#5- - The half Ton and Escapees

# 50 – The half Ton and the Escapees

If you thought by the title of today’s blog, that I would be telling some fishing story, you would be right.  The title however refers to the fact that this is entry number 50, half of 100 (or a ton).  But since you mentioned fishing, so will I.  I have, as yet had very little luck fishing on the Yam Island jetty, where, legend has it, that great numbers of large “white fish” or trevally are caught.  With mile complaint to some locals, about my plight, I was informed that if I want to catch big fish there, I should go at 6 am before the dawn.

So, this morning, armed with the mental picture of fish wearing wrist watches so they would know the time, I took my line, and pilchards, and one hook down to the jetty to do battle with the promised monsters.  First cast, and my line is taken, and taken , and taken.  This fish decided to head to New Zealand with my only hook, and had both the strength and stamina to do it. 

Fearful of snapping my line, as has previously happened fishing at Darnley Island last month; I decided to use nylon cord that has a massive breaking strain.  In my mind, it made sense that if I could just hang on tight, once hooked, it would just be a tug of war.  Surely no fish will snap 100lb (45kg) line  !!!   Attached to my whippy-snipper thick cord, I attached a big ball sinker the size of a 20c piece, a heavy duty swivel that looked more like a rock climbing shackle, a wire trace with a 25 kg breaking strain, and my only hook.  A big hook!  Looking at the maths, the weakest link in the chain would be the wire trace, which is rated to snap at 25kg.  I felt confident that anything that took my bait, would be mine, that all I had to do was wear it out, then drag it in.

Well plans were thwarted.  This first cast, and the fish that took it nearly ripped my arm off.  I let him run, and run, and run.  At first sign that the line stopped running, I wound him in, and wound him in, and in , and in.  I was getting excited at this point.  I was about to catch my first monster fish.  Just hang on and keep winding.

In a few minutes, he was up near the jetty, I had only 50 feet of line or so left.  Suddenly he took off again, reclaiming a couple hundred feet of ocean between us.  “Right you mongrel”, I thought, “Im putting a stop to this”!  I slowed the line down and wound him in.  Things were going great until with no warning, he tried a third run, and that’s when the line fell slack.   Dejected, and confused, I wound in my line to see if it was one of my knots that had let go.  What awaited me was nothing short of freaky.  My hook was straightened out!!!  Ive never seen anything like it.

I found a rock and bent the hook back into a hook shape, only with more of a curve, re-baited and cast again.  Within 30 seconds, I was on again.  I am sure it was the same fish, because he behaved the same way.  This was war.  Man vs Fish.  With a sudden jerk, my line was slack again.  I reeled in, and discovered that he had shredded my wire trace, it was a tangle of wires that had unraveled, and frayed.  Twenty five kilo breaking strain wire, and it was snapped like a cheap nylon fishing line.  Tomorrow morning, with two wire traces, and two hooks; I will fight this big fish, and when I land him, I reckon I will have to make the biggest curry and share him around the village.  The big escapee.

From a clinical point of view, it was an interesting day.  More womens business today, a newly pregnant patient, and dome sexual health screening on a few people, some contact tracing which is needed when a sexually transmissible disease presents.  We need to contact all the partners and offer them testing and treatment.  Sensitive business, and I am not yet fully informed on the process, but I did my best and will continue to learn in that regard.

A young woman came in tonight with a severe throat infection.  Her tonsils were touching one another.  She was sicker than she thought, and with glands up and a stiff neck, a puffy face and joint pains, I thought I might have been dealing with meningitis or Glomerulonephritis (a severe kidney infection).  Both of these conditions are emergencies.  I told her that we will need to treat her with some antibiotics, and when I mentioned that one of those treatments involved a needle in the bum, she started to cry and said she needed to phone a family member for moral support.  I told her that was fine, and if she steps outside to make her call, I could ring the duty doctor in Thursday Island to discuss the management of her more fully.  Well, orders given, and I went to get her; gone!  She was my second escapee for the day…if you count my fish this morning.

I was so annoyed, you do all you can for these kids and they “bend the bars apart with their little bekker, and …Voom!”  (Monty Python 1969).  Half an our later she comes back with her entourage and takes it …lying down.

APSGN or Acute poststreptococcal Glomerulonephritis, is a very dangerous inflammation of the kidneys that occurs after a strep throat illness like tonsillitis.  If the infection is bad it can destroy the kidneys and cause permanent renal failure, the likes of which mean, that the patient will require kidney dialysis, for the rest of their days. The alternative treatment is a kidney transplant.  Torres Straight Islanders and Aboriginees are at particular risk, and we must be vigilant.  One of the hall mark symptoms is a puffy face and swelling on the body (oedema), the patient retains fluid, and reports a massive weight gain quickly.  When urine is tested, the result shows large amounts of blood and protine in the urine.  This poor chicken had all those symptoms.  Ill review her for the next few days, but I am confident that by returning to the clinic for her medicine she has saved her own life, literally.  The sad paradox is, she will have no idea how important that one shot will be.

This game is like a knife edge.  One wrong judgement, one wrong call, and the case can go pear shaped very quickly.  God was on her shoulders (an mine) today.

I love this game!!!