Today is the one-year anniversary of my accident with the wave at the beach in south Viareggio, Italia. I have to admit that due to the surgeon's optimism, I thought I would already be back to carving marble by now. Not so.
However, thanks to my wonderful physical therapist Dr. Nicola Palestini (Nico), I am getting better and stronger. Quality takes time. . . . hahahha.
I wanted to share with you what I learned about Italia last Tuesday evening.
About a month ago as summer neared, I asked Nico if swimming would be a good exercise for me. Yes. YAY! Much of the exercises I do are very similar to treading water with one's arms. Finally the sea at Viareggio has gotten warm enough for my wimpy tastes. But also Tuesday morning, my beau Andrea (pronounced Ahn-dray-ah, a popular name for a man in Italia) told me that the waves have calmed down dramatically.
He was with me as I slowly walked into the sea that evening for the first time since the "incident." I was about waist-deep when my foot landed on what I thought must have been a clam shell. It was not.
Whoa! The pain shocked me with its force. That was no clam! When the pain started to travel from my toe to up into the foot, I knew that I had a toxin injected into me.
Andrea shouted, "Raganella!?! nooo... how can this be? I go to the beach almost every day, sometimes twice a day, to swim. In twenty years, I have not stepped on a 'raganella'... You... your first day back after the accident and . . . . nooooo..."
2024 marks my twentieth anniversary of my first visit to Italia and I have never heard of this fish! Later, as I shared the story with the guys in the gym where I do the therapy, I learned that the "raganella" is the small version, with the "tracina (drago)" as the larger / adult name. The fish is common in Italian seas, a part of the family Trachinidae. The origin of the name appears to be derived from words meaning "dragon" or "serpent."
The 'raganelle' (plural) sit under the sand (thus you are unlikely to see them to prevent a meeting). They have tongues that sense movement for their prey (not humans!). However, like the puffer fish, when they become scared, boom! They have a webbed fin at the top of their bodies that go from flat to vertical immediately, launching the poisoned spikes up into their perceived attacker (the human foot or bum, or hand, in the case of fishermen).
As Andrea helped me walk up to the beach, his brother-in-law Edoardo ran up to the bar and asked for the remedy. Do you know what that is? Submerge the affected area in coffee-hot water for about 15 minutes! 40-45 degrees Celsius (104-113 Fahrenheit).
Edoardo was thoughtful enough to scoop up hot water in his own fingers and drip it over my toes until slowly I could tolerate the heat enough to immerse the front half of my foot completely, if tentatively. As my toes turned red, I remembered telling the nurse in the ER a year ago that lying on my back was the worst position for my lower spine pain. She responded that I would have to "sacrifice your lower back if you want to save your legs." I hoped that would not be true also of my scalded toes.
The heat dissipates and nullifies the toxin. It really works! We were so lucky that the bar had not closed for the evening as little time was lost before the cure applied. I was able to ride my new bike back to Andrea's house. No problems after that.
However, Thursday in therapy, I recounted the story to Nico and the two guys who have been at the small gym with me since I started back in April. I quipped, "If I were the superstitious type, I would have to decide whether this was a omen to mean that I should never go to the beach, or never go to the beach with Andrea!" We all laughed at that latter. [Andrea was the reason I was at the beach during the hours of hot sun the day of my accident. It never occurred to me to ask him to take care of me when I was out of the hospital, but it never occurred to him that I would not be in his care for those first ten days or so. Thank goodness!]
So, it seems that the adventures continue for Grace Kelly (my mother's childhood nickname for me). And I once again thank you for helping me heal and be without work for so long.
Cheers and mahalo,
Kelly
P.S. The fish has an English name, if you want to learn more: