Once again my brain rattled and nerves shattered. “Please Chris, stop sneezing. You have no idea what it does to me” I said

“Never mind you but think what it does to me” he always replies. Earthworms retreat to their holes thinking the end has come and flying fishes spread their wings to fly away as fast as they could in sheer terror!

“No good will come of it” I acknowledged.

About 3 weeks ago Chris developed a right-sided abdominal pain only relieved by putting a compression bandage held by a belt. I tried to ignore the incongruous bulge in the hope no one else would notice. 

Chris suspected an Inguinal hernia.

My prediction came true and his diagnosis was correct.

Curacao is the obvious civilized place to sort out the problem, as we did not want to alter our plans or face an emergency in the Pacific. In any case the pain was getting worse.

In our 41 yrs of marriage Chris has seen a Doctor only twice, once for a kidney infection, the other for a chest infection and that was over 20 years ago.  He has never been in hospital apart from work or visiting me.

Taams Private Clinic, Curacao, has a very good reputation and can deal with anything from plastic surgery to piles so hopefully a hernia is in the mid-scale of things and should cause no problems. In turn, I was trying to gauge the situation. Nearing 65, a first time surgery could be traumatic. Chris might milk the situation for all it is worth….

The anxiety was aggravated by the fact that one of the Taams’ surgeons recently unnecessarily removed the breast of a woman whose case notes were the wrong ones. Chris felt he should hang on to all his bits. Therefore he agreed to have spinal block. If not to direct surgery at least make sure the right side was operated on.

Insurance companies are there to make money, and if at all possible will avoid paying.  Ours is no different. They replied that an Inguinal Hernia is not an emergency and should be treated conservatively. Their solution is about 30 years out of date. Surgery is the norm today. 

Chris calmly explained that we were sailing (which they knew) and our program was the Pacific.  The treatment, which they were advising is wearing a trust made of a belt and spring steel, was not a solution as we spent most of our time naked and live in a very aggressive environment. It would be difficult to explain white marks in strange places and rust runs down the right leg.  Hoisting sails is now impossible and the pain is too bad to walk etc… In any case facing a strangulated hernia in the Pacific would be an expensive and  a life threatening alternative. Of course common sense prevailed and they agreed he was a special case.

After close examination (which sent Chris bouncing to the ceiling) Dr. Jan Taams booked the operation for 30^th Dec.  Not to worry the family and spoil their Xmas we delayed to tell anyone back home until after the festivities. 

The day of the operation we had to get up at the crack of dawn to be at the Clinic by 6.15am.  The saving grace to be on the road at that unearthly hour is no traffic.  Thank goodness for the support of our great Dutch friends Jan and Joanneke (s/y Witte Raaf), whose unconditional support and help has been incredible.

I left him in the very capable hands of a Curacao coloured nurse.

Waiting for news I felt the best course of action was to focus my thoughts on creating something and sewed a new mosquito hatch door.

The surgeon (having had the same operation himself) announced that would be very painful the 1^st day and much less the second.  He was spot on.

  His cheeks’ colour returning!

The next hurdle was to get the patient from the quay to the boat. All our sailing friends came up with various ideas: some hilarious, some less practical and others feasible.  We did a great job because the patient did not bark too much.

 Good to have him back on board!

 What joy to rest in peace ……….

Chris assures me he will not complain or ask for anything but the key now is will he remember he is still a patient and do as he is told?