Poorly on board

[Leemc]

Have been laid up ( well laying around feeling sorry for myself according to wife)this week with a serious case of man flu.

Got me thinking about what that would be like on a boat where things are slightly trickier, warmth, water food etc.

The need to look out for each other on the canals, especially older live alones must be so important during the cold bleak months.

[The Boater]

It would be a good idea to make the effort to make contact with those who are moored around you as you pull up to a new mooring, just so you are all aware of any potential

Problems regarding illness etc, and where help may needed withe the day to day stuff to do with living on a boat. Ian.

[Peter X]

Somewhere on the telly this week I saw a doctor (real not fictional) saying that man flu is a real thing, because the female hormone oestrogen helps fight it and gives women an advantage over men, who have much less of it. But maybe this idea is just an unproven theory floating around the medical profession based upon limited research, because I found this:

http://www.nhs.uk/news/2009/05May/Pages/Manflurealormyth.aspx

 

I remember being stranded in my bed 20 years ago by what I suppose was flu. It came on quickly, then for about 24 hours or so I lacked the strength to stand up; I got up once in that time to go to the toilet and it was a big ordeal to get there and back. It was a bit scary because I was alone with no-one to help and no phone, but fortunately in the end I recovered; the recovery was very rapid, just a few hours and I was fully back to normal, which felt weird.

[mattlad]

I remember being stranded in my bed 20 years ago by what I suppose was flu. It came on quickly, then for about 24 hours or so I lacked the strength to stand up; I got up once in that time to go to the toilet and it was a big ordeal to get there and back. It was a bit scary because I was alone with no-one to help and no phone, but fortunately in the end I recovered; the recovery was very rapid, just a few hours and I was fully back to normal, which felt weird.

I had a hangover just like that once!

[Loafer]

I had a hangover just like that once!

 

I'm working on one now.

 

'Doctor, what's good for a really bad hangover?'

 

--'Twelve pints of Wadworth's 6X, the night before'!

[metanoia]

It would be a good idea to make the effort to make contact with those who are moored around you as you pull up to a new mooring, just so you are all aware of any potential

Problems regarding illness etc, and where help may needed withe the day to day stuff to do with living on a boat. Ian.

Please try to look out for others - particularly at this time of year. Sadly, a friend had a stroke on board whilst alone a few years ago.......... NOBODY thought to knock to check on him even though his engine had been running constantly for a few days while he was incapacitated on the floor of his boat.

 

Appreciate many of us are miserable old sods who want to keep ourselves to ourselves but ... you're right, "The Boater" - and just "be aware" - somebody might need your help.

 

..

[bargemast]

Please try to look out for others - particularly at this time of year. Sadly, a friend had a stroke on board whilst alone a few years ago.......... NOBODY thought to knock to check on him even though his engine had been running constantly for a few days while he was incapacitated on the floor of his boat.

 

Appreciate many of us are miserable old sods who want to keep ourselves to ourselves but ... you're right, "The Boater" - and just "be aware" - somebody might need your help.

 

..

 

Or you may need somebody's help yourself.

 

Peter.

[metanoia]

Indeed.

 

If I moor near anyone who's there for a day or two, don't like to knock but always call out a greeting and offer to fetch anything I can

[Phil Ambrose]

I always make a point of letting new residents that I'm approachable and I do keep an eye out for folks around me, yesterday I moved 5 bags of coal for a chap with a gammy leg and under going chemo, he's 7 years my senior and does need a bit of help which I gladly give. I believe in karma and hope that when (not if) the time comes when I need a hand someone will be there to help.

Phil

[metanoia]

Will seek you out soon Phil.........

Edited December 13, 2015 by metanoia

[Murflynn]

what we need is a flag to fly when we are sick and need help.

 

.............. oh, and a flagstaff to run up the flag.

 

 

 

but not a quarantine flag that tells peeps to keep away.

[Phil Ambrose]

what we need is a flag to fly when we are sick and need help.

 

.............. oh, and a flagstaff to run up the flag.

 

 

 

but not a quarantine flag that tells peeps to keep away.

Actually, that is excellent idea.

Phil

[Caprifool]

A chamber pot on the roof?

[DeanS]

I find that being ill in a boat, forces you to not give in to it like you might in a house...because in a boat the "chores" can't wait...things like emptied toilet casettes, bringing in coal/wood etc, emptying ash, filling with water.....being a boater means you actually can't "take time off", like perhaps you can while living in a house. I think that means that when you begin feeling the onset of a cold etc, you act quicker to try and get through it with meds etc....

 

there is just not the option to put your feet up until you recover...

 

personal findings...

 

still trying to recover from my old common cold...2 weeks in....;-)

[Grebe]

The 1969 international code flag for ' I require medical assitance' is W (whiskey), a red square in awhite square in a blue square.

( the yellow flag Q (quebec) actually means 'My vessel is healthy and I request clean pratique' (medical clearance to go ashore)

 

The international code flag for ' I require assitance' is V (victor), a white flag with red saltire.

 

You could also consider ' I wish to comunicate' K (kilo), yellow and black vertical halves with yellow in the hoist.

 

Get making that flag stick

[Loafer]

There're also flags to say

 

'Warning, you are heading into danger'*

'I need a tug'

'I need a pilot'**

'I have a pilot on board'**

 

*My wife's favourite saying lately.

 

**I'm an ex-pilot! She doesn't use these two any more though, sadly.

 

Can't remember why the other one was funny.

[Emerald Fox]

How's about a flag like this? Orange will stand out:

 

http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/sick-cartoon-pumpkin-illustration-looking-47366250.jpg

 

...and a little sign in the window 'Please help if you can' or somesuch. Perhaps also with orange background.

[Cheshire cat]

Our boat is moored in the marina. We decided to pay a visit last weekend to check everything was OK. I had great plans for Saturday night; a curry, a few beers and a decent pub band. my wife had other ideas. She fell ill on the way to the boat with flu like symptoms so Saturday was very much stoke up the stove and a pint with Match of the Day.

 

We tucked up in bed so well we almost missed Sunday morning but I think the complete rest and almost 12 hours sleep seems to have done the trick. She's almost back to her normal self.

 

Good idea about the signs especially for the single handed.

[tree monkey]

On my last mooring I came down with a serious chest infection, spent about 2 weeks in bed and a further 6 weeks recovering, the neighbours were wonderfull, they called over with various unguents, kept my water tank full and one Saturday morning I was woken by by immediate neighbour stacking freshly split firewood on my roof

All done with little fuss and without me asking for help.

[Neil Smith]

On my last mooring I came down with a serious chest infection, spent about 2 weeks in bed and a further 6 weeks recovering, the neighbours were wonderfull, they called over with various unguents, kept my water tank full and one Saturday morning I was woken by by immediate neighbour stacking freshly split firewood on my roof

All done with little fuss and without me asking for help.

Any room on that mooring.

 

Neil

[tree monkey]

Any room on that mooring.

 

Neil

Well as I had to move mooring maybe?

 

Unfortunately it's on one of the busiest bits of the network and summer can be intresting, 2 full length trip boats, 5 day boats, 2 hire bases and on a narrow bit too, we used to love winter

[pipistrelle]

I broke my arm badly in 2014 and it suddenly not fun being aboard, as my bed is about chest height off the floor.. Not to mention that CaRT changed the locks on my local elsan point without informing anyone who wasn't on a council mooring, so I lugged a full tank down there one-handed, only to find it inaccessible...

[Joelsanders]

I find that being ill in a boat, forces you to not give in to it like you might in a house...because in a boat the "chores" can't wait...things like emptied toilet casettes, bringing in coal/wood etc, emptying ash, filling with water.....being a boater means you actually can't "take time off", like perhaps you can while living in a house. I think that means that when you begin feeling the onset of a cold etc, you act quicker to try and get through it with meds etc....

 

there is just not the option to put your feet up until you recover...

 

Very true. I have rarely been ill since I moved onto a boat. When I lived in a flat, that wasn't the case.

 

I did have an accident a few years ago though and couldn't get off my boat for over a week. At the time, I was in a marina and my neighbours were very kind and helpful. I'm on the cut now but there's still other cc friends I could call on if I really needed to. It's a worry though. I try not to think about it.