[Paddlewise] A Different Storm

Dear Paddlewisers:

Just wanted to let you know I was released from hospital yesterday,
exactly three weeks from when I was first symptomatic with severely
painful invasive streptococcus A infection. Unfortunately, 3 to 7
persons in 3,000.000 develop necrotizing fasciitis (also known as
flesh-eating disease) with Vancouver Island experiencing a much higher
percentage than normal. The good news is my family was spared, my life
was spared, my leg was spared, and the portion debrided by the surgeons
only extends from the ankle to the knee (albeit with a hefty 5" wide,
1/2" deep,  margin). It was touch-and-go for a few days.  While that is
a fair bit of one's leg to loose, its all along the inside of the leg
with no loss of my calf muscle (in the end, yeah!) or ankle tendons.
Once I learn to walk again and toughen up the skin graft, the
significance of the above is that I'll be able to retain my Nordkapp's
gas-peddled rudder-controlled system (rather than buy a Mariner :-)),
while the bottom portion of my leg (unaffected by the surgery) will
comfortably rest on the inside bottom of the hull - within the tight
confines of the cockpit. Throw on my wetsuit over my new leg pressure
garment (have to wear it for two years - uh, the garment, not the
wetsuit), and away we go! Probably no more bailing out in log-infested
storm-surge for me now, but that may be a good thing.

Surprizingly, my spirits never suffered once. Many things in life are
not within our control, and lying in a bed immobile for the past three
weeks with an IV line pumping penicillin almost directly into my heart,
proved that (difficult for a guy like me, busy and always able to push
harder when the going gets tough - who stayed home with unimaginable
pain and fever for the first three days before seeking definitive
medical help - a huge mistake. Talk about patterns in one's life). But
we can control our attitude and response to bad situations and
suffering, so we do retain a kind of control by staying positive, even
if were not responsible for the outcome.

I never stopped trusting my Creator, even through the nasty
complications of nearly uncontrollable atrial fibrillation due to high
toxin levels with a pulse of 180 for days, with numerous attempts at
cardioversions (I'm still heavily medicated and will require an ablation
procedure). The latest copy of Sea Kayaker Magazine (especially Peter
Bray's matter-of-fact article) kept me motivated in hospital. While the
whole episode in emergency and then in-patient hospital played-out like
a re-run from the TV series "Touched By An Angle", my love of sea
kayaking and my spiritual relation to nature in that context, had
already predisposed me to accepting every day as a gift in a universe of
marvel, mystery, and magnificence. I still look forward to my first
paddle of the New Year (missed a New Year's Day paddle with Kirby
Stevens and friends due to the very fortunate and timely admittance to
hospital that day), and find myself a bit emotional with other painful
complications from surgery as I write this, looking forward to getting
back on the water. I leave you with these words from Thomas Traherne (a
Celtic Saint who lived from 1637 to 1674), with apologies and deference
to my non-religious Paddlewise friends:

"You never enjoy the world aright, till the sea itself floweth in your
veins, till you are clothed with the heavens, and crowned with the
stars...till you can sing and rejoice and delight in God...you never
enjoy the world."


Doug Lloyd - back safely from a different kind of storm, thankful to
those who sent cards and positive thoughts. Iits been a "slice"  :-)

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