Things are still pretty grim for Pop. He’s still in ICU, they’ve given him a tracheotomy to make him more comfortable on the respirator, and the doctors are trying to figure out if there’s anything else that they can do for him. His infection is still in full swing, and his white blood count keeps going up and down. If it goes down, that’s a good sign, but it has to stay down in order for it to mean anything.
I made the decision to fly back to Belize on the 12th from Miami. I had to fly into Florida before heading back for a couple of days in order to square away some things for Pop, and handle some of his affairs. It was also good because I was able to visit with some old friends and family.
At the time I left, it looked like they were just going to take him off the respirator, and let him go naturally, so I said my goodbyes to him the night I left LA. I don’t know if he was able to hear me, but he did open his eyes and look at me while I talked and wept. It was pretty tough thinking to myself while I was leaving that I really might never see him again.
So now I’m back at Caye Caulker, getting the boat ready for the next leg of the trip. We’re going to try to get down to Placencia over about 2 days or so of sailing. We’ll probably leave on Monday, provided we get a throttle cable replaced, which shouldn’t be a problem.
In the meantime, I’m staying in close contact with LA to see what develops with Pop.