Castries and the bucket

The last Friday of Tom and Laura’s visit we went to a street festival in Gros Islet, was very nice and we had some street food. Jacques had a fish with rice and beans and felt not good the next morning, cramping in the stomach etc., clearly the fish. Sunday it was a little bit better and on Monday we at last met our boat buddies from last season. To celebrate we went out for dinner, good food, but in the night Jacques got really sick and started throwing up about every 15 minutes.

A boat neighbor came by to say hello and said that Jacques should see a doctor, he went back to his boat to find the address of a doctor, came again and followed us to the marina “don’t forget the bucket,” he said. The bucket was not a normal size bucket or a somewhat reasonable bowl, no it was a BUCKET, very big and sturdy, stolen from the boatyard in Pensacola. I said that I had already several sturdy plastic bags in the backpack, but the two guys really insisted on the BUCKET. We took the bus to the walk-in clinic. The buses and the taxis are all the same type of minivan, only the buses have tried to put in as much seats as possible. So there was no space for the BUCKET except on my lap!

After filling out a lot of paper work the doctor could see us immediately, but took a look at the big white thing and said it should stay outside. Jacques said no and after two minutes she was glad we had brought the bucket in!!!!! After seeing this she made an EKG and went on a search for saline solutions. They were not there so she explained she had to send us to the hospital in Castries with the ambulance. So Jacques, me and the bucket were driven with a lot of noise and lights to Castries. At the ER they were very clear that the BUCKET had to stay outside, so it was dropped in the waiting room. Jacques was immediately connected to an IV and got pain medication, which made him sleepy, but he had to ask at least one time where the BUCKET was!!!!!!!!!!!

Later the doctor wanted him to stay overnight and that got me checking: did I really close all the windows on the boat? The boat was locked and the dinghy also, that I was sure. I started asking around for a hotel in the near, but they came up with a better solution; I could get a folding bed in Jacques's room.

The next day after 5 liters of fluid and Jacques feeling much better, we wanted to go home; that took several hours, the administration was not very efficient, we had to pay, the doctor was no where to be found, but around 4 o’clock we were ready. A taxi was called and suddenly Jacques remembered the Bucket and asked where it was. I said the last time I saw it was in the waiting room of the ER, but it will be gone and it is just a bucket, we can get another one! He was getting upset and the nurses were asking what the problem was, so Jacques explained he had come with a bucket and would like to leave with a bucket. Two nurses disappeared and after 10 minutes they came back with a big smile and the BUCKET!!!!!!!

We are home on the boat, Jacques is weak but feeling good and the bucket is back in her own spot!!! I just think that next to the stomach inflammation he had a severe case of BDD (Bucket Detachment Disorder)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thankful that everything came out well, I say goodbye and talk to you soon, Ria