It’s inevitable. Even usually healthy people sometimes get sick – and never when it’s convenient. Cruisers tend to lead a somewhat more isolated lifestyle than most people – we don’t hang out at the mall or anywhere where large groups of people, and germs, gather. As a result, cruisers immune systems seem to be more susceptible getting sick after flying or other activity with large crowds = germs.
David has a tendency toward bronchitis. No big deal here in the US – just run to the doctor if it won’t go away. But while we were cruising, we always stocked necessities for the ailments that either of us was prone to – bronchitis for David and sinus infections for me.
So as David started coughing & generally feeling ill, he increased his dose of Vitamin C along with his regular daily multi-vitamin. When the coughing got worse, he added DayQuil and NyQuil – actually the generic equivalents. When it persisted, he dug around in our onboard medical kit until he found a Z Pack that was left over from our “out cruising” days.
The moral to the story is, it’s better to have a boat well stocked with any medications you may need – even for a common cold – than it is to be “stuck” in paradise getting sicker and being miserable.
Also, we usually keep stuff for flu aboard – chicken noodle soup, saltine crackers, 7 Up, the usual routine. That way when someone isn’t feeling well, we don’t worry about getting to a store for “sick food”.
In the meantime, today I did the laundry so the sheets don’t contain left-over germs. I also keep wiping down all the inside surfaces from his coughing fits, wash my hands more than usual and take my vitamins & extra C in hopes his germs don’t trigger anything for me.
What do you keep aboard “just in case”? Obviously, this example is just for David’s current bronchitis, our medical kit contains much more, but hopefully this post causes you to think through the past year or so and plan accordingly for anything you might need. Please leave a comment and share & here’s to everyone staying healthy! Cheers! Jan
As we get ready to leave for our winter on the boat, I had the doctor write prescriptions for a general antibiotic (Augmenten), a good pain reliever, and an Epi-Pen. These are in addition to the non-prescription drugs and other items in our on-board medical kit.