March 2017 – Mermaid on a Raft

Come dive with me

03/28/2017 I am always making new friends on FB and then meeting the people when they finally come to Roatan. Case in point, Rick and Ruth Bailey from Missouri. I met them quite some time ago online and was waiting until they made their next trip down here to meet up. They came to the island before Teri B left. They were staying for a few days on the east end of the island so they came over and spent a day with us in the pool. After sunning and having a few drinks we all went to Cal’s for dinner.

I used to like the Bailey’s a lot but Rick recently bought Ruth a gorgeous blue Mini Cooper with a racing stripe and I’m a little green with envy. The damn pot holes are so big here that Mini would disappear in one of them, never to be seen again. (Nice wheels Ruth) I can somewhat justify me not having one here. Somewhat….

After Teri left I got an email from my goldsmith in Bellingham’s wife. I started going to Fairhaven Gold in 1995, when we moved to Bellingham. Bill, the owner became my most trusted jeweler. In July of last year I lost 2 gold bracelets he made for me while snorkeling down here. My eagle-eyed son Chance found them in the sand under the water. The next day I called Bill to tell him what happened and that the bracelets were being sent to him for repair. That’s when he told me they were coming down, but he didn’t say when. Their daughter was going back to Utila to live for 4 months. She wanted to see Roatan and her dad, Bill wanted to get certified for scuba. He got his certification at Blue Island Divers and his daughter did some diving with them as well. I picked them up one afternoon and took them for a tour of the eastern end of the island. We went through Oak Ridge and Punta Gorda. After stopping for refreshments, we drove east to the Secret Beach and hung out. It was a gorgeous day, we sat listening to the waves and chatting. After that we stopped back here to tell Bill that we were going to Cal’s for lunch. (see a pattern here?) After that I dropped them off in French Harbor and they got a taxi back to Sandy Bay where they were staying. So nice to see Bill and meet Gina and Mackenzie.

Still dealing with Max being sick put a damper on my life. I needed to get in gear and get ready for my upcoming guests.

I met my friend Abe a long time ago, in a galaxy far away, called Bellingham. Abe used to come to the bank (Bank of America, where I worked) with his Father and sometimes his brothers and or sister. I got to know him through there. I was always impressed by Abe’s Father and by the way all the kids behaved. I transferred to a different department temporarily but when I returned to the branch I saw that Abe had recently applied for a job. I called him for an interview but he was working at another bank, he started there a few weeks ago. I offered him more money and less hours. He said OK and came to work for me. His smarts, personality and his demeanor with people was/is outstanding.

I left BoA in 2005 for another bank. Abe left banking soon after to try a new job with Border Patrol. We always kept in touch. Abe decided the Border Patrol was not for him and moved back to Bellingham. At that time, I needed a Personal Banker where I was working as Customer Service manager so he applied. The personnel office contacted me and said he had worked for them before for a short period of time. I said that he didn’t. They then told me when it was and that he quit to work for BoA. I realized it was because I hired him out from under them and now was hiring him back. They agreed to rehire him and he was very successful there as well. I moved on and he stayed there for a while until he decided to move to So. Calif.

Anyhow, the rest is history, Abe and I have always been in contact with each other, he calls me his American mom. His Mom, Maria is a lovely lady and I know his brothers and sister as well as his father. Great people, love them all.

Flash forward to mid Feb when Abe messages me that he needs a vacation and was thinking about coming to see me. I was very excited to say the least. We chatted about it off and on, talked on the phone and at that point I decided to plant the seed about diving. Abe had never snorkeled, let alone gone scuba diving. He asked if his buddy could come visit too and I said sure. They both wanted to get certified for Open Water Scuba diving. I contacted Eric @ Blue Island Divers and he got them all set up.

I picked them up at the airport on Thursday March 16th, we stopped and got groceries and then came here. They put their groceries away and we ran to Cal’s for food, they were starving. Bill didn’t go, he was getting over a stomach bug and food was not his friend.

The next morning I took the guys to Blue Island Divers in Sandy Bay to start their certification. The weather had been crappy and the north shore was pretty choppy. The guys began their first day long certification and I left, ran errands and came home. (30 min. each way) I went back and picked them up at 3:30, 4 PM and we headed home. They were asleep quite early after a long day of studying. The next morning we were up and back at Blue Island Divers for day two of training. I did the same thing, I went home, then went back to get them. One of the days I stopped by my twin’s house to say hello and get sneak peeks of Miss Juanita, Ann’s new cat.

Day 2, the guys did some open water work with Ernesto.

I met another lady on FB, well, actually she found my blog and PM’d me. She had been here once on a cruise ship and was returning on Sat. for another visit. I was unable to pick her up at the airport as I was running with the guys. Kelly brought down 70 yes, SEVENTY pair of Old Navy flip-flops for the island kids. Customs was not going to let her through with the suitcase. I called my friend Karen who was working that day and she went and talked to them. They needed a letter saying they were being donated. Luckily I was able to get the letter the same day and get it sent to the customs lady. All was well in Roatán.

70 pair of Old Navy flip-flops(zorie’s for Jeanie) , a long-sleeved white shirt from LL Bean for Jessica, undies for Osman and Efraim and bathing suits for them too. Kelly also brought the game Trouble, Jenga and a box of Lego’s to build a fire truck. I really wanted to give them to the boys (Osman and Ephraim) but their wretched horrible mother will sell them and the boys will not get to play with them. She’s a miserable woman. I’ve decided to donate the toys to a school, probably Cattleya.

Kelly knows the way to my heart, she brought me a mermaid bag. She also brought each of the dogs a BeneBone. They are Y shaped and the dogs LOVE them.

This little boy is one of many living in the 2 room house in the valley with his grandparents. We gave him school supplies from John and Lizeth awhile ago.

Two more of the boys. They were chopping with machetes in the woods.

Abe and Paul and I were beaching it at West Bay on Sunday so I invited Kelly to come with us. I stopped by Pristine Bay to pick her up and we were off to the beach. It was the only day in the whole week there were no cruise ships in. We sat at Bananarama for the day. The beach was not very crowded but still a good day for people watching. The guys and I walked down the beach to Infinity Bay. We entered the water there and tried to swim out the channel to snorkel but it was so stirred up the visibility was awful. This is what happens when we get winds from the north. Many of the dive boats were on the other side of the island also.

While floating in the water with Kelly we met a lady named Vera, who was holding her dog in her arms while she floated. She was telling us her story, all the time Fido was zen in the moment, not moving a muscle, loving the experience. Turns out Vera and her husband are friends of our friends Stefi and Jurgen who moved back to Germany. It was so nice chatting with her, she even says shit just like Stefi did

We had lunch on the beach, had a few beers and headed home. I took them to see the south-west shore of the island and then drove through Toxic Hole (Coxen Hole) so they could see the “downtown” area.

On Monday we were all going to Mondays Don’t Suck on the beach on the moon. I picked Kelly up, got the guys and we set off first for La Sirena for some lunch. Imagine my disappointment when they said they didn’t have bread crumbs to make the onion rings. I was looking forward to having them for lunch, especially because I didn’t bring anything to eat at the beach..

After we finished at La Sirena we drove down to MDS beach.

Tres amigos, Abe, Paul and Kelly. This was at the start of MDS, they were not as calm and normal at the end of the day.

MDS turned out to be a fabulous day at the beach. The weather was glorious, the waves had settled down and we had the beach to ourselves.

Jeanie AKA The Duchess of Camp Bay, me, Kelly, Paul and Abe

Lowanna wanted shirtless photos of the guys.

Food, drinks, chairs, rafts, towels and people. Really a fabulous day.

Carmen and I wearing our Sargassum Seaweed crowns. We were absolutely the best Sargassum Sirens.

I had not eaten and I drank almost a bottle of wine. By the time the day had ended and I had to drive home I was on another level. Very thankful that the majority of the road home was dirt and empty. It’s a slow going road anyhow, potholes, speed bumps, cows and horses. I did have to drive a few miles on paved road but there was no traffic. I drove to my house and told Bill he had to take Kelly to Pristine Bay. I knew I couldn’t negotiate the cars and traffic in French Harbor. I went inside, got the pounds of sand out of the unmentionable parts, showered and passed out on the couch. Once Paul and Abe each showered, they came upstairs too and we all watched Bill make us pizza for dinner. Well, I sort of watched from the couch but when the pizza was ready, I was starving and ready to inhale several pieces. After we ate and cleaned up, I went to bed and Paul and Abe went down to their bedrooms and crashed too. Tomorrow was the final day of their dive certification.

Amazingly, the three of us made it down to Blue Island Divers again on Tuesday morning. They were doing 3 dives that day and I planned on diving with them their last dive of the day. I dropped them off and came home and laid down for a while. I noticed on FB that it was Ernesto’s birthday (their divemaster) on Tuesday. I stopped and grabbed a birthday cake for him on my way back to the dive shop. I made it back by 1:30 for a 2 PM dive. I chose not to take my camera because I’m still working on getting perfect buoyancy. We had a great dive, only went to 53′ for 49 minutes.

Abe, Ernesto, their divemaster, Paul, Laura and Ismael, also divemasters

Ernesto with his 2 cakes, photo-bombed by Ismael, who is from Chile.

Let them eat cake and drink beer. It was after 5 PM, the rules of the dive shop for the employees consuming anything alcoholic.

Abe and Paul, modeling their newly purchased BID rash guards.

Paul signing his name, OWD certificate is complete.

One last shot of Blue Island Divers, they have such an idyllic spot.

On the way home we stopped at the grocery store and Abe and Paul bought some steaks for dinner. Paul was the chef and along with the meat (I don’t eat meat) he made some delicious fried potatoes too.

On Wednesday morning I picked Kelly up @ Pristine Bay. We came back here and she got to meet the dogs and then we all went to Oak Ridge to meet Carmen and Brett @ BJ’s. They were having us over for the day. The sun was shining, the sea was calm and glistening, a perfect day to be on the south shore.

Carmen had a whole spread of food for us and beer and wine and Bloody Mary’s too. The guys went out snorkeling while we sat and talked. When they returned from snorkeling and dried off, we all got in the boat and went for a tour. We cruised Calabash Bight, then out in the open sea to the mangroves. After we circled around the swimming hole we went to Hole in the Wall. It’s a small bar/restaurant that has been around forever.

Calabash Bight, my friend Kathy lives in the house on the right and the other place will soon be a Pizza Hut. (hah)

Carmen took this because she said I am never in the pics.

The mangroves open up onto this and continue on the other side

First stop, Hole in the Wall. Lobster nachos and cheesy fries

Need a new word? Douchenugget seems to be the word of the day.

This is what you do to your toe when you mysteriously trip getting out of the boat. NOTE: I did not spill OR drop my glass of wine.

Captain Ed, this guy has the bluest eyes I have ever seen. He runs the show there.

Another one, this one was really pretty.

Our day was done. We were dropped off at BJ’s and I drove back to our house. We washed up and went to Cal’s for dinner again.

Kelly, Abe, my friend Reynaldo, the waiter and Paul.

After a fabulous meal we took Kelly home and headed back to our house to feed the hungry dogs awaiting their food.

Thursday was their last day here on the island. We picked Kelly up and went to Arch’s Iguana Farm. The guys enjoyed seeing and feeding the iguanas. Afterwards we walked down to the water and looked around, it’s so beautiful down there. Before we left Abe picked up a few things for his daughter Natalya at the gift shop. We planned to go to the Sloth farm but we ran out of time.

It was a sunny day so there were a lot of them out and about.

Such amazing creatures. I absolutely love them.

After a stop at the gas station for baleadas for breakfast for the guys, I took them all to the airport. They got checked in and were ready to go through security. Kelly had the shortest trip home, Paul the longest, he was going to Seattle. I said good-bye to everyone and made my way home.

It was an eventful and exhausting week but I enjoyed the company of all 3 of them. The guys are already talking about returning and Miss Kelly better get back down here soon too. We really enjoyed Paul and Abe, super nice guys, lots of fun to hang out with.

Bill volunteered to make 2 bed frames for a family a friend was helping. We delivered them on Thursday before we took Max in to the people hospital to get X-Rays for the vet on Saturday.

The adorable little girls and their dog. The frames were for mattresses for these cuties.

There was plywood for the tops of the beds also, just not shown in this pic.

Max got his x-rays Thursday evening, I swear he is the best dog ever. He doesn’t fight us no matter what we do to him.

He went to the vet from Tegus on Saturday morning. He seemed to be feeling better but she did a check-up anyhow. He had a slight temp so we waited 10 minutes and took his temp again, this time it was higher. She did a blood test and after viewing the results said he has Ehrlichia. Before Doc C said he had Ehrlichia on Feb 15th. Then Dr Diana did a SNAP test for Ehrlichia and Heart worm on 2/24, it was negative. She also checked his blood with a microscope and said he did not have Ehrlichia. Then on 2/28 Dr Bueno drew blood from him and had it checked and said no Ehrlichia. Now on 3/25 Dr Diana says he has it. I’m so pissed off and confused, I don’t even know what to think. I hate to keep giving him medicine but I don’t want to stop in case he does have it. No wonder I’m nuts.

Final photos of the day, Abe left a pair of almost new Reef shoes here for Alexi. He was so excited with the shoes and they fit. Alexi would have chopped his toes off so they would fit, especially because they were from Abe.

This is one of Trace’s “doodles.” I think he should make some copies of these and sell them.

The detail is freaking amazing.

It’s a nice day, I’ve been typing all morning and I’m done. The pool is calling my name, sort of like the siren song.

Hasta Manaña Peeps.

Stressed to the Max

03/24/2017 Max getting sick on Feb 11th has dampened my spirits to the point of me being depressed and not wanting to go anywhere or do anything. We thought we were on the road to recovery with the ehrlichia diagnosis but after 2 weeks of meds, he was no better. I took him to Dr Diana @ ProVets on 2/24. They come once a month from Tegucigalpa. I’ve been to them several times when I need more of a diagnosis than Doc Calderon can give me. She tested Max for ehrlichia and said he didn’t have it, nor does he have heartworm. She used a catheter on him and checked his urine, he had crystals in it. Little did I know, this could be the root of his problems. She gave him some shots and wanted to see him the next morning. I saw no change in him overnight. On Saturday the 25th we went back to ProVets, she assumed he had a UTI and put him on Baytril, 630L for 6 pills, $4.50 a pill. I didn’t give him one until Sunday because she gave him several injections on Saturday. Sunday night he was not good, he was listless, not drinking, no energy, not hungry and this girl (me) was freaking out.

By Monday morning I knew I was going to the mainland to see Dr Bueno at his animal hospital. I messaged Bethany, Doc Calderon’s assistant and asked her to come with me, I would pay for everything. She said sure, she even called Dr Bueno for me and told him we were coming and needed an ultrasound.

I met her at the ferry dock at 1:30, got our tickets and got Max his boarding pass. While I was waiting for his pass to be printed, the computer crashed and she couldn’t get it up and running again. Someone else came in and jiggled some wires and got it to boot up. She got his pass printed with minutes to spare. They put him in a wire kennel, he looked so lost and scared, I felt awful. Bethany, Max and I just made it on the ferry.

Monday Feb. 27th was my first experience on the Galaxy Wave, aka the Vomit Comet. I normally don’t have a queasy stomach so I really wasn’t worried about getting sick. I was more concerned about Max.

Leaving Roatán. The ferry dock is right by Mahogany Bay cruise ship dock. And there is a wreck there also. Reassuring for everyone traveling by water.

I called my friend Pablo, a taxi driver in Ceiba. He speaks English and is a really nice man with an utter P.O.S. taxi, but he had no problem taking my dog in his car. He was there when we arrived and took us right to Dr. Bueno’s animal hospital.

Dr Bueno had contacted someone with an ultrasound machine and he came to the vet clinic about 30 minutes after we got there. We got Max up on the table and they smeared ultrasound gel on his furry belly and started looking around. What they found were kidney stones in both of his kidneys. KIDNEY STONES IN A DOG? Who even knew of this? Not me. Doc wanted to keep him overnight so they could keep an eye on him and keep him on meds. I was not thrilled about leaving him in an outside kennel along the streets in the city of Ceiba but I had no choice. I was an absolute stress case. Bethany and I checked into the Paris Hotel in Ceiba, close to the vets and a Pizza Hut. We said we were from Bonacca and got two nights for the price of one. We went to the Pizza Hut for dinner, I have not been to one for 15+ years. I ordered a small pizza and ate 2 bites of it. When stress moves in all ideas of food move out.

See the A/C upper right corner? You had to stand on the bed to operate it, no remote.

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel then Pablo picked us up and we went to the vets. Max was so happy to see me. They put him on IV’s for fluid and I sat on the floor in the waiting room with him for a few hours. After the fluids they wanted me to walk him to get him to pee but he wouldn’t. This guy pees in the jungle, he’s never peed on a city street where there are cars flying by, horns honking, sirens blaring and the occasional horse-drawn cart. Not his favorite places to take a leak. They jammed another catheter in him and got out 8 syringes full of urine. I have to brag for a moment: Dr Diana did a catheter, Dr Bueno did two and Max never struggled, NOT ONCE. He just laid there and let them do it. Everyone fell in love with Max. I cried several times, it was really just my stressed out ass leaking from my eyeballs.

Bethany, if you are reading this, I LOVE you girl! I love you for going with me, for loving Max (and all my babies), and for putting up with my basket case self. You rock.

Bethany was leaving on the 4:30 ferry as she had school that night and had to work with Doc in the morning. Max and I would spend another night and leave on the 9:30 AM ferry for home on Wed.

I had Pablo take me to a grocery store so I could get something to eat, mainly because Dr. Bueno was having a fit that I wasn’t eating. It was a Honduran store (there are more normal stores in the area, more gringo-ish) and the music was so loud that I couldn’t even begin to partially assemble a thought so I grabbed chile lime peanuts, zucaritas (Honduran Frosted Flakes), Tostitos, Red Velvet cupcakes for Pablo and some water. I went back to the Grand Paris hotel and crashed.

Pablo picked me up in the morning, we went and got Max, who has thrilled to see me again and once we got his meds and I paid the bill, we left for the ferry.

Max and I arrived home around 11. He was so glad to get in his own yard so he could pee in peace. {While in Ceiba I somehow managed to lose the remote gate opener. Great, I NEVER lose or misplace anything and I lost this. I was so pissed. I searched every nook and cranny of my bags and realized it must have been in a plastic bag I threw out at the ferry terminal in Ceiba. Thankfully we had extras but Bill was upset because it required him to reprogram all of them.} By 4 PM the day we got home I had Max in the car, going to see Doc C, I didn’t like the way he was panting, breathing at all. Doc said he was probably in pain and to try to keep him quiet. We came back home and I was so stressed I could have pulled all of my insides out of my body using my tongue. I really couldn’t even function, I was drained, starved and stressed. All just a lovely combination. In all honesty, they SHOULD have drugged me. It would have made the world a better place temporarily.

The bad news was I had to take Max back in a week. I decided I could go alone, my driver speaks English and will go in anywhere with me, the vet can speak English too, all was good. We left in the afternoon on the 8th of March.

I saw Chris Benson and his friend Tony, they were starting off on another ride.

Pablo picked me up again at the ferry and we went to the vets. We were sitting next to a table with New Testament books on it when Pablo laid his keys down. I immediately noticed the silver fob amongst the keys and I grabbed them and said, this is my gate opener, where did you find it? He said it was on the floor of his car. YAY!! That kind of made my day.

They did another ultrasound as soon as we got there at 4:30 and the kidney stones were gone except for one small one but the vet wanted him to have an X-Ray in the morning. There went my chance of leaving on the 9:30 ferry.

I found a hotel that would allow Max to stay in the room with me, Hotel España, also close to the vet. Pablo took us back to the hotel, we checked in, got situated and I decided to take Max to pee. There was a lot across the street and the manager of the hotel was kind enough to walk over there with me. Max still wouldn’t pee.

My bed for the night. The shower reminded me of the one in The Birds. I did not shower.

Fancy curtain rod could have lacerated my leg.

The city waking up. Max peed in the lot across the street. Sweet relief.

I took Max out early to go pee and when I got downstairs the owner was naked except for a blue striped towel around his waist, sweeping the floor. He was all nonchalant, like everyone sweeps the lobby of the hotel naked. He unlocked the doors (which I found odd that he kept them locked at ALL times) and finally, Max peed in the lot across the street for like 7 minutes straight.

I was hoping we could get the early ferry home but the radiologist wasn’t in until 8, which in Honduras means 9, 9:30ish. All time has ish after it. 10ish, noonish, fiveish. Pablo took me there, we sat for a few minutes until he realized we were at the wrong place and we walked down the street a half a block and waited some more.

Waiting at a medical office. Since Max is so dark, people walk F A R away from him. He’s scary looking.

The guy finally came and took the x-rays. Dr Bueno, the vet was also there. He then took the x-rays to the radiologist who did the ultrasounds on Max. I kind of thought the radiologist was a guy with a traveling ultrasound machine and went to bars or circuses and offered to do ultrasounds, but he was a bona fide radiologist who worked at a big hospital on the waterfront. Pablo and I sat by the beach and waited while Dr Bueno and the guy chatted over the x-rays. Then Dr Bueno came out and got me to show me the x-rays. I walked through the hospital to this office and they explained that there was fluid outside of his lungs and his heart was slightly enlarged. Great. At that point, I also told the Radiologist he should speak English. Go Deb!

Max hanging with me and Pablo at the beach

It really was quite lovely but Pablo told me not to wander too far and to not use my phone or camera unless I was next to him.

We were done with all of the x-ray stuff by 11 and I had the rest of the day to wait until I took the 4:30 ferry home. I chose to just sit and wait at the vets and Dr Bueno was OK with that. Max was familiar with the place, there were no dog parks or really any safe places to walk a dog, so we waited. While there I met a wonderful lady named Olga who was there with her cat. We chatted for a few hours, I really enjoyed meeting her, such a sweet lady, she hugged me good-bye.

Since I was leaving at 3:30 to get to the ferry and get Max’s ticket, I really had to bug Dr Bueno to get my meds ready and my bill so I could leave when I needed. Finally at 3:15 he began the procedure of gathering the medicines for Max, while internally I am a big ball of stress from waiting. Max was on prednisone, antibiotics, meds to break up the kidney stones, meds to dilate the urethra, meds to make the fluids around his lungs go away and pain pills. OMG. I instantly thought of my sweet grandmother who had a pill for every function.

Max and I were on the 4:30 ferry, which is the real reason behind the name Vomit Comet. The afternoon ferry has many victims of puke. Max goes in the cargo hold area and this time I sat upstairs, in First Class. It was a rough ride but I did my mind over matter mantra and I didn’t hurl. Others were not so fortunate. Puke-o-rama.

It was almost 7 by the time Max and I got home. Thankful we were home, Max was with me and I had the damn gate opener.

As I write this, we think Max is feeling a little better. He has more energy. His appetite never waned, he eats like a dog who hasn’t eaten for a LONG LONG time. 6 hours between meals KILLS this boy.

We took Max to the people hospital to get x-rays last night. We are going back to Dr Diana (vet from Tegucigalpa) tomorrow and she wanted lateral thorax and abdomen x-rays. I have them all ready to go along with all of his blood and urine test results. Hopefully she can find the missing link. I’m also messaging a friend in AZ who is a vet. We’re trying to figure out how to send him pics of x-rays. I was told digital wasn’t an option at the clinic.

I am totally convinced they are all missing something and if they can figure it out, voilà, we’ll be good to go.

I also believe in unicorns and the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

In case it’s not obvious, I would move hell and high water for my dogs. No, I’m not rich, but it doesn’t matter. My dog will be healthy again.

**Before I forget, I have a new Pennsylvania based phone number. Anyone can call it, no charge to you or me. If you don’t live in PA and have free long distance, it’s just that, free. 1-570-980-1551. It will only work if I’m home because I don’t have internet on my phone when I’m out running around, diving, boating or dancing. Important shit takes precedence.

Later peeps, another blog to follow soon, a really fun one. Peace out, for the love of dogs.