When health issues happen aboard & support given.

[sundari]

My Husband and I have been living aboard for 8 years and we both have had some health issues come up. This is the first surgery we have gone through on board and I wanted to get some input on how other people have dealt with them. The sailing community and dockside support has been great! I can’t get over the amount of true caring we have gotten. Our Yacht Club has been bringing food over and calling to make sure all is well and if we need anything. Scott is and always has been great at helping me when I need it (even though I am not the best patient). The extra support has helped me because he works so hard I don’t want him to come home from a hard days work to have to cook for me. That is my job! I have been having a hard time getting out of the boat. (Getting down the dock and on board was an experience in itself!) When I have had surgery before you can get quite a bit of exercise just walking around the house. It is a little daunting knowing that the only way out is all the way down the dock…. All the way down…. J Wow can that be hard. I find myself counting boats. Oh thank God it is Charlie Noble, almost to the corner and then the last stretch! All the way down the dock I see people I have known for years and I get a lot of encouragement. “Almost there!”, “ Walking a little better today!”, “Looking better!” It just means so much. It is surprising even the new people on the dock seem to care. When on land people just look at you like “What is wrong with her, I hope it is not contagious” It is an eye opener. I was wondering if this is a universal thing with the sailing community or if I just got lucky?

[S/V Elusive]

YEAH Susan!!! Keep after it! And you gotta love the Elkhorn YC group!

[Pblais]

I was wondering if this is a universal thing with the sailing community or if I just got lucky?

From what I have seen it generally is true most every where and in many small places far away. I know it's true with our club too. Being lucky still counts.

[CaptainK]

YEAH Susan!!!!!

You go girl!!

Never let surgery keep you down. Always keep up the good fight!!

In the end. You'll be the victor!! :cubalibre

[Alan Wheeler]

This is the first surgery we have gone through on boar

Yikes Sundari, I hope Kai didn't perform this himself

he works so hard I don't want him to come home from a hard days work and cook for me

ummmm, this is Scott we are talking about here aint it. Like, you haven't got someone on the side Sue.

Yeah I think it is a universal thing. Especially among live aboards and cruisers. It's interesting, we have two clubs only a hill and waterway apart. Our club has no races. We are made up of boaters from both sail and power and tend on average to be a little less affluent. It's one reason we are in a cheaper marina than over the hill. We all head out for at least a night out and raft up on some 60+ moorings our club owns, all scattered around the sounds. I find everyone here, extrememly friendly.

Over the hill is a different story. The are made up of mostly Sailing boats. They are on average, a lot more affluent. The have a twilight race meeting and an afternoon race meating each week. I find the vast majority of people over there to be no where near as friendly and a very "clicky" bunch. (that means they are a tight circle of friends that don't easily let strangers in)
I think there are many reasons for this, mostly because they are made up of big business people that a competitive in their work environment and thus competitive in their sports/recreation environment.

Dawn and I are wishing the very best and that you will get well and back on your feet soon.
lots of love

Alright, Wheels, I will admit that I can cook if I have too. But Sundari is so good at it Besides, she won't let me in the galley. Says I put everything away wrong And NO, the surgery was not on the boat. Just the recovery. A scalpal is where she draws the line. Can't get here to let me try my hand at that one
Yes Thomas, we are a unique group aren't we?

[CaptainK]

Kai!!

That goes to show, who's the truth boss/master of the galley!!

As long as I get the rewards, it's all hers

[CaptainK]

Hee Hee.

Yeah, I guess you're right about that!!

[sundari]

Just for the women out in cyber space, I had a complete reconstruction (3rd time) due to complications after childbirth (21 years ago). Has any one else had this kind of complication? And for the men out there, “Be nice to your Mothers! J”

[BC Mike]

" Be nice to your mother "
I can honelty tell you I was always nice to my mother.
Michael

Michael, you are nice to everybody We know you are a nice guy no matter what everyone says about you

[Knottygirlz]

Sundari,

I have been fortunate in that I have not had complications from either of my pregnancies, long or short term, but I wish you a speedy recovery!

As to your original point, I find the boating community in general are a very caring, tight knit community. Our marina is very small and everyone knows who you are, what boat you belong to and where you are venturing to at any given time. We know each other's extended families from their visits and have no worries about strangers being around out boat when we are not there. It extends beyond our local marina as well. On Sundays, we usually go to Rick's parent's house for dinner and in the summer, rather than making the 20 min drive we go up-river by boat and tie up at the Prescott municipal marina for the day. There is always someone there to offer help if needed. But the best example was last summer on the Rideau River. While waiting to lock through at Jone's Falls, we noticed the boat ahead of us had lost it's stern line and was drifting out, so we pulled it back in and re-tied it. The owners were up the hill watching other boats lock through. When they came back we explained what had happened as best we could - they were french and spoke very little english, we are english and spoke very little french. A couple of days later we met up with this couple again, after our inverter had shorted out. They were able to help us out this time by selling us their spare invertor for almost nothing. There were others, as well. Seems like everywhere we went there was this great exchange of warmth and if one boater needed assistance we would all pitch in and lend a hand. When we got home I told Rick it was the best holiday I had ever experienced, but I was afraid that we would never have such a wonderful trip ever again. Then I realized it wasn't so much the actual trip and the places we went, but the people we met along the way and I can look forward to many such experiences for years to come.

Lori, Rick and Shadow