{"id":302,"date":"2025-07-22T19:20:46","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T19:20:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wickedsister.evit.com.au\/index.php\/2025\/07\/22\/swimming-in-the-jaws-pool\/"},"modified":"2025-07-22T19:20:46","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T19:20:46","slug":"swimming-in-the-jaws-pool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wickedsister.evit.com.au\/index.php\/2025\/07\/22\/swimming-in-the-jaws-pool\/","title":{"rendered":"Swimming in the Jaws Pool"},"content":{"rendered":"

Plovers again, but for sharks<\/h4>\n
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In case you have been under a rock the last two months, you likely know that the movie classic Jaws<\/strong> is 50 years old this summer! <\/p>\n

I celebrated with a shark party at my apartment complex where I won a cool prize in the fishing contest- this Jaws<\/strong> mug!!<\/p>\n

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I love big mugs so now this, and the one I got as a present at the begininng of the season, are the only two I use, despite my extensive mug collection. The fishing contest came down to the wire between me and one of my neighbors, but I called on my fishermen ancestors and won.<\/p>\n

So what if we were fishing in a kiddie pool for plastic fish, I stll caught the most!<\/p>\n

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To further honor the anniversary of Steven Spielberg’s first great movie, I present an old blog that is actually one of my all time favorites. <\/p>\n

Why? <\/p>\n

Because even though the title is about plovers, it actually deals with the phenomena that is Jaws!<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Plovers Rollover<\/strong><\/p>\n

MS hits the beach and crashes<\/p>\n

Just months after my MS<\/strong> diagnosis I went swimming in the Atlantic Ocean. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s not as big a deal as it sounds.  <\/p>\n

This beach was a beach of my childhood. At least it was when the piping plovers weren\u2019t hatching. When they were, the beach was closed which drew the ire of the locals and brought out our local attitude. <\/p>\n

Trust me, piping plovers DO taste like chicken. I know because about 100,000 vehicle bumper stickers have told me so.<\/p>\n

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Back then, it was common to swim in the Atlantic. Now the Atlantic Ocean at this beach is filled with seals which means it is also filled with seal poop and Jaws<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure which is worse. <\/p>\n

For the record, I\u2019m the only one who is concerned with seal poop. That\u2019s either because I\u2019m a germ-a-phobe who is particularly concerned with waste products, or because the rest of the world can\u2019t do basic math- seal=seal poop, multiply by hundreds gives you 100\u2019s of seals= lots of seal poop.<\/p>\n

As for worrying about Jaws<\/em><\/strong> when swimming, we locals were tough. And by tough, I mean we were more afraid of our parents than we were sharks. As soon as one of our obnoxious older siblings started humming the Jaws<\/em> <\/strong>theme music (you\u2019re humming in now, aren\u2019t you?) we would run to our parents only to be severely scolded.<\/p>\n

\u201cShark. What shark? Movie? Don\u2019t talk to me about any movie, that fish wasn\u2019t even real! I didn\u2019t put some soda and sandwiches in a cooler and drive five minutes out here so you can sit on a towel- go swim!\u201d<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s no wonder they never let us watch the Exorcist.<\/em> <\/p>\n

Swimming wasn\u2019t their only beach rule- they also made us ride in the bed of pick up trucks and never heard of bug spray. How did we manage to avoid being eaten by vicious sea creatures, cracking our heads open after falling out of a truck AND West Nile Virus?<\/p>\n

I think we did have sunscreen; all the adults thought the Coppertone ad was cute.<\/p>\n

Anyway, before the seals took over the ocean beaches, just after my diagnosis I went swimming in the ocean and had a blast. But that night my arms roared with incredible pain. Now I say incredible pain knowing full well that pain is relative. I have no idea if I have a high tolerance or low tolerance for pain.<\/p>\n

How do you judge? <\/p>\n

I guess you can\u2019t. I just knew my arms hurt like hell and as I laid there the only reason I could come up with was that whilst in the Atlantic- though lovely- the currents were harsh.<\/p>\n

I spent a lot of time flopping around like a seal and battling to keep from being pulled out to sea. It was less frolicking and more \u201chey, start swimming seriously or you\u2019ll drift to Portugal before you know it.\u201d <\/p>\n

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The other weird (bizarre, strange, crazy) thing about that pain was that it went away during the day but came back again the next night and the next after that. <\/p>\n

It diminished slightly with each evening but still. Why did it only come at night?  It\u2019s like that age-old question our parents ignored when we asked, \u201cwhen the tide goes out, where does the tide go?\u201d<\/p>\n

When the pain goes away during the day, where does the pain go?<\/p>\n

Fast forward to this summer where I swore I would make the best of the heat\/humidity nightmare that is July and August. <\/p>\n

And I really have been. <\/p>\n

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I\u2019ve read 2 good books so far. <\/p>\n

But that wasn\u2019t enough. <\/p>\n

With my pale skin still causing great embarrassment to my Portuguese ancestors and a need to get as much Vitamin D as possible, I wanted to get to the beach. <\/p>\n

(Just so you\u2019re not concerned my MS<\/strong> friends, I do take a high, RX Vitamin D supplement and take great caution to eat Vitamin D rich foods. There is a ton of ice cream in my freezer and a Dairy Queen frequent eater pass to prove it.) <\/p>\n

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First, I had to figure out the best beach to go to. The ocean beaches are a no as already discussed with the seal\/shark situation.<\/p>\n

Luckily, we have bay beaches. Yes, I know. Sharks and seals can swim but for some obscure scientific reason they can\u2019t swim from the ocean to the bay.<\/p>\n

The closest bay beach to me has real restrooms but tons of sand bars making high tide not really high at all. <\/p>\n

The next bay beach has more depth but only porta-potties. <\/p>\n

The beaches along Nantucket sound cost too much since I\u2019m not a resident of that neighborhood. <\/p>\n

I know, I know.<\/p>\n

Cape Cod girl problems that are making my mid-western friends want to beat me up.<\/p>\n

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Eventually I picked a beach and have gotten some sun and some swimming in. Or, what kind of looks like swimming. You might call it splashing around. <\/p>\n

Turns out the swimming skills I mastered as a kid have not held up well. <\/p>\n

Where\u2019s the Jaws<\/em><\/strong> theme when you need it?  Nothing improves your breast stroke quite like that.<\/p>\n

Anyway, after a couple of forays to the beach one night my left arm suddenly hurt- a lot. It started from my elbow down my arm to my hand and fingers. What is that?? <\/p>\n

Because it felt worse in my hand and fingers I wasn\u2019t too concerned that it was a warning sign for cardiovascular trouble. <\/p>\n

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Plus, it was worse when I moved a certain way. <\/p>\n

I know you wise guys are thinking \u201cWELL DON\u2019T MOVE THAT WAY!\u201d <\/p>\n

But where the pain is keeps changing.<\/p>\n

Is this the beach again? <\/p>\n

This beach had no current or rip tides. The most I moved in the water was really just propelling my body to the surface to float around. <\/p>\n

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(Floating, I still remember. Leave it to a lazy girl with MS<\/strong> fatigue to manage to lay down in the water.)<\/p>\n

Another way this pain is different from the ocean swim pain is, while decreasing, it does stick around during the day. Does that have something to do with the tides? <\/p>\n

One might suggest that I should see my doctor. But with MS<\/strong> all kinds of obscure sensations develop, wane, come back, explode, fizzle and generally make the MS\u2019er<\/strong> question what to do when. Going to the doctor with a new something I can barely describe is starting to get old. <\/p>\n

How do you decide what is doctor worthy when MS<\/strong> has turned you into a medical mystery?<\/p>\n

I decided to handle this the Cape Cod way. If it gets worse then I\u2019ll make an appointment. Until then, locals believe salt water is the cure for everything. The best thing to do is get back to the beach, stick my whole body in the bay and see what happens.  <\/p>\n

At least I\u2019ll be getting some Vitamin D. <\/p>\n

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Disclaimer<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to keep your doctor posted on everything and the salt water cure may just be an old wives tale. If you have a concern it\u2019s best to call your doctor\u2019s office, even if I don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Also, the Vitamin D from the sun can penetrate through sunscreen. What has a harder time are the UV rays. If you are beaching it, please wear sun protection. <\/p>\n

Finally, this is a total tongue in cheek post. There MAY actually be sharks in the bay. But there\u2019s no seal poop there. <\/p>\n

Trust me, I\u2019ve checked.<\/p>\n

FYI <\/p>\n

In need of a beach read?<\/p>\n

Don’t forget Shelter of the Monument<\/strong>, written by yours truly which is available in paperback and on your kindle!<\/p>\n

And new this summer, also available in Audible narrated by the lovely Colleen Chipman!!!<\/p>\n

Check it out here!!! Shelter of the Monument<\/a><\/p>\n

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CRUCIAL FYI #2<\/h5>\n

After publishing this post I learned something very interesting!<\/p>\n

Also in town for the Jaws<\/strong> anniversary is Contender<\/strong>, the biggest, baddest great white since Jaws<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

Contender<\/strong>, a popular star of shark week, usually hangs out in the Carolinas but seems he has been tracked off of Nantucket, likely heading to Martha’s Vineyard for a Jaws<\/strong> party.<\/p>\n

I find his travel and timing very fascinating and would love to see him- from a very large, very strong boat of course!!<\/p>\n

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Source: yvonnedesousa.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Plovers again, but for sharks In case you have been under a rock the last two months, you likely know that the movie classic Jaws is 50 years old this summer! I celebrated with a shark party at my apartment complex where I won a cool prize in the fishing contest- this Jaws mug!! I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":303,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[11,15,9,8,13,14,12,10],"class_list":["post-302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-multiple-sclerosis-research","tag-brain-repair","tag-marburg-type-ms","tag-ms","tag-multiple-sclerosis","tag-myelin","tag-neuroregeneration","tag-oligodendrocyte","tag-remyelination"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wickedsister.evit.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wickedsister.evit.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wickedsister.evit.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wickedsister.evit.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wickedsister.evit.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wickedsister.evit.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wickedsister.evit.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wickedsister.evit.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wickedsister.evit.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}