June 27, 2013

Food poisoning in the state of Maine

This is a guest post that I wrote for Amanda last week.  
I don't think I've shared it here (alright, I can't remember), so here you are...

In the fall of 2011, Scott and I went to Maine as part of a two-week east coast vacation.  We were wanted to see New England (Boston!), as well as visit our families in PA, before he deployed again.

My favorite part of Maine was shopping at the outlets in Kittery because, being stuck in Alaska, I rarely got a chance to outlet-shop.  However, all I can really think of when I think about Maine is food poisoning.  

While I was shopping, Scott wanted a snack.  He walked across the street to Bob's Clam Hut.


It was only about 11am, but he was trying to get as much of that east coast seafood as he could (I think we ate our way up the coast).  Scott said this place was running a special: Buy an order of fried clams and get a free side of ....fried clams.  Later, he said that should've been a sign.


By evening he was sick and we stopped in Kennebunk because we needed to get to a hotel for the night.  It wasn't "I think I'm gonna throw up" sick.  This was fever, chills, sweating, tingling, near-hallucinations, and numbness.  Essentially, it seemed to be Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning, which we were familiar with because we'd been clamming in Alaska for a couple of years.

It was a long night. By morning, he had improved enough that I wasn't trying to haul him out to the car to take him to the hospital anymore.  While he attempted to recover before we hit the road, I walked around outside and took pictures like this:

What a sweet little church, right?  

Anyway, to this day, I tell him, "You're a survivor!  You made it through PSP! That, like, never happens!"  Whether he truly had a mild case of PSP or not, he had something (which is why you should stay away from roadside seafood at all costs, my friends).

I totally wish I could say the story ends there, but we both ended up with food poisoning on a cruise just a year later.  We think it was the stuffed mushrooms..but it could've been the lobster or the calamari.

We're so weak.  Vacations are rough on us.

9 comments:

  1. Yet another reason that I feel no need to ever eat seafood. I grew up eating food from streetside stands, but I never ate the prawns, or pretty much, any of the meat!

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  2. THAT is why I do NOT eat seafood! That right there! You should see the gross shit Bill and his family eats. It scares me to death girl!!

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  3. Poor Scott. I don't know what I would do if Craig go sick on vacation. I would want to take care of him, but I would still want to enjoy my vacation. Hm...

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  4. Ugh just awful! Poor Scott, I have never had food poisoning. It honestly scares me.

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  5. You guys just do not have good luck with food poisoning!

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  6. Oh man. Your vacations need to be at home, lol. Go to work in Hawaii for two weeks a year and then all will be good.

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  7. Yeah, you guys don't have very good luck on vacations, do you? Being sick is the WORST.

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  8. I realize it's after the fact, but if we can be of any help to you, please contact us. www.stopfoodborneillness.org We're on fb too.

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  9. Food poisoning sucks. I know a person who was a food safety author and she died recently because of food poisoning, how tragic was that!

    Regards,
    Arnold Brame
    Health And Safety Consultant Peterborough

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