Date: 2 March 2017. Missing
Medicines.
© janice142
Getting
sick is never fun. On a boat far from civilization a minor problem
easily solved by a visit to a physician and pharmacy can become
serious. Last month my sense of complacency was rocked, all because
of a cough. That I did not have a well-stocked medicine cabinet was
my fault. Here's what I did wrong:
#1) My
medicine locker focused on treating injuries.
#2) Because I "never" get sick I was not prepared for illness.

Besides, life's better on the boat. Kidlet gave me
that while we were at Disney.
The
afternoon I returned from Disney I started coughing. Minor, nothing
to worry about right? WRONG!!!
I could not
stop coughing. Nothing helped. The standard remedies of chicken
soup, tea with honey and cough drops didn't touch the cough.
Coughing
hard caused my ribs to ache. An uncontrolled cough can notch up from
unpleasant to down right ugly in a very brief span of time.
The medicine
locker let me down. I didn't see anything in there that would help.

Of course today when I look I can clearly see allergy medicine. It
could have helped my wet nose. That item is on the third shelf next
to the two inch wide bandage. When sick it is all too easy to miss
the obvious. I did this time for certain.
Fortunately
one of my boat neighbors went to Walmart with a list of potions I
thought might help. That list included cough syrup, Zyrtec or
equivalent, along with a saline solution and a pain reliever. My
friend bought the list and it wasn't cheap!!!
He brought
back Nyquil, Claritan, saline solution and aspirin. I had not
thought to add cough drops but fortunately he purchased those too.
The Hall's brand cough drops tasted good but didn't do much toward
abating the cough.
About a week into the illness I felt up to a trip to a local
pharmacy. Sparrow on the east coast had recommended an orange
flavored cough suppressant. Kidlet suggested a powder you add to hot
water to make a soothing tea.
The orange
stuff is Delsym. It was on sale and cost $13. Ouch. That it worked
made the cost more tolerable.
I also
bought a honey/lemon flavored Severe Cough and Cold powder from CVS.
I continued to cough. It tasted nasty. To be fair though, nothing
much appealed to me while I was sick.
I also
switched from Claritan to the Allergy relief medicine I finally
saw in my medicine locker. It's a Benadryl knock-off.
By the end
of week two the coughing had abated somewhat. Though weak as a
kitten I could tell I was on the waterway to recovery. I could read
again!!!

I love my Kindle! I am reading
T.
Tembarom by Frances Hodgson Burnett. It is
available on Amazon for free.
Frances Hodgson Burnett is best known for Secret Garden and A Little
Princess. She wrote adult novels too. I have read most of her books
over the years. They always bring a smile to my face. I like the
gentler stories of yesterday for the most part.
While sick I
revisited old friends. That means I read
again books I've enjoyed previously. Reading is wonderful.
Once fully on the road to recovery
I went to the local Dollar Tree store. There I discovered ALL the
medicines I'd been taking and more, and for a lot less money. That
cough syrup that was $13 is available in gel caps for a buck.
These are the new improved cold cure options I now have aboard
Seaweed:

Click on the photo for a full-sized version. You'll
be able to read my notes better then.
|
The
Medicine Locker, cold cures section: |
|
I bought multiples of each item so that I
could fill the bottles to the top. The bottles take up space
so I wanted those bottles full.
|
|
Allergy
(5 bottles)
benadryl |
Allergy Relief
(3 bottles)
zyrtek |
Cough Relief
(4 bottles)
robitussin
or delsym |
Mucus Relief
(3 bottles)
musinex |
Ibuprofen
(3 bottles)
advil |
These are generics. For my convenience I added
the familiar brand name too. |
|
I have noted how many to purchase of each
should you wish to fill your bottles as I did.
For $20 I have five medicine choices which should help the
next time I get sick.
Having
plenty eases my worries about being out here sick and alone.
|
|
Medicine keeps best when
it is not overheated. I stowed the containers in the locker
under my sink down below. Away from the hull, the location is
cool all the time. |
Finally last Friday I felt up for a little cruise aboard Seaweed.
I've missed running my girl so went over to McDonald's for an iced
coffee. I told you how to enjoy those for $1 in the
The Birds (ordering iced coffee)
vignette.
McDonald's has a dinghy dock here in Madiera Beach,
FL

It was such a relief to again be behind the wheel of my boat and
underway. Though I did not go far I did have fun. Boating isn't
always about distance covered. Often the short trips are the most
rewarding.
I splurged while at McDonald's. In addition to the coffee I bought a
parfait. Then I took Seaweed off the dock and anchored. I chose just
west of the American Legion building. That anchorage is exposed to a
long fetch but as a temporary stopping point is okay. There is a
sandy bottom with good holding.
*Fetch: Fetch is the length of
open water between your boat and the horizon. A short distance means
winds and waves have less chance to build up. It is safer. More
information on fetch can be found in the
By the Shipyard
article.
The cough is finally gone. It took a lot out of me. My strength is
not quite 100% yet. Reading a couple of chapters while anchored near
the American Legion post rejuvenated me.
Though only
just after noontime the boating traffic had picked. In the morning I
was almost the only boat on the water. I headed back to the dock for
a nice long nap.
I wasn't
100% last Friday. I do believe I'm very close now. I am still
husbanding my strength and being careful. It was disheartening to
stay sick for such a long time. The days of bouncing back in a day
or three seem to have passed me by.
Being
aboard my home is a good thing. I love my miniature trawler and I am
truly blessed. Seaweed is practically perfect, except for the items
that need fixing, upgrading or installing.
How did you decide what to put in your medicine locker?
And, do you have any secret recipes for stopping a cough? What are they?
COMMENTS:
© 2017, 2022
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