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Monday, May 2, 2011

There go my dreams of being a marine biologist...

One of the off the wall things about this disease is that there is a virus called  V. vulnificus. that thrives on Iron and it means that I can't eat raw shellfish if I don't want to get terribly sick and possibly die from it. I might not be able to eat raw seafood period. And I'd have to be careful cooking fish at home. My question is will I be able to eat it when my iron is low again, after my phlebotomies? I'm not sure.


But needless to say, I've been putting the bullet in the gun for years on that one, with all my sea kayaking and seashell collecting. I even touched all those sea slugs that washed up on Surfrider beach in Malibu, not to mention the touch tank at the Seymour Center that I volunteered at for a summer. I've been pretty lucky I think and I have always been good though about washing my hands. 


I spent almost the entire weekend near or on the water. Saturday I went to the Marine Mammal center out in the Headlands here in San Francisco and watched some scientists doing necropsies. There was a whiteboard nearby where they had written down the suspected ailments of two sea lions and one elephant seal. Life for all animals is just so temporary and fleeting. I'm just glad that there are scientists who are curious and want to do good for the world.


I have often thought if I were to change my career, I'd go into Marine Biology. I absolutely love the ocean. I've SCUBA dived off Santa Barbara Island, wandered the beaches and kayaked the waters off every coast I find myself at. I just hope that I won't always have to avoid the ocean. But it's a possibility. 



3 comments:

  1. Don't give up your dreams! Once you're de-ironed and in the maintenance phase, you're iron becomes more normal. Which means less worrying about V.vulnificus.

    I grew up in Hawaii, lived in San Diego, and have always been a beach baby. I love sushi like no other food in the world. Am I going to give it all up because of HH? No. Will I stop eating raw oysters? Yes. I feel like it's a give and take. Some seafoods are more dangerous than others.

    If you want to be a marine biologist, I think that's wonderful!

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  2. I might not be a marine biologist period...I found out after some informational interviews it's a little boring to me...however that does not take away my love of the sea, scuba diving, kayaking etc. I focus a lot on the ocean/sea in my artwork and will continue to do so.

    I'm glad to hear that once I'm de-ironed I could go back to sushi...cuz damn it's good girl :) It is all about what I decide is my level of risk. I do concur about the oysters. I would probably throw a couple other risky sea-beasties in there too but overall if someone else prepares the food and it's prepared well, then I think I will feel comfortable going back to seafood once I reach the maintenance stage...yay.

    thanks for the comment!

    Meg

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  3. Hey Meg...I have not given up Sushi and I ate it every week for a while. I have lived with this disease for over 12 years, but I was told to never ever eat oysters. The interesting thing is no one ever told me why. I learn something new everyday and I hope we all help to educate others going through this.

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