Friday, February 29, 2008

What Does It Mean if You Get Stung by a Sting Ray - Fishing the Shore of Little Gasparilla Island

One of the most beautiful places I have ever visited is a small island off the gulf coast of florida known as Palm island. Also know as little Gasparilla island, this place is a true island with no land bridge. You can only get there by ferry or private boat. The inter-coastal waterway (Lemon Bay) empties into the atlantic Ocean along the north side of Palm island in a waterway known as Stump Pass.

The fishing is not as great in Lemon Bay as it once was and it is not as productive as Gaspirilla Pass or Charlotte Harbor, but it can be fished from the shore of Palm island without a boat. this means I can fish day and night while my family is enjoying other aspects of our family vacation. My typical fishing outings are one week trips with at least some fishing every day. Almost every trip to Palm island... I have been there at least 25 times... I go out once or twice with my favorite guide Captain Les Hill. Les has been a professional guide for just about as long as I have been fishing in the Charlotte Harbor area. We have caught as many as 13 different specials on a weekend trip. But the favorites each for a different include Redfish, Snook, Flounder, Spanish Mackeral, Sea Trout, Lady Fish, Tarpon (I still have not caught one of these), a variety of Shark, Mangrove Snapper, young Grouper, Jack, and Sting Ray.

One beautiful morning just after sunrise, I was fishing in the shallow water on the north edge of Palm Island. I had waded into about a foot of water perhaps 15 feet off the shore. The Snook come charging in and out of these waters, and with light tackle the experience of catching one is enough to get anyone hooked on back water fishing.

After an hour or so, (time moves pretty fast when you are in paradise) I was stunned by the instant intense pain in my leg. As I looked down, I saw a sting ray dashing away as if I had just attacked him. Being from cleveland, I had no idea just how serious this might be. The little guy swimming away was only about 15 inches in diameter.

The pain was so intense all I could think of, was that I had just been stung by a venomous creature from the ocean, and that I was going to die. My thoughts shifted quickly to perhaps I won't die, but they might have to cut off my leg! Truly, friends, the pain was sharp, and penetrating, and throbbing. I was at least 20 minutes from my condominium, and in my mind, I figured I could be dead before I would make it back.

So in an act of desperation, I shouted out to a fisherman in a boat... "What do you do if you get stung by a Sting Ray". Since he was quite a way out it sounded like Whaaat dooo youuu dooo if youuu get stunnnng by a stinnng Raaay. As if he could read my mind, he shouted back "You wonnnt diiiie". With that bit of comfort, and encouragement, I had the strength to hobble over to my golf cart, and begin the journey back to my condo. All the way back I remember mumbling, "Oh my God, Oh my God". At one point it hurt so bad, I began to laugh!

As it turns out, hot water as hot as you can stand it, will de-nature the venom from the sting ray. So once I got back, a nice foot bath in scalding hot water terminated about 95% of the pain in no more than 20 minutes. So after breakfast and a few hours in the pool, I was back on the beach fishing.

Ah but this story has an interesting twist. About two weeks after I got home to cleveland, my ankle swelled up to the size of a grapefruit. So now I am thinking, I was right all along. They are going to have to amputate my leg.

I made an appointment to go to the Cleveland Clinic, but on my way out the door I got to thinking... these guys at the Cleveland Clinic have never seen a sting ray infection, and given the change, who knows what they might try. So I hopped on the internet and after a few minutes, I found a nice article on venomous marine life. It contained detailed recommendations for treating the secondary infection often caused by the shattered barb left behind from a sting ray. this was too funny. I highlighted the recommended antibiotic, and treatment; and went to see the Doc. Just as I had imagined, the Doc had no idea what to do with my leg.

So once Doc Wu began scratching his head, I explain, "Doc, I don't want to be presumptious, but I did a little research and here is the recommended treatment for an infection resulting from a sting ray attack." The doctor read the few paragraphs, nodded his head, wrote a script for prescription, cleaned out the barb as recommended, sent me home, and sent me a bill. So that is what you do if you get stung by a sting ray.

Yoga Posture During Pregnancy

Computer Magazine Subscriptions - Ordering Online With Ease

You can get a subscription to almost any games magazine you can think of. magazine subscriptions packages exist for business magazines, discount magazines, and numerous other categories of magazine. It is a good sign that you can get magazine subscriptions for almost anything you are interested in.

One thing about it is that you are able to find information about things that interest you or are significant to you. Also knowing the fact that you are reading a games magazine that other people much like you are reading is a great tool to finding people interested in the same things. The fact that the people interested in these same magazines are most often the ones writing them ensures that the magazines are informative and fun.

Many people subscribe to magazines of all different types. Some of the most common magazines are hobby magazines that are of a hobby that people are interested in. Some people like to read magazines about cars and some like to read magazines about computers. Most magazines are more than just a hobby magazine though.

It is not unusual for people to take out a subscription to a magazine that will both inform and entertain them. An entertaining magazine may focus on actors, actresses, and other celebrities who are featured on TV and in popular current films. These kind of magazines are not hard to find, and they are very popular with people interested in the whole field of entertainment.

There are many different ways to obtain discount subscriptions. The most common way to obtain these subscriptions is to buy a single magazine from any store. Most people will see an article or a headline in a magazine and be intrigued by it and thus buy the magazine. After buying the magazine one can then find numerous sheets of paper to subscribe to the magazine.

However, there is a new way to locate and subscribe to magazines. If you are looking to find a new magazine subscription, you may want to look into a magazine subscription service online.

Yoga Mats Hoodia Gordonii Celleration Triadhealth Care