Has a long term illness or condition in the family changed how you reef

[Myka]

I wish I was still there so I could help Mark!

[hillegom]

Mark, You will persevere. You will do what needs to be done. It would be good if you train your significant other to do some chores while you are able. Then if/when you are disabled, someone can do temporarily what you cannot.
I hope you will have a minimum of problems.

I must say I am fine now, not a problem to do anything. Back to work. Tank is doing good.
In May 2011 I was diagnosed with stage 4 throat cancer. Went through chemo and radiation. And positive thinking helped.
Finished in June. Back to work in Aug. Really pushed myself to recover.
My tank suffered during this time. Some fish and corals died because of lack of maintenance.
I thought that I would be able to keep up the maintenance but that did not happen. I did not have fore sight to train anyone. I was just too weak.

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by hillegom

In May 2013 I was diagnosed with stage 4 throat cancer. Went through chemo and radiation. And positive thinking helped.
Finished in June. Back to work in Aug. Really pushed myself to recover.

Holy crap, Dietmar, didn't know you had that!! Glad you are OK now. I know a guy at our airport that had it. Thought he was a goner at the time, and felt really bad. But he came through it, and seems to have beat it. He is still a little hoarse, and has to be careful what he drinks and eats, but otherwise is fine. Good luck and wish you the best going forward.

[hillegom]

Thanks Walter
Everything is ok now.
The main thing is, one person cannot just maintain a tank. At the very least someone else has to be trained to do a minimum of chores to keep up the water quality. (in my case). Because I just was not interested and did not care.
The other person does not really have to do anything routinely just have knowledge to do things if anything happens.
As in the case of others, you do not know when suddenly something happens and we are temporarily incapacitated.

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by hillegom

Thanks Walter
Everything is ok now.
The main thing is, one person cannot just maintain a tank. At the very least someone else has to be trained to do a minimum of chores to keep up the water quality. (in my case). Because I just was not interested and did not care.
The other person does not really have to do anything routinely just have knowledge to do things if anything happens.
As in the case of others, you do not know when suddenly something happens and we are temporarily incapacitated.

Yup, so true. But if that happened to me, would likely shut down my tank, and turn my attention to other life priorities and family.

[crimper]

Hey Dearth, first of you'll be fine so don't be discouraged.

Yours is a minor heart attack... I had a Cardiac Arrest 2 years ago, got stented and was lucky to survive. Then after a year I went on another procedure which they had implanted an ICD on me. On the first year I was totally depressed as I was only a shadow of a man I used to be. The biggest frustration of course is how am I gonna take care of my tanks? No more scuba diving for me... etc.

That time that I got ill, I got so many tanks running. I have been breeding discus and for people who are aware how tedious it is to keep discus is... tell me about "Daily Water Change."

But my life didn't stop there, I didn't let infirmity stop me from doing things that I love. I was lucky my wife supported me and managed to take care of everything when I was in the hospital with the help of my father in law until I had decided to let go of everything except for my 57G reef. This tank served as a therapy for me while I was recovering. In fact my Reef addiction got worsen.

All I can say is, it depends on the people that surrounds you. I always thank my wife for understanding and supporting me with all I've gone through. My father in law and my son who lift things for me when I need to as I was refrained from lifting things.

Life and reefing must go on for me... as a matter of fact I am working on my ultimate goal... "To go back home and scuba dive on one of the nicest reef in my country." I'm hoping I will be allowed to dive for less than 50 ft.

By the way I'm back working full time for almost a year now.

Stay positive!

[Borderjumper]

Originally Posted by hillegom

Thanks Walter
Everything is ok now.
The main thing is, one person cannot just maintain a tank. At the very least someone else has to be trained to do a minimum of chores to keep up the water quality. (in my case). Because I just was not interested and did not care.
The other person does not really have to do anything routinely just have knowledge to do things if anything happens.
As in the case of others, you do not know when suddenly something happens and we are temporarily incapacitated.

I so agree!

Last fall i injured my right foot and just got that pretty much healed then I tore my right rotator cuff. Water changes basically stopped and the tanks were looking pretty ghetto. My husband took an interest in the living room tank and pretty much took over its care he does all the water hauling and does the water changes now in that tank so that his tusk fish doesn't croak. The other two little tanks are pretty much ricordea, nems and zoas which don't really mind my lack of Maintanance .

[BMW Rider]

I went through a period of being incapacitated due to injuries a few years back. I did still manage to look after the basics on my tank, but my wife did assist with the heavy lifting until I was finally able to resume. I have made strides in automating my tank and minimizing the amount of regular work it demands. Still, I am considering that reality that I will soon need to decide whether I continue in the hobby , or if I need to find someone to do routine upkeep. This will be not so much from an ability standpoint as it will be from a lifestyle change. I'm nearing retirement and hope to be spending more time traveling which will mean I won't be home to look after the tank.