancelled and the starter motor removed for replacement. Of course, this now involves hiring a car again, purchasing a new motor and installing it. Probably a good thing, though, that we decided to stay put yesterday.
Elaine then spent her afternoon knee deep in paperwork again submitting medical claims that seem to be endless these days. Hopefully we’re getting to the end of those too. A nice long chat to Elaine’s sister in Ireland over dinner, followed by a movie under a beautiful halo around the waxing gibbous sealed our day.
