Galveston woman dies from flesh-eating bacteria

HOUSTON  -- A Galveston woman died Tuesday after she was infected with a flesh-eating bacteria, officials told the Galveston County Daily News.

Ginger Ling’s family said she lived to cook and, sadly, cooking is what ultimately may have led to her death.

“We are going to miss her a lot, it was very fast a lot faster than we thought, we didn't know," said her daughter, Tammy Bage.

Last Sunday evening, Ling, a former Bolivar school cafeteria worker, was cleaning fish at home before a family dinner. She purchased the flounder and stony crabs from a fish market, and lobster from a grocery store.

"She's worked with fish all her life with all seafood," Bage said.

But this time, the mother of four and grandmother of seven, who suffered from arthritis, hit her arm on the kitchen faucet.

"It was more of a scratch up her arm,” Bage said.

Later that night, Ling complained of a burning sensation, and by Monday morning she was in the emergency room, her daughter said.

"It had swollen up just several times its normal size," Bage said.

Ling’s arm was black and purple from her knuckle to the top of her arm.

She died Tuesday from a flesh-eating bacteria. While it hasn't been confirmed, her condtition may have been caused by vibrio, a bacterium.

It can get into your body if contaminated seawater gets into a wound or if someone eats contaminated seafood.  It's especially dangerous for those with auto-immune disorders.

“Her skin was so thin anyway from the rheumatoid arthritis and all the steroids, you know we could scratch ourselves and it would be no big deal, but it could be, it would be bad for her," Bage said.

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Sea Sickness Tips

Everyone has had an experience with motion sickness at one time or another. Weather you are out 30 miles or just near shore. It’s a bummer to have to return to the docks do to a sick fishing buddy or worse a buddies sick girlfriend or wife. Not that I want to hog all the femininity but most girls don’t do well in 3 to 5 swells. There are a good few that can take it for the reward at the end.

One of the first steps in dealing with any sickness is understanding what is wrong so that you can mentally deal with the problem. This is very important in dealing with sea sickness. Sea sickness starts with the inner ear, and gets worse from there.

Your head aches, you are sick to your stomach, your mouth waters and you basically feel the worst you have ever felt, you are not really sick, just out of balance. At times your skin is actually green. No question about it, you feel bad, but you must remember you have no disease, just a motion problem. You can do a lot to cure yourself, and very quickly.

Some things to remember: Fresh air is good but you want to stay low and to the stern of the boat. That is where you will encounter the least motion. The bow of the boat pounds through the waves, up and down the stern drags through the water. The ride is much smoother. The boat rocks from side to side. The higher you are the more movement you encounter.

Medications:

There are several good medications on the market. The best is probably the scopolamine patch by Transderm Scop. It is still a prescription medication but usually easy to obtain with a simple call to your doctor. Dry mouth is usually the only side effect, but that is true with most all sea sickness medications.

There are several over the counter medications but the one we like best is Bonine. Drowsiness is the side effect but less so with Bonine than with other brands. To be effective you should get this medication in your system 8 hours before you board the boat. If possible, sleep on it and take more when you board the boat and you tend to be less drowsy. That way, it’s in your system and working when .you wake up.

Smooth Sailing is a ginger drink that many people say works quite well especially to settle your stomach. Combining smooth Sailing and Bonine can work well also. Wristbands can work for some people but are not generally considered the best remedy.

Severe sea sickness can be treated by using a combination of both the scopolamine-patch and Bonine and almost never fails. But you should check with your doctor. The side effect is hunger and more drowsiness. (A nice tuna on the end of your rod is a good cure for drowsiness!)

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Sunscreen and Skin Cancer

Sunscreen: The white goo you slather on before you go to the beach or out on the water. Sunscreen keeps you from getting fried to a crisp. It helps prevent your skin from getting that wrinkled, leathery look. And it protects you from the ultraviolet rays that causes skin cancer. Sunburn, caused by a type of ultraviolet (UV) light known as UVB, has served as a surrogate for more serious conditions like melanoma and basal and squamous cell carcinoma, three forms of skin cancer. If you prevent sunburn, you prevent skin cancer, right?

Not so it seems, Sunscreens do protect skin from sunburn, but a scientific debate simmers about the role of lower-energy ultraviolet light in skin damage and whether current sunscreens provide adequate protection.

In recent years, it has become apparent that a different form of ultraviolet light, called UVA, may be even more important in causing some skin disorders. Although experts still believe that UVB is responsible for much of the skin damage caused by sunlight — especially sunburn — UVA may be an important factor in photo aging and skin cancers. Most sunscreens do a good job blocking UVB, but fewer sunscreens filter out most of the UVA, so they do not help to prevent the beginnings of melanoma formation. So when you do that 2 minute shopping at the local store stop and do yourself a favor and actually read the sunscreen label. This may help in the future.

Hawaiian Shirt and Surf Board Light Set - Beach Party Lights
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Coppertone Sport SPF 30 Continuous Spray Clear Twin Pack, 6-Ounce Cans
Fallene Cotz SPF 58 Water Resistant UVB/UVA Sunscreen for Sensitive Skin, 2.5-Ounce Tube
Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch Sunblock, SPF-85, 3-Ounce Tubes (Pack of 2)

Florida Mullet Fishing Tips

by Teresa Roberts

I am 52 years of age. My father is a huge lover of fishing so I have been fishing since I was old enough to hold a pole. I remember the first fish I ever caught was a flounder. You know, those silly looking fish with their eyes on one side of their head. I was six years old and I remember it as if it were yesterday. I saw that mutant looking fish when I reeled it ashore and I screamed my lungs out, turned and ran. I was holding the pole over my shoulder and running like a wild child. When I looked back and saw that mutant looking thing chasing me I screamed even louder. I remember seeing my mother and father standing and watching, laughing so hard they couldn't save me. There I was running as fast as my little legs would pump and all I knew was that ugly fish was right behind me no matter where I went, and my own parents wouldn't save me. I laugh now as an adult but at the time it wasn't as funny to me as it was to them.


But on to my subject of mullet fishing. I've lived in Florida just about my entire life and have been fishing most of it. I recently experienced something I had never done before. Mullet fishing. I'll have to admit, it's different. It takes a lot of patient to be a mullet fisherman. If I'm totally honest, it's not for me.

Last Friday my parents and I and my Uncle and Aunt went mullet fishing. We found a spot along what is called The Mullet Hole and began to get everything ready for the action. After we were all prepared there I stood with a rod and reel in my hand. The line had 5 tiny hooks, each hook had a tiny piece of white rubber worm impaled on it. Above all these hooks was a bobber. Now here i stand with 5 foot of line protruding from my pole and wondering how the heck I was going to cast out into the water without catching something on shore with one of the hooks. Sad picture.

Well I finally figured it out and I cast my line. Now here I stand holding my pole and watching my bobber waiting for it to be pulled under the water. My father proceeds to walk over and "chum" the water. Chumming consists of throwing a mixture of wet oats and laying mash out into the water and hoping it lands near your bobber. This is suppose to attract the mullet.

We stood there for hours...watching bobbers and chumming. Never got the first nibble. Shoot we never even had one brush our lines much less nibble. I did however get to watch an alligator glide gently through the water. Was a nice sight but I remained ready to run in case he decided to come on land.

After those hours we gave up and went home. Now on this day just down the Mullet Hole aways there were people catching mullet quite quickly. They'd cast out their line...watch the bobber land and rest, pull it in with a big mullet on a hook. I don't know how many they actually caught but we decided we couldn't catch any because they weren't letting them come up stream to where we were. They weren't giving them a chance.


Well two days later (having the first event fresh on my mind) my father decides he wants to try again but wants to go earlier so we could get the "good spot." So reluctantly my mother and I decide to go with him. We get there early and get the "good spot." We get everything ready and begin to fish and chum. A couple of hours later we have gotten not a single nibble. By this time i am becoming very bored with the entire mullet fishing thing. We continue to fish a little while later and low and behold, someone a Little ways up from us begins to catch some mullet.

Once again we are hopeful. Then the lady sitting a couple of chairs away begins to catch some. However her husband who is using the same kind of pole, hook, bait, and fishing the exact same spot, isn't. And guess who else isn't, that's right, us.

After a little longer without ever getting a nibble I decided this was not my thing and gave up. I was totally and completely bored with watching my bobber continue to float calmly in the water, barely moving at all. I was so very thankful when my father gave up as well and we went home.

I may try it again someday but if I do, I will drive my own car and when I get ready to leave I will. I have heard people say a bad day fishing is better then a good day at work, well when it comes to mullet fishing I'm not so sure. Least at work you aren't usually bored to death.

If you decide to give this a try at some point in your life, I wish you luck. You will need one pole, either a rod and reel or a cane pole. You can put as many hooks as you wish to on the line but they should be small ones. And you will need one bobber for entertainment purposes. The mixture for chumming is one part oats to one part laying mash, moistened till it will stick when made into a ball.

If you try this, give it a fair shot. Don't take my word for how boring it is because i actually saw people out there enjoying themselves. If nothing else it's relaxing, gets you outside into fresh air and in most cases it's tranquil enough.
 
Learn more about this author, Teresa Roberts.

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