Tropical health problems and solutions
Turns out when you spend a lot of time in warm, tropical waters, some icky things can happen. Cuts and abrasions and broken blisters can turn septic. We don’t avoid the water just because we’re a little dinged up, but we do have to remember to put a bit of antiseptic cream on any open wound after snorkeling or kite boarding or cleaning the bottom.
Cleaning the boat bottom is especially fraught with peril, as you’re actively scrubbing sea life off the hull and often the debris clouds around you as you go. Our pal Randy on SV Free Luff ended up with a tiny crab in one of his ears while cleaning the hull. Took a while to figure out what that strange irritation was - guess he managed to flush it out though.
It’s kind of important to understand that seawater is full of life. That’s why a pre-filter from the water maker stinks if you remove it from service - it was full of life, and that life died. In fact, we have to run our water maker about 7 minutes after start up to clear the membranes of stink and funny taste, and I back flush with fresh water every time we run it.
Ears are especially susceptible to repeated exposure to the sea. Many folks will tell you to use an “swimmers ear” flush of vinegar and alcohol. My doctor in Tahiti told me to use hydrogen peroxide. I think that’s when my own susceptibility to ear problems began. The doctors and nurses in Hao and here have made it abundantly clear that ear wax has a job to do, and dammit, nothing smaller than your elbow goes in your ear. Rinse your ears out with fresh water then shake your head to dry. Then they told me my pinky finger was referred to the “ear finger” in France. Hah.
Recently I’ve had an inner ear infection, followed by an outer ear canal infection, first identified as bacterial, now identified as fungal. Turns out the ear drops that address each of those infections are different. Also turns out that here at the Gambier clinic they don’t have the remedy for fungal infections, but hey, they can order it from Tahiti and it’ll come next week on the plane. The cost isn’t a big deal, maybe $10 including air freight, but the timing is a problem, especially when you’re planning to sail for Nuku Hiva on Monday. You see, the plane comes on Tuesdays. To top that I can pay online if I have them order it for me, but the bandwidth here is so poor that paying online is a pretty dodgy proposition. They told me all this Friday morning, and I told them that since we were sailing on Monday I’d just purchase it at the pharmacy in Nuku Hiva.
I was waiting to see the doctor about the lurgy that had evolved into a chest cold, but suddenly the entire staff was called away to an emergency, so I had to return in the afternoon. That patient died. When the doctor had a chance to check my lungs and other vitals, he decided I had developed bronchitis and needed to be put on a variety of drugs and even oxygen for a couple hours to see if they could get my O2 saturation level up to a normal level. No wonder I’d been feeling so crappy, and a day before I thought I was on the mend.
Of course now I’ve got to go back to the clinic on Tuesday to see if I’m mending properly, as sailing for Nuku Hiva on Monday is a patently stupid idea. I wonder it there’s still time to get my fungal ear drops ordered up?
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