May 29-June 4                            Portsmouth, Virginia

After three lovely days of sunshine, Monday was mostly rainy.  The holiday ended sooner than most people planned.  Outdoor activities were limited.  Reports indicated the area beaches were deserted and the parties at the marina had ceased. 

John came onboard Tuesday and gave us some bad news.  The final coat of non-skid paint on the port side walkway had not dried properly and remained sticky.  Apparently, the paint and drying agent had been improperly mixed.  All the work of the previous week would have to be removed with a solvent and scraping.  Additional sanding would be needed before new non-skid could be applied.  We would not be charged for this effort as the problem was the fault of the marina staff.  This would take days to complete.  Our plans to depart Portsmouth were again delayed.

On Wednesday, Josh began the tedious and arduous task of removing the sticky non-skid.  David remained in bed all day with abdominal cramping and other symptoms that caused him considerable discomfort.  The following day, he continued to have pain.  We called his doctor in Fort Worth and were advised to go to a hospital ER in Portsmouth.  

After an internet search, we found Maryview Medical Center located near the marina.  It proved to be an excellent choice.  The waiting area was uncrowded and David was soon through admitting procedures and in a private room in ER.  He was quickly cared for by two RN’s with delightful personalities.  The doctor assigned to David’s case was wonderful.  He ordered a cat-scan of the lower digestive area. Afterwards, he communicated well the diagnostic procedures, the findings, and the proposed treatment for diverticulitis. He was careful David was better before releasing him to return to the boat.  Diverticulitis is not fatal but it can be painful.  Fortunately, it responds well to antibiotics and David began a ten-day treatment program.  We were extremely pleased with MMC and their staff.  We were grateful our non-skid project problem had prevented us from leaving Portsmouth and readily accessible medical care.

Although the marina had assigned a helper for Josh, the non-skid removal process was taking a lot of time.  We could estimate we would be here another week and perhaps longer if we had more rain.  Reluctantly, we called Kennedy to tell her our plans to have her and Taft visit us in mid-June must be put on hold.  She agreed to stay flexible and we are hoping to schedule another time when we will be in the Baltimore-Annapolis area.

We were extremely pleased and proud to learn our family received two significant honors this week.  Stephanie was awarded the Hope Award by the Center for Transforming Lives for her volunteer efforts with the young women at that facility.  Kennedy was named to the Dean’s Honor List at Baylor University for her outstanding academic achievements.