Gale Warning

I used to race catamaran's with an uncle growing up. It was a lot of work but also a lot of fun. Typical of me, one time I decided to go out 'solo' with the obvious signs of a storm on the horizon and the water.

Storms aren't the end of the world for sailing. In fact, I'd go out intentionally as I had this time because with the right sail and experience, some awesome sailing could be had. Problem with storms is you don't necessarily know how severe they are going to be as you watch them approach. Bigger problem is sometimes, some people, get way off from shore when I, I mean they, see flags like this go up on shore...

Well, the one time in particular that I'm thinking of when I went out by myself to sail in the storm is memorable mostly because it is VERY difficult to drag an overturned catamaran, in a storm, for even a short distance. But there I was, swimming with a makeshift rope harness pulling my beloved catamaran which was too large to right for one-person - for nearly three hours... It was miserable. The water was cold, the waves were relentless, the storm's wind and rain conspired to drown me, and there were only two choices - swim or drown.

The time between my last post and this one has been that experience. The lack of word from me was literally because I could not even get on the laptop to get the update out. Good news is - here I am with an update.

I won't bore you with the blow-by-blow details of this last bout with adversities. In summary, my blood counts fell to all time lows - in particular my platelet count went dangerously low along with my white blood cells and that required a platelet transfusion; along with that it was found I had pneumonia in my right lung (which I think I've had to a degree since we started the chemotherapy but became a real problem when 'Course B' knocked me flat). Those two things put me in the hospital again for monitoring and antibiotics. To summarize my summary - I've had an unpleasant time between my last post and this one.

Things have improved dramatically however. I don't know, once again, where I would have been without Kimmie's help - she pulled me through again. It is so distressing for me to be so unable to help her - I want to at least cook meals or something... for those of us that are this sick, our caregivers are gifts from God. Thank you Kimmie.

I again appreciate the support I feel of all. I will have more posts soon. Definitely have dropped down to taking things day-by-day, if not hour-by-hour right now but even if I can't write I do read comments and e-mails and thank you for those. I wish everyone the best!