There we were, 3 hot women with 3 days left on our Caribbean Cruise.
I was scheduled to take my once-a-week injection of “Avonex” for Multiple Sclerosis. I had stored the medicine in the physician’s fridge. I’d retrieved it the previous day and had it tucked away in my ice bucket, well bundled so it would not freeze.
At the risk of dating myself, in those days, I had to mix the medicine with liquid, and then transfer it to the
injection, nowadays it’s premixed. Ancient history, I’m telling you!
I opened the ice bucket to get my medicine. What’s this? It was gone! GONE!
The cabin boy had dumped the ice bucket, with my medicine inside! I went to the ship doc. They had none of this medicine, of course, but what to do? The doc called the captain.
Finally, they decided to cruise to Florida,the closest place to where we were, and send someone to go on land to gather more medicine. I stood on deck considering hundreds of my fellow cruisers, perplexed by the approaching shoreline. I bit my tongue.
I felt a strange sense of childish power, in control of the whole ship! The time would be made up at night, while our ship sailed a little faster, unnoticed by all.
I thought about the cabin boy, he felt extremely bad about what he had done! I knew how precious these jobs could be to a person, one mistake, a dismissal, and heads would be rolling!
He was just doing his job, really a totally honest mistake, one in which I certainly had some ownership, myself. I never should have put the medicine vial in the ice bucket in the first place this was before they put mini fridges in the cabins. OK. I’m nearing 51.
I decided to pen a letter to the captain to thank him, and to make sure nothing bad had happened to my cabin boy. He was only doing his job, after all, and practically in tears that he may have cost me my life, or something!
I few weeks later, I received an apology letter from the cruise line. Now, this captain had refused to dance with me, I tried but he did reply and wrote to me himself! Very official, but not offering me a free trip, either.
In fact, they had promoted the cabin boy to a higher position!
Now, that wasn’t quite what I wanted, but there’s always another cruise to be taken. A good sense of humor is always an asset in any situation.
An unfortunate side effect of taking a serious look at a medical condition is that it can be seriously depressing. So, I started mslessstress.com. It’s a resource for people dealing with MS to visit that offers a positive take on a negative
situation.
With sections on Relaxation, Pets, Gardening, Yoga, Food and Entertainment, plus a lively Chat Room, the selection of articles, cartoons and quotes is meant to be uplifting and informative. I believe humor is the best medicine, it doesn’t come in an injectable, and it’s free!
Over the years when I’ve been depressed about MS, I’ve been lucky enough to have friends who could give me perspective, some good information and a smile.
In my heart I want MS Less Stress to be that friend for someone else. It’s about being p
art of a community.
Just like fighting a disease, it’s better if we’re in it together.