In January 2014 my wife Cheryl said she would like one last cruise before my planned retirement in 2015. She found a great deal on a seven day cruise during Thanksgiving week skirting the Gulf of Mexico. It was to go to Cozumel down to Belize then to Mahogany Bay, Honduras and up to The Caymans before skirting around Cuba on the way home. I had been to Cozumel before twenty to thirty years ago but had never visited any of the other ports of call. All the food you could eat, room service, exercise rooms, saunas, swimming pools, entertainment and a beautiful room in the stern of the boat with a really nice balcony for less than a motel room was more than I could ask for. Even the tips were included in the costs. We planned for a relaxing enjoyable week of being pampered and over fed! I have been concerned about my health as I approach retirement. I never want to be one of those retirees that finally gets there and looses his health. So I was concerned when I had a fairly severe pain in my right flank almost like “passing a kidney stone”. I got in to see my doctor as quickly as possible but the pain had subsided and it was suspected to be muscular in origin. It didn’t cross my mind again until we were packing for the cruise. I got a flu shot on Tuesday before we left. The pain returned that Thursday. We were to drive to Tampa on Friday and embark at four PM on Sunday. The pain didn’t get any worse but didn’t get any better either, so I thought maybe it really was muscular. I signed up for a massage first thing Monday morning. We didn’t leave port until almost midnight. and had to stay up to watch as we went under the beautiful bridge leaving Tampa Bay. The massage was at eight AM, which isn’t the best time to schedule something on a cruise, but I was on time and the masseuse was very sweet. She did a great job for almost ninety minutes. After it was over, I noted that the pain in my side was no better. In fact it was worse. My masseuse recommended acupuncture which I felt certainly can’t make anything worse.Early Monday afternoon, looking for some pain relief, the acupuncturist did her best to make me feel better. Nothing was helping so she recommended I come back the next day. Later that evening my entire right side felt as if someone had taken a razor blade and sliced me a thousand slashes form my mid-back to the middle of my stomach! I went to see the ships physician and he thought I may be experiencing an allergic reaction to something the masseuse had used and started me on Benadryl. By the next morning, red welts and blisters were covering my right side from my spine to my belly. The pain had intensified to the feeling of having a broken rib now. Add to that the feeling of some one using a blow torch on you while pouring ice water over your side at the same time. My trip back to the physician was a conclusive diagnosis of “Shingles”. The doctor told me to take ibuprofen and acetaminophen. He also said he could start me on an anti-viral but added that it probably wouldn’t help much. Welcome to my cruise. We arrived in Cozumel on Tuesday morning but decided to stay on board and try to get some sun on the lesions I was experiencing. The sun seemed to help make the pain subside a little. Unfortunately, the sun was covered with clouds most of the afternoon. We left for Belize that evening. The waves were getting rougher and the winds were intensifying just like my pain. By the time we arrived at Belize the waves were so high and the wind so bad we couldn’t stabilize the ship and it sure wasnt safe to try to disembark. The temperatures had also now dropped into the forties so outside wasn’t very comfortable for any one either. I tried to sleep as much as possible but the pain would wake me every time I rolled over or moved. Instead of staying in Belize, the Captain announced that we would head further South to Mahogany Bay in Honduras. We arrived in fifty mile an hour winds with driving rain. At least the ship was docked to something solid. The temperature was at best sweater weather. My pain continued but jelly fish stings and nettles were now added to the mix. Even contact with clothing and bedding sent fire and chills through me. The pain pills barely took the edge off. Sleep was difficult and sporadic. The Captain decided that we should forget about our next ports of call due to the polar vortex that had moved into the tropics. They started a lot of onboard events to help pass the time and we headed to a small port off Mexico which was more like a flea market with a dock. The waves were still high but the temperature was reasonable. The sun was also shinning so I got out on the back deck and finally got some much needed sun. It really helped. It helped so much in fact I decided to go ashore.Tired of being in bed all day and night and feeling a little better following some sun, I put on some of the softest clothing I had and headed down to the exit. Being up on the eighth floor the waves looked big, but down at dock level they were huge. A ship docked directly across from us would rise up with the wave and when it came back down it splurged water into our open bay doors. The compartment was a foot deep in water. What I didn’t notice was that the same wave would raise our ship. The consequence of which, as I was leaving, the threshold came down with the ship and the ramp came up slamming my head into the ceiling. No sutures but a nice egg with a headache! It was 2:08 AM when the abandon ship alarm went off. It was only on for about 10 seconds flashing and wailing. I lay there and waited to hear if anyone else was responding. I couldn’t move without shear agony racking my body. If we did sink at least it would be some kind of relief. Total silence. I lay there in my pain waiting for the sun to come up. Upon our return to Tampa, my pain had gotten to a point where it was difficult to move, or be touched. A special needs assist was called for to help me get off the ship. I was put in a wheel chair and wheeled off. Every bump, jerk, twist or sudden change was excruciating. Some how I made it back and after getting some better pain medications made home to Augusta. My doctor here started me on some anti-viral medication and the blisters have now dried and scabbed over. They itch like crazy as they heal. The pain has not subsided. In fact it has radiated out like fire! down my right leg, out my arm and up my neck to my head. Like an aurora of nettles and prickly pears stabbing and scratching my entire right side and my ribs still feel broken. A more debilitating pain I hope to never experience. Please! one third of you over fifty-five will experience this if you don’t get the vaccine! Go get your vaccine today!! No matter the cost! This has been the most debilitating experience of my life. You do not want it! Get your shot!
Posted on: Sat, 13 Dec 2014 14:04:32 +0000
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