Tuck In

Today we got out the charts and cruising guides to plan our escape from Ladd’s Landing and ultimately Vermont. It turned out to be a warm sunny day, which started slow because two days ago my back went out.

Really, my left sacral iliac joint decided to act up. All I did was bend over in the shower to wash my foot and KaBOOM there it went. By the time I got back to the boat, I was improved but I know better. It was lying in wait to get me and get me it did that night at our friend’s cabin in the wilds of Vermont.

This has been happening since I was sixteen years old, so I am a pro. It is the remnant of a football injury. It is also the reason I ended up in medical school, but as they say that is a story for another day.

Charlotte and I, and our friends had had a fun afternoon of walking, talking, eating and drinking. It was time to go to bed. As I lay there a sickening spasm engulfed my back bringing with it quite a few involuntary expletives. I am not sure what Charlotte thought was happening as I rigidly laid there trying to slow my rapid breathing.

On a scale of one to ten, this was bad. The next several hours were taken up trying to inch my way to her side of the bed (it was the only way I could move) and off. If I could just get one knee over the edge and on to the floor, I figured I could get myself up.

Sounds easy, a few feet, stand up, walk it off…an hour later I was still at it. Eventually I extricated myself and made it limping to the living room. What then? I tried various chairs and finally found one that was tolerable, wrapped a blanket around myself, and attempted to relax in the dark.

This peace did not last. I fidgeted, I spasmed, I limped, I lay on the floor — a big mistake — I waited for the sun and for everyone to wake. I think most people if not feeling well would rather not feel well at home, so we made it back to Carrie Rose.

It took until noon the next day to stabilize enough that the spasms did not try to drag me onto the floor and then we planned our cruise while sitting in the salon. Jerry came over and we debated the various methods of getting ones way with the world. There is the chain-yourself-to-the-pipeline crowd, and there is the borrow-my-private-jet-to-go-to-the-Cayman-Islands crowd.

This animated discussion did seem to help my back. Once it was over I puttered around the boat, went shopping for dinner and we battened down the hatches for another 40 knot squall. All in a days work on Carrie Rose.

So, tonight when I tuck in, pull the covers over me, tonight when my left SI joint settles into the forward cabin’s foam mattress, tonight I hope it decides enough is enough, and lets me sleep and awake unmolested, at least until the next time.