Stonewalled

We will be spending a bit more time in St. Mary’s than anticipated. Joe woke on Wednesday morning with pain in his intestinal area. The pain got worse and he began feeling nauseous. So, off to the ER we went. Fortunately, the hospital was only a mile and a half away. When we arrived, about 8:00 a.m., he was the only patient, so he got in within 15 minutes. What I didn’t know was that he sat in a hallway in great pain for quite awhile before seeing a doctor. He was given morphine and the pain subsided.

I didn’t want to wait in the waiting room due to COVID. It seemed the hospital had good protocol in place but “it’s a hospital”. When I told the desk clerk I was going to take my dog for a walk, he said I might as well go home and they would call when they knew something. He asked if I wanted to see Joe but said “there’s COVID back there”. Ok, cold …. but no, I’m sure he’s in good hands. Again, later I learned he was in a private room and felt safe as could be expected.

Now the waiting game….. is it good news or bad…. what’s taking so long…..the hours ticked away. I got one text from Joe after about 3 hours saying he was getting a CAT Scan. That seemed serious. I texted back questioning what he knew but no response.

I remembered the Presidential inauguration was happening so flipped on the tv. I caught part of it. The young woman poet was so amazing. First you saw her beauty and then her beautiful words. Hey, I was emotional, I didn’t know what was going on with Joe and we were seeing change for our Country. I wiped away tears. Later reading that the young poet overcame a speech impediment, just like our new President, was incredible.

After 4.5 hours, I called the hospital. Apparently, they forgot they said they would call me. A nurse returned my call another 30 minutes later. It’s a kidney stone! She said the CAT Scan was necessary for the diagnosis. I thanked her for being so thorough. A flood of relief came immediately. Your mind goes to crazy thoughts!! The nurse told me I should wait 15 minutes and then come and get him. I waited outside in the car another hour. Apparently, he needed to have a cd of his tests and it was delayed. A cd? Who does that anymore?

Well, sorry for dragging this out…. he needs to talk to a urologist regarding the possibility of removing the .5mm stone. We were given the number for a urologist. Thankfully, he will get in Friday morning at 9:00.

So, being high on morphine seemed to be a pleasurable state for Mr. Joe. Next, we went and got his oxy prescription filled so he was one happy camper, er boater!

In the meantime, I needed to find us a place to stay. We could not extend our airbnb stay and needed to leave Thursday. I found a dog friendly hotel, packed up all of our crap from our room and moved most of it to the boat. Ok, whew. We are lucky it is working out timing wise.

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Joe had a good night (drugs) and woke up pain free. Being the loving, caring wife I am, I thought we should skip the surgery and begin our cruise…. (with all the narcotics of course). Ok, I let him have his way. Off to Brunswick we went which was an hour north. This was the last town we docked in last Spring when everything was shutting down due to COVID.

The Nurse Practitioner Joe met with felt he could pass the stone. She said he may have passed it already or it was in his bladder. Apparently, the pain is when it is traveling on its way to the bladder. So, another prescription to assist in passing the stone, if necessary, and he is set. Drinking a lot of water is the other recommendation. It amazes me how many people have experienced this malady.

No surgery. Ok, here we are back in Brunswick. Last year we included some pictures and information about the Golden Ray, a Hyundai car carrying ship tipped over near St Simons island. The ship was carrying 4300 cars and 24 crewmembers who were all rescued. We could see that the ship was still there so we drove out to get a closer look. The ship is being sawed into eight pieces and removed segment by segment. This is a 656’ ship!

After delays from hurricanes and the coronavirus, the first segment, the bow of the ship was removed in late November, 2020. We could see massive amounts of equipment both on land and out at the ship. It must to be costing a fortune. They are now saying that the wreck may have been the result of replacing subcompact cars with the heavier Kia Telluride SUVs, therefore changing the ships balance. Wow, wonder what insurance carrier is paying for this accident?

We decided to have lunch back in Brunswick and visit the Rum Distillery that was closed last Spring. We split a Jamaican wrap sandwich that could have fed three. It was full of chicken and vegetables with a flavorful jerk taste. Another great choice.

We were the only customers in the distillery, Richmond Rum. A young woman came out from the brewing area to show us the wares. There were about 12 different types on a long counter. It looked like at one time they were doing tastings. We told her we were interested in a Smokey, aged sipping rum. Ahh, she had just the thing.

According to them: Richland rum is the only single estate rum made in America. It was founded in 1999 and has been crafting authentic, barrel aged rum and has perfected what Forbes magazine calls “America’s best rum.” It is crafted one barrel at a time, using sugarcane harvested on the founder’s Georgia estate in Richland, a rarity among American made rums. The result is an aromatic, elegant sipping rum that delights rum connoisseurs and makes converts of whiskey drinkers. Richland rum has only two ingredients, Georgia sugar cane and Georgia spring water, no preservatives, additives no glycerin no sugar.

Ok, sold! We will report back when the bottle is opened once we are in the water.

Our friend BT said “Great Captain Remedy ….. RRRRRUM!!!