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September 23rd - 26th, 2010

*)%896)708 Data We Can Believe In Mike McBride12 Dead-end Guts Defined and Analyzed Kevin Cochran 16 Yeah, I Read It But I Just Dont Care. Billy Sandifer18 Necrotizing Fasciitis C. D. Anderson 20 The Trip and the Trip Home Martin Strarup22 Snook Lower Lagunas Other... Everett Johnson30 Combat Marines Go Fishing Stan Young 26 Country Went to Town Chuck Uzzle ()4%681)28719 Coastal Birding Billy Sandifer29 Science and the Sea UT-Marine Science Institute32 Lets Ask The Pro Jay Watkins34 Fly Fishing Casey Smartt36 Bluewater Journal Bobby Byrd/John Cochrane38 TPWD Field Notes Jeff Long40 Conservation CCA Texas42 Kayak Fishing Scott Null46 According to Scott Scott Sommerlatte 48 Youth Fishing Jake Haddock50 Texas Nearshore and Offshore Mike Jennings

;,%8396+9-()7,%:)837%=56 Dickie Colburns Sabine Scene Dickie Colburn58 Mickey on Galveston Mickey Eastman 60 Capt. Bills Fish Talk Bill Pustejovsky 62 Mid-Coast Bays with the Grays Shellie Gray 64 Hooked up with Rowsey David Rowsey66 Capt. Tricias Port Mansfield Report Capt. Tricia 68 South Padre Fishing Scene Ernest Cisneros 6)+90%6706 Editorial 54 New Tackle & Gear 70 Fishing Reports and Forecasts 72, 74 Catch of the Month Photo Gallery76 Gulf Coast Kitchen80 Index of Advertisers

Brent Scheps is our September cover angler, showing off his first Texas snook. Brent was fishing with Capt. Ernest Cisneros at Port Isabel. Story on page 22.

7)48)1&)6:SPYQI2S'328)287

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4 September 2010 / www.TSFMAG.com Texas Saltwater Fishing Please use our Texas spotted seatrout resource wisely!

As editor of this magazine I receive tons of fishing reports. Some are encouraging and would lead one to believe our bays are full of spotted seatrout of desirable size while others are dismal and disappointing. It is necessary, of course, to sort and examine this feedback as seasons and general water conditions have great impact upon angling success. It is likewise necessary to glean experience and skill level, fishing method, along with bait/lure selection to avoid the trap of inaccurate conclusion. In addition to the emails, calls and letters, I also fish. I worked as a year around fishing guide in the Port OConnor-Seadrift region for nine years between 2000-2009 in addition to writing and publishing, running as many as 100 charter days some years. Lately my fishing has been more for recreation and publishing related than guide work. I get to visit places along the coast I rarely or never had opportunity to fish when I was working on the water. In my travels I am able to measure my own success against reports and in many ways substantiate or question that which I receive. I would like to think I am fairly well informed. All too frequently the reports and my own experience lead me to conclude that our spotted seatrout fishery is being depleted and this can be backed by TPWDs spring gill net surveys. Each year Coastal Fisheries staff conducts population surveys during a ten week period in the spring and again in fall. The spring results, they say, are the better indicator of the two for spotted seatrout although both provide vital information. The results of the 2010 spring gill net survey have been released and what I see deepens my concern. One could almost correctly assume that since our coast has escaped wide-spread killing freezes and red tides for twenty years, natural events that can all but wipe out a fishery in the span of a few days, spotted seatrout numbers would be at all-time highs in all bays. But alas, this is not the case. In the 2010 spring gill net data, only Sabine Lake and West Matagorda show increases, and these following three straight years of decline on Sabine and five on West Matagorda. Galveston bays have been in general decline since 2002 with only a brief upward spike in 2008. East Matagorda is in a three year slump. San Antonio Bay has been in general decline for twelve years and Aransas for six. Corpus Christi Bay and the Upper Laguna Madre populations are trending below the levels recorded between 2002 and 2006. Surprisingly, the Lower Laguna shows a third year of decline, even with the five fish limit enacted in September 2007. It is important to note however fishing reports and creel surveys point to larger fish being landed more consistently since the regs took effect down there. Seasoned anglers and guides say we have plenty of small fish and that culling a dozen or twenty to find a fifteen inch keeper is becoming increasingly common. Some biologists say the trademark of overfishing in the marine environment is a population comprised mostly of young fish, too small to keep. Given that weve experienced no natural die-off of any magnitude, I conclude we are overfishing the resource and the current seatrout management plan is no longer working.

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Please use our Texas spotted seatrout resource wisely! Texas Saltwater Fishing www.TSFMAG.com / September 2010 7

Apart from largemouth bass, there may be no finned species that has fueled more theory and so-called expert opinion than our own topwater crashing, Corky-eating speckled trout. We all crave information and continually search for every tidbit that might lead us to bigger and better catches. Yet, unfortunately, I doubt seriously whether the fish would agree with a lot of the stuff that has been peddled as gospel over the years. Much of what we think we know can be classified as either old school myth, media hype designed to encourage retail sales, or perhaps colorfully embellished (but highly entertaining) guide talk. We have never really had much in the way of hard data to work with. But never fear; Dr. Greg Stunz and crew are here to finally set a few things straight.

As I mentioned in the February 2010 issue of TSFM, Dr. Stunz and team from TAMU Corpus Christi are committed to unraveling some of the mystery. They have help from the Harte Research Institute, CCA Texas, and the Rotary Club of Corpus Christi (Harvey Weil Sportsman Conservationist Award). Their main goal for now is to either confirm or disprove the tide runner theory, one of the most debated issues concerning spotted seatrout movement and migration ever put forth.

Basically, just about everybody, except the scientific community, believes that a large population of trout migrate from the Gulf of Mexico to the bays each spring and then retreat back as winter approaches. This new endeavor is actually the work of Masters student, Laura Bivins. Her thesis is officially titled: Large-scale movement patterns of spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus) among South Texas estuaries and the Gulf of Mexico. Besides Stunz, Laura is also well-assisted by topwater chunking Fisheries Research Coordinator, Megan Robillard. Although the study is still quite young, the data received thus far has been very revealing. I recently got to go back into the water with this bunch and fascinating would be a weak description.

We had a great day on the water with the goal of obtaining

additional trout for tissue analysis research, and more importantly, to retrieve data from electronic transceivers placed in Port Mansfields East Cut back in February. To recap briefly, a number of trout have been fitted with transmitters to track movement. When a tagged fish swims within range of a transceiver, data is recorded including the fishs ID, time and date stamp, along with other valuable information. Movements can now be tracked without question. So with no further ado, here is some of the information received to date, surely to change some of the older thought we have relied on. Number one the rate of data return is already well off the chart of expectation. In a traditional tagging program (where dart tags or similar devices are used), a modest 4-6% information return is normally expected. Laura explained that results in this type of study are heavily dependent on angler success and reports to verify recapture. However, with the new sender/transceiver technology, an astonishing 65% of

the electronically tagged fish have already reported back. This is stunning; especially when we might fully consider the abuse and stress some of these fish have endured.

From a total population of sixty-two fish carrying surgically implanted sending units, twenty were obtained from the Baffin Bash live-weigh and release fishing tournaments earlier this year. Incredibly, of that twenty, thirteen are still talking to us. These fish were initially caught by tourney anglers, kept alive and transported to the weigh-in in livewells, weighed, underwent surgery to implant a transmitter the size of a small topwater, and then transported again to a release point near Pita Island outside Flour Bluff. We have all repeatedly heard speculation that releasing a trout is silly and for naught, as the stress of capture and handling alone will surely kill them. So much for anecdotal theory. We are now clearly seeing that post-capture survival is far greater than many would have had us believe, at least in colder water.

Of these tournament trout, some of the movement tracks they have left have been off the chart as well. One fish was shown to

7XSV]F]1MOI1G&VMHI

Downloading data from transceivers.

Laura and Megan plugging for information.


have moved fifty-six miles in a fourteen week period, and yet another traveled an astonishing sixty-nine miles in just a little over nine weeks. Another moved thirty-five miles in just two weeks. This is huge considering that most, if not all previous scientific studies, have concluded that the majority of trout live and die within five

miles of the spawning site. Here are a few more detailed descriptions of individual fish trackings. (If we routinely chase trout believing were on em for tomorrow; we may need to think again!) One fish in particular, released near Pita Island, hung around for a while, swam nine miles south, only to return to Pita Island in just nine short hours. It later moved all the way into Corpus Christi Bay, and then returned once again to Pita! This fish moved at least thirty-five miles between April 6 and April 22, with the last electronic detection being recorded thirteen miles from the tagging location. It was ultimately recaptured on June 19 within a mile

and a half of the original capture location. In a typical dart tagging study, the likely conclusion would have been that this fish had barely moved at all. Now we know the rest of the story. Another tournament fish eased herself from Pita Island down to Compuerta Pass over a ten week period, hung around there for a few days, then slipped over to Yarborough Pass for a while, and ultimately went right back to Compuerta Pass. It is fully twenty miles from Pita to Compuerta Pass as the crow flies. Of the non-tournament fish tagged with transmitters, (forty-two total), an almost unbelievable number of thirty have reported back; an incredible 76% survival rate just from the data received so far. On a sad note, nine of the electronically tagged fish have shown up at cleaning tables. At least the anglers had the good sense to report

Masters student Laura Bivins has a passion for the spotted seatrout resource, and fishing too!

The crew at work gathering spotted seatrout for tissue analysis.


them. Still it amazes me that anybody could fail to notice the bright green dart streamer in the dorsal fin carrying the message Internal Tag, Please Release. Not only are these transmitters expensive; the information they will ultimately provide is priceless. If you happen to catch one of these study fish,

please release it and call the number on the tag to report it. Laura and crew will send you a very nice care package, promise, and you can also be proud to have been part of this historic scientific effort.

Yes, data is also being received for the original purpose of the study, showing movement from surf to bay. Ten of twelve fish tagged in the surf moved inshore through two passes, and this at least proves in part that some amount of exchange does exist between the Gulf of Mexico and bay waters. Time will eventually tell more, which is certain to benefit all of us.

What we have learned so far is that trout are much heartier than many might have suspected. Perhaps that one over 25-inches regulation is not as silly as many thought when it was implemented.

We have also learned that trout dont always just stick around their original home place, and for whatever reason, can and will move more than normally imagined. We will eventually learn more, but in the meantime, we can certainly enjoy what we are already seeing thanks to this team of dedicated scientists who are also passionate fishermen. Technology is a wonderful thing when used correctly, so lets help these folks as they strive to improve the future of our fishery. Big kudos go out to Thomas Petroleum-Speedy Stop Stores for continuing the Baffin Bash format. When the late Tom Nix first announced a live-weigh trout tournament the masses scoffed, called it nuts and a total joke. Now it is paying off with data we can believe in, and I sure wish he could be here to see it.

Co

nt

ac

t Mike McBride is a full time fishing guide based in Port Mansfield, TX, specializing in wadefishing with artificial lures.

ContactSkinny Water AdventuresTelephone956-746-6041

[email protected]/Three_MudSkateers.wmv

Mike Mcbride

Laura fighting strong East Cut current to retrieve transceivers.


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Dead-end guts and channels are some of the most consistent fish-holding features in Texas bays. Probably the most important aspect of these features is that fish use them as routes for moving back and forth between deep water areas and shallow, adjacent flats. The words deep and shallow are relative, of course, as are the size and scope of the guts themselves.

Entire bay systems which connect directly with the Gulf of Mexico through coastal passes, especially those protected by jetty systems, might be considered dead-end guts on the largest scale. Estuaries like Trinity Bay and Sabine Lake come instantly to mind. Fish and other organisms from the open ocean can access the upper reaches of those bodies of water without crossing over shallow structures. In this way, the deep water in the gut is like a

highway, providing easy passage back and forth from the depths of the sea to the shallows around the river deltas. For fishermen, though, smaller scale dead-end guts are more relevant. Many of our bays have long, winding depressions running from their mid-portions into coves and lakes along their shorelines. Bays like West Galveston, both Matagorda Bays and most of the Coastal Bend estuaries have numerous features like this. Fish can and will use these depressions to move back and forth between the basins of the bays into the shallower confines of the coves. In the remotest reaches of the lakes and coves, the guts which connect them to outer waters become extremely shallow, but even the subtlest ditches extending into the marsh can be great places to target fish.

During warm periods in winter, when onshore winds typically push water into the bays and fill the coves, fish will ride rising tides into the shallow areas and may be caught along the fringes of the marsh adjacent to areas where the dead-end guts fizzle out. Conversely, when strong frontal winds drain these same areas of most of their water, fish will retreat back to deeper water. This often happens after a short-lived frenzy of activity stirred by a brief rise in water level associated with post-front winds blowing into south shoreline coves. The naturally occurring trenches which funnel water in and out of the

7XSV]F]/IZMR'SGLVER

Dead-end Guts

Both man-made and natural dead-end

guts are abundant in the portion of Corpus

Christi Bay shown in this satellite image.


coves have been etched by the cumulative effects of centuries of winds and currents. Most bay systems in the Lone Star State also have scores of man-made dead-end guts in addition to their natural ones. These artificially dredged channels were mostly made for one of two reasons, either to provide access into shallow areas for oil-field related equipment, or to create neighborhoods for human habitation along bay shorelines. All coastal developments with canals are examples of elaborate man-made dead-end gut systems. The negative impacts of such developments on coastal estuarine environments have been documented, but they do provide fish temporary safe havens during periods of extreme cold. Mullet, trout, redfish and other species will crowd into these canal systems when water temperatures drop below about 50 F, making their way naturally to the places where the guts come to abrupt ends, where

current speeds are minimal.

During the dramatic cold spell which settled over Texas in the first half of January, 2010, I found the canals in the subdivision where I live on North Padre Island to be crammed full of desperate trout. Most of the fish were hanging around the drop-offs in the middle of our channels, where depths fall from around eight or nine feet down to about fifteen feet. The surface temperatures in the wind-sheltered canals barely dipped below 50 F during the big chill, though readings just outside the neighborhood plummeted into

the low forties. The other type of artificial channels, those made specifically for giving oil companies and their gear access to shallow areas, will hold fish in extremely cold or hot weather and when tides become unusually low. Old oil field channels which intersect other channel systems like the ICW or any of the major ship channels along the coast offer the best potential in extreme weather, while ones which run out of open bay areas into vast flats can be productive in milder seasons. Other types of dead-end guts exist too, some of which are much harder to locate than the obvious ones listed above. These lesser recognized (but often equally productive) features occur naturally within reef systems, sand bars and grass meadows. Studying good satellite images and/or detailed topographical maps of the bays will reveal many of these places where depressions run from deeper water into

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This long trout was caught and released

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shallower water, surrounded by grass, shell or sand bars. All such places are potential fish-holding sweet spots, and they function like miniature versions of the bays as a whole.

Reefs, sand bars and meadows have subtle dead-end guts which meander through and among them. These depressions provide resident fish the opportunity to move into the shallowest parts of reefs and bars without swimming with their backs out of the water; they also define ambush points and places where prey can be corralled.

Additionally, these features can significantly alter currents, predictably funneling food to predators. Studying reefs and bars closely when light and water conditions allow will often reveal subtle dead-end guts or depressions, which can be the most productive places for catching fish around these structures.

When speaking of grassy meadows, sometimes the dead-end gut is merely a set of potholes lying in a line. The depth of the water in the potholes, which appear

as bright spots on the bottom, might be mere inches more than what lies atop the surrounding grassy areas, but in a shallow bay like the Laguna Madre, that can be significant. Even in areas which are far from access to deeper water, slight depressions lying in a line amongst shallower grass can and will hold more fish at times when compared with the relatively uniform areas around them. Catching fish around such isolated depressions often means making lots of casts along their fringes, where fingers of bright bottom branch out from the main potholes into the surrounding grass, especially at both ends of the line. Some of the time, effectively fishing dead-end guts means working the drop-offs along the sides of the channel or depression, or the hole at the end of the gut. At other times, more fish will be caught on flats adjacent to the gut, rather than actually in it, when fish have abandoned their access route after using it to enter a cove, or to move among a reef, bar system or grass meadow. Either way,

fishing in and around dead-end guts is often a clear pathway to success in catching fish of various species.

Co

nt

ac

t Kevin Cochran

Trout Tracker Guide ServiceTelephone361-688-3714EmailKCochran@stx.rr.comWebsitewww.FishBaffinBay.com

Kevin Cochran is a full-time fishing guide at Corpus Christi (Padre Island), TX. Kevin is a speckled trout fanatic and has authored two books on the subject. Kevins home waters stretch from Corpus Christi Bay to the Land Cut.

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The past eighteen months have been some of the poorest fishing I have ever experienced and likewise it has been the toughest going I have ever encountered as a fishing guide. Interestingly enough, in my case, too few charters has not been a result of the sluggish economy as it has been with many other guides. High winds and seas, sargassum, and tides to the dunes, have cost me two-thirds of my scheduled charters. For the past two weeks I have been working for the National Park Service at PINS as a biological science technician with the Natural Resources Division. Id like to share some personal insights.

Picture this if you can. I am several miles down island parked off the main track and standing alongside a white four wheel drive NPS pickup complete with

Padre Island National Seashore decals, in full NPS uniform, conducting a survey of bird species present. A number of late model SUVs approached from the north at speeds exceeding 50 mph. Without slowing, they passed within ten feet of me as if I wasnt there. Before the afternoon was over this scene was repeated several times. I kept milling this situation over in my mind; wondering why this has become so commonplace. It is not nor has it ever been acceptable to drive by parked vehicles or camps at high speeds. This is not only the official law of the NPS but also a part of the commonsense code of beach ethics established by the regular beach fishermen before I ever showed up down there fifty years ago. I noticed the great majority of these vehicles lacked normal beach fishing

accessories such as front bumper rod racks, lift kits, and oversized tires. No fishing equipment was visible in many that passed. For many years the fact that nobody had injured or killed a sea turtle with an automobile on PINS has contributed greatly to our continued opportunity to drive the beach. That all changed on 21 July 2010 when a beach driver ran over a stranded juvenile green sea turtle. The turtle was still alive when discovered by NPS personnel and was taken to Tony Amoss rehab center in Port Aransas. It appeared to have suffered spinal injury. PINS regulations state that northbound vehicles have the right-of-way; no ifs, ands, or buts. Recently a southbound driver who refused to yield nearly caused a head-on with a friend of mine. My friend stopped

him and asked if he had read the signs regarding northbound right-of-way. The guy replied, Yeah, I read it but I just dont care. Are we beginning to see a trend here? On Saturday, 17 July, I drove by a shark fishermans camp and observed a four foot bull shark rotting in the sun. The guy never took the meat or even removed the jaws; just caught it and left it on the beach to rot. A similar incident of Sunday, 18 July, was reported to me. It seems several lesser black-tipped sharks of 5-6 foot length with jaws removed were found in a pile down in the 40s. Both are illegal, but of greater importance to me is that they are wasteful and morally wrong more from the I just dont

7XSV]F]&MPP]7ERHMJIV

Unending sargassum has led me to installing a roof rack on my truck. Placing rods up high allows much of the weed to pass underneath the lines; allows fishing when it would be impossible otherwise.


care clan. I inquired whether photos had been made that might reveal the identity of the miscreants, license plates etc., that could be given to NPS or TPWD. He replied that a large group of people were present and he felt uncomfortable to do so. We MUST be willing to take action and report violators for the continued well-being of our fisheries. If nothing else; call when you come off the beach. PINS enforcement division phone number is 361-949-9238 and TPWDs Operation Game Thief is 800-792-4263. Lately Ive been noticing large camps of people parking their vehicles in lines to intentionally block an entire beach, leaving only a narrow passage near the dunes where theres danger of tire damage. A friend encountered such a group recently and told one of the campers that it was illegal as well as inconvenient and dangerous to block the beach in this manner. The drunken reply was, What I should do is get my gun and blow you away, before he staggered off. Give me a break. Ive come to think of this as the Im important and youre nobody to me syndrome and it is the very type of behavior I lived down island for eighteen months many years ago to escape. Now it is as commonplace down island as it is anywhere else in society and that is a true tragedy. I rarely charter in the bays anymore because

I am intolerant of rudeness. I refer inquiring customers for bay trips to David Rowsey or Mike McBride because to me there is no fun left in the bays. E.J. spoke of overwhelming numbers of users in last months editorial and thats all true but it is not the numbers that get me. Its the self-centered attitude and the rudeness that I wont tolerate. Used to we said, Well, they probably dont know any better, and in many cases that may still be true. But my money says that the statement, Yeah I know, I just dont care is the larger part of it. Ill still do a bay charter with a select few customers when its not croaker season but have no desire to be in the bay once croaker season starts. Theres a line in a song that says, Fishin is fun and fishin aint fishin if fishin aint fun. On my charters fishing is fun. We all better start caring if we want to continue our outdoor activities with as few restrictions and regulations as possible. On 21 July official notice was made that an Environmental Assessment scoping process to analyze safe beach driving speeds by the regional level of the National Park Service is in the making. By the way; the REGIONAL office decided this, it was NOT requested by NPS PINS. Many see this as the beginning of the end for driving on PINS and some of the possible actions/changes

listed in the EA are scary. This EA is not the beginning of the end of driving on PINS. It has been a gradual thing evolving for several years as the number of beach visitors increased dramatically and far too many of them JUST DONT CARE.

I got tickled last Saturday when a fisherman flagged me down to tell me Jaws had just swum past him in the first gut. Then I received similar reports as I traveled further south. Then at the 50 mile beach I saw an enormous manta ray feeding on the surface and realized what they were seeing. At least eight large manta rays were in the surf and fishermen were mistaking them for giant sharks. One shark fisherman had gotten a violent strike Friday night and his 9/0 reel was stripped in minutes. While kayaking

the next morning his group found his float and leader over a mile offshore. The bait was untouched. My guess is that one of the manta rays fouled his line. Dont you know the spooling of that 9/0 reel in the moonlight was quite a show. What a hoot. If we dont leave any there wont be any. -Capt. Billy L. Sandifer

Co

nt

ac

t Capt. Billy Sandifer

Billy Sandifer operates Padre Island Safaris offering surf fishing for sharks to specks and nature tours of the Padre Island National Seashore. Billy also offers bay and near-shore fishing adventures in his 25 foot Panga for many big game and gamefish species.

Telephone361-937-8446Websitewww.billysandifer.com

An all too familiar scene this year - high tides, rough driving, off-colored water and lots of sargassum. This too shall pass.


Sunday afternoon, June 6, the surf was brown at Surfside Beach. I paddled my kayak out beyond the breakers to try some artificials. Probably my first mistake was not wearing protective clothing. The edges of the foot rests of my kayak are rough. The bare skin just above my ankle rubbed on this rough plastic. Soon the epidermis, the outer layer of the skin, on the inside of my calf was abraded and saltwater was being rubbed into this exposed raw area. The area had become painful by the time I quit kayaking.

My next mistake was critical. I did not immediately and thoroughly wash and disinfect the raw, rubbed area. After putting the kayak and other stuff away, I rinsed off under the outside shower and headed home. I keep a bottle of hydrogen peroxide at the beach house to disinfect such exposures but I did not use it.

Monday morning I awoke early with a painful swollen ankle. The abraded area was hot and red. My mistake, actually blunder, number three was rubbing some triple antibiotic salve on the sore area and going off to have lunch with my son. When I got home I was not feeling well and took a nap. I awoke to increasing pain and chills.

Mistake number four was waiting; procrastination. I had a very good idea that I could have the dreaded necrotizing fasciitis, flesh eating bacteria. Several years ago my sons father in law had been

infected with it and very nearly lost his leg. Much of the calf muscle of his right leg had to be surgically removed to contain the infection. Several follow-up surgeries were required to close the wound. Why did I wait? By six oclock I knew I was in trouble. The swelling and the pain were increasing. I did not dare wait overnight. I went to the Pearland Texas Emergency Care Clinic and explained to the doctor, Dr. Patel, that I had probably caught the Gulf of Mexico seawater bug and I might need a shot of streptomycin. Dr. Patel immediately diagnosed the infection. With a felt tip marker he delineated the extent of the red inflammation of the infection. The lower mark was at the ankle. The upper was just below my knee. He started an intravenous (IV) antibiotic immediately. As soon as it ran through, he started another. Doctor Patel stated, in a no-nonsense way, You are going to the hospital. At that point I realized that this was not the time for argument. A bed became available at Southeast Memorial Herman Hospital just as the second intravenous dose of antibiotic was completed. Dr. Patel insisted that I not drive myself to the hospital and called the Pearland EMS ambulance to transport me. The EMS technician who rode in the back with me was also a kayak paddler and we swapped

kayak stories enroute to the hospital. Doctor Patel had sent treatment instructions to the hospital. No sooner than I was in the hospital bed than the nurse started another IV dose of antibiotic, followed by two more before daylight. That made five doses of heavy-duty intravenous antibiotic the first night. Throughout the night the staff came by to check my blood pressure, pulse and temperature. I realized that the medical staff was taking this infection just a whole lot more seriously than I had, and that I was really in serious trouble.

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September 2010

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