Summer Interrupted: A Medical Mystery on the High Seas

It’s been a roller coaster of a summer. I had expected this guiding season to be challenging—with far more travel and back-to-back programs than ever before. I did, however, have more short trips scheduled than last year, so I was confident I could pull things off.

Some unexpected challenges over the past eight weeks have driven me to reexamine my relationship to work, play, and my own body.

It all started at the end of June. I had just finished a 19-day sea kayak expedition and gone straight into a teaching 4-day paddling course in Victoria. A vague pain was developing in my left foot. I didn’t think much of it—probably from carrying sea kayaks while wearing crocs. I continued working, flew to Terrace for another four days of teaching, then to Haida Gwaii for the start of a month of commercial expedition guiding.

On the morning of July 3rd, I woke up with a very sore, immobile left glute. This was the morning of my water taxi transport into Gwaii Haanas for 28 days, so I panicked a little. I took some Naproxen and acetaminophen, called a doctor (thanks, Dad), and stretched in pigeon pose until I could walk again. Sciatica? Piriformis Syndrome? Both could explain the glute and foot pain. I got no clear answers that morning and was now on alert about what might come next.

My first trips went well until the evening of July 12th, when after a forest walk, I sat down to cook dinner and could not bear weight on my left foot. It was swollen and throbbing all night. I upped the ante with diclofenac and T3 for pain management and requested to be replaced on the next trip to figure out what was going on. Had I broken my foot? Torn a tendon? Was this still sciatica? I stopped walking as much as possible and didn’t lift kayaks—guiding from a chair. On July 16th, the company owner, Steve, replaced me and I was evacuated to Sandspit. I was walking almost normally by then and had stopped taking drugs. Something new emerged: my right index finger was beginning to swell and stiffen.

The moment I realize I'd be stuck in a chair for a while

I visited the hospital in Daajing Giids, where an x-ray showed no broken bones. The doctor suggested I had collapsed my arch. I bought shoes with better support and was told to take it easy. A quick look at my finger suggested an overuse injury, which should heal with rest. Also, an ominous: “might be early onset arthritis, keep an eye on it.” As I hung out in town, my foot improved, but the swelling and pain in my fingers rotated between my right index, left thumb, right thumb, and left middle finger.

I got bloodwork done for rheumatoid arthritis and Lyme disease and filled a prescription for doxycycline in case it was Lyme. Two days later, I returned to the field for an eight-day trip. My fingers were mostly okay, my foot barely noticeable. I wore hiking boots with insoles for support. The Lyme test came back negative, but I had already completed the antibiotics. Three days in, I overdid it walking, and my left foot pain returned. T3 and diclofenac cream helped. By July 30th, my foot was mostly relieved and mobility almost normal—but my hands remained sore.

On July 31st, I flew to Vancouver for more tests. The next morning, my right index finger swelled intensely. I considered the ER due to throbbing pain, but visited urgent care instead, where x-rays of my finger and lower back were taken. Bloodwork was negative for HIV and syphilis but showed slightly elevated inflammation markers. I also noticed a 15-pound weight loss since late June.

I spent the next week resting, but the pain persisted. My joints were swollen in the morning and hurt more in the evening. On August 12th, an internal medicine specialist poked, prodded, and asked a ton of questions. More lab work and an x-ray followed, and finally a potential diagnosis: post-viral arthritis. They suspect a virus earlier in the season (COVID? Flu?) left me with arthritis symptoms. Prednisone was prescribed, with a follow-up in early September.

The next day, I flew to Yellowknife to visit Sarah and lead a nine-day sea kayak expedition on Great Slave Lake. Prednisone seemed to work, and I felt more capable than I had in weeks.

As I write this, I’m in Yellowknife, having pulled off a surprisingly smooth expedition with a functioning body—only to have my right hand swell again a few days after returning. The summer I imagined—full of back-to-back trips, long crossings, and the rhythm of expedition life—has been interrupted by a body I no longer trust and a medical system that doesn’t move as fast as my schedule demands. It’s been humbling, frustrating, and sometimes scary. I’ve had to step back from programs I was excited for, cancel commitments I’d been looking forward to, and accept that my season is no longer fully mine to shape.

At the same time, I’m deeply grateful: for colleagues who stepped in to cover trips, for friends who checked in, and for the small moments of relief when my body feels almost normal again. Guiding relies on strength, mobility, and endurance—it’s unsettling to face the precarity of a career built on physicality when your joints don’t cooperate.

For now, I’m learning patience. I’m learning how to rest, how to ask for help, and how to reimagine my summer around uncertainty. I don’t have a clear diagnosis yet, and that’s hard. But what I do have is time to pay attention to my body, accept the support around me, and remember that even in the most unpredictable times, it’s possible to find joy.