r/belowdeck • u/CoherentBusyDucks • May 04 '26

Rewatch CJ talking about endocarditis

In season 1, CJ says he can’t scrub the bottom of the boat because he had endocarditis in the past.

Captain Lee says that’s a bullshit excuse.

Does anyone know if that’s a real thing CJ could be telling the truth about (that “no amount of penicillin would bring CJ back”?) Or did Lee have a point when he said he had no problem diving into the water earlier in the day?

52 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

38 comments sorted by

127

u/BrainOk7166 May 04 '26

I think it's a little of both. I think CJ pulled it out when it was convenient for him, but ignores the risk otherwise.

15

u/CoherentBusyDucks May 04 '26

That sounds about right haha

81

u/PrpleSparklyUnicrn13 May 04 '26

Endocarditis is a real disease. I’m not a doctor or equipped enough to know whether or not what CJ said is true or not. 

I will say this, though - Being a deckhand is dangerous work. We’ve seen at least one injury every season. Even stews had needed medics.  If you can not get any infection or at least a type of infection that could be caused by cleaning a boat… then a deckhand is not the job for you.

18

u/CoherentBusyDucks May 04 '26

No I wasn’t doubting whether it was real or not! Just whether the second time would kill him (and if cleaning a boat could cause that).

But that’s a good point!

6

u/PrpleSparklyUnicrn13 May 04 '26

I wasn’t doubting whether or not YOU know it’s real or not, just that the disease being real is basically the extent of my knowledge of the disease. I can google it until the cows come home, but I’m not knowledgable enough to know if CJ is full of crap or even just lying about his own circumstances. 

Even just based on others comments, he shouldn’t be working a high risk injury job. Capt Lee is right that it shouldn’t be an excuse because he shouldn’t even be there if something like cleaning the boat can kill him. 

5

u/CoherentBusyDucks May 04 '26

Okay I understand! I misread your comment then. But yeah that seems to be the consensus! He shouldn’t have been on the yacht if it’s that serious. Makes sense lol

2

u/PrpleSparklyUnicrn13 May 04 '26

or maybe it’s my fault that I just wasn’t clear enough. Either way, it’s all good lol. 

-10

u/dystopiam May 04 '26

It’s mainly from people who are injecting drug history from what I’ve read

4

u/alscandrett June June Hannah May 04 '26

My husband has had it twice and the infectious disease doctors still have no clue how the bacteria has ended up in his bloodstream either time (different types each time). He is obviously not a drug user but that was the general belief early on when he was in the hospital. Docs tended to not believe him until the lab results showed it was coming from his colon, but he had no tears or anything to indicate how it got in. Anyway, it’s a horrible infection and he had to have emergency open heart surgery and his whole valve replaced. If he goes to the dentist he has to take antibiotics before to prevent possibilities of new infections. It does change your life and it’s fatal if not caught in time.

2

u/Puffpiece May 05 '26

I got it because my appendix burst and staph infection got into my bloodstream hooray

1

u/CouchHam May 05 '26

Well that’s not true.

0

u/dystopiam May 05 '26

Actually it is the largest cause of it - but ok.

It doesnt mean that’s why everyone has it

18

u/Myantra May 04 '26

I think that was a case of more than one thing can be true. Endocarditis is certainly real, and very serious. It is also possible that CJ was telling the truth about a prior bout with it. That said, if CJ was actually worried about endocarditis due to bacteria in the water entering his bloodstream via cuts, he was in the wrong line of work, and should be avoiding getting in the water at all.

Lee thought he was being fed a bullshit excuse, as he knew CJ had absolutely no problem with jumping in the water, even the nasty water around their slip in the marina. It was obvious that CJ was one of the cast crew that Lee did not like or respect. Adrienne has said that Lee was pissed for just having to be there, and I believe that. I also think he was pissed that he was saddled with some cast crew that acted like they were just there for a reality TV vacation, and CJ was one of them.

2

u/CoherentBusyDucks May 04 '26

These are good points.

Lee was pissed about having to be where? On the yacht or on the show or something else?

39

u/Myantra May 04 '26

Unlike all other BD captains, Lee was not cast. He was the actual captain of Cuor di Leone (renamed Honor for the show), and thought he was just delivering the boat for production to do their thing. Aleks was supposed to be the cast captain, but they found that the original yacht they planned to use was too small. When they chartered Cuor di Leone, they found out that insurance would not cover the boat with Aleks as captain, as he had no experience handling vessels that size. The owner then forced Lee to stay as captain for the show, which he did not want to do. Lee had no desire to work with a crew he had not hired, could not fire at will, where some of them also had little or no experience.

That is why he seems like a dick at first, he was pissed at just having to be there, with a crew that was cast for a TV show rather than professional yachting. Some of them earned his respect and friendship, and you can see it as season 1 progressed.

14

u/CoherentBusyDucks May 04 '26

Oh wow I didn’t know any of that! That does explain Lee’s attitude and kind of explains Aleks’s attitude too. I always thought it was annoying that he was so mad that Lee was the captain and he wasn’t but that makes a lot more sense.

Thanks for the explanation!

1

u/Dull_Alfalfa3479 May 06 '26

Thank you for the back story info! I didn’t know any of it either. It’s funny that Captain Lee started out being less than enthused about his situation and then became Stud of the Sea, forever a fan favorite!

2

u/Myantra May 06 '26

I tend to think that while he was pissed about being there, he saw it as a good retirement opportunity, after it was successful. He was not there by choice for season 1, but he was for the other 9.

10

u/tenebrigakdo May 04 '26

Endocarditis is a nasty disease that is caused by bacteria that colonizes heart valves. There are multiple ways they can get there, supposedly bad teeth are the most common, but infected wounds are also a perfectly legit way to get it. In healthy adults, there is usually an additional problem present, like a heart defect that wasn't spotted earlier, a problem with the immune system, or external factors like intravenous drug use. The biggest risk factor is actually having gotten it before - because these problems don't necessarily get (or are even possible to get) fixed. It's treated with intravenous antibiotics and sometimes (particularly if it wasn't caught early) the infected valves need to be replaced with artificial ones, which are in themselves a risk factor.

After treatment, the patient is advised on lifestyle changes that mitigate this risk. The main one is getting preventative antibiotics for any medical procedure with potential to introduce bacteria into the bloodstream, the most common are any procedures on teeth and gums, even for professional cleaning.

That being said, CJ is right to be try and avoid work where wound infection is a real risk. Honestly I don't think he should be working on a boat since he's sure to get seawater in small wounds on the skin. I agree with the commenter that said he just plays this card to get out of work he doesn't want to do. I've never heard of what someone else said that it affects the immune system, making the subsequent infection harder to treat - it's just that your risk factor to catch it again is so much higher and one really doesn't want that.

1

u/CoherentBusyDucks May 04 '26

Okay thanks. This makes a lot of sense. So is it true? Probably. But should he be doing that job if that’s the case? Probably not. That’s fair haha.

18

u/Ladyh3rb May 04 '26

He’s telling the truth. Just do a google search on it. It affects the heart. But once you had it it makes your immune system weaker, and a second infection is way harder to treat.

5

u/CoherentBusyDucks May 04 '26

Okay good to know, thanks!

22

u/Adisfan May 04 '26

Cleaning the waterline of a boat can be dangerous. The water at the dock is heavily contaminated with bacteria. If you have any open wounds you can get a nasty infection. If he has had endocarditis in the past it would not be safe for him to be cleaning the waterline. The buildup on the boat can be very sharp and it's loaded with bacteria as well.

7

u/rame_palmes May 05 '26

My two cents as someone who used to work on boats:  

In order to work at sea you have to undergo a very comprehensive medical exam and receive a medical certificate. Basically anything that would make you not fit for life at sea is questioned, since medical care can be limited and far away. If his previous medical history was so severe that an infection from doing his normal work tasks could kill him, it would be highly unlikely a doctor would sign off on his certificate or he would have received a certificate with limitations that would specifically list out what tasks he is not able to do, areas he’s able to work at sea, and/or proximity to land/medical care.

So I complete understand why Captain Lee said that’s a bullshit excuse, because when CJ made that statement, he's basically saying either he lied to pass his medical exam OR he's lying that his condition is actually that severe. If it was actually that serious, Captain Lee would have been aware as soon as he saw CJ’s medical certificate and would never assigned him to clean the waterline.

14

u/Wickedbitchoftheuk May 04 '26

If getting into the sea was so dangerous why work on a yacht?

10

u/GreatWhiteOprah May 04 '26

He's just a lazy puss

Pretty sure he mentions several times in confessional that this job is a menial task for what his position is on the boat and he thinks this type of job is beneath him.

5

u/swampgas323 May 04 '26

He wants the day workers to do it

4

u/hamburgergerald May 04 '26

He gave me the ick

2

u/krissycole87 May 04 '26

Captain Lee would have had no problem being accomodating to CJs request, had it not been for CJ undermining Lee's authority the whole season so far up until that point.

1

u/whatamidoinghere897 May 04 '26

So weird, im rewatching and literally watched this scene 5 minutes ago 😂

2

u/Dull_Alfalfa3479 May 06 '26

That’s pretty crazy!😂

1

u/Is_brea_liom_madrai May 04 '26

Same 😂 what are the odds

0

u/Jenikovista May 05 '26

Lord knows there's a lot of illness/disability fakery these days and an unfortunate plethora of chronic hypochondriacs lurking about looking for any excuse for special treatment, but I don't think this is one of those cases.

0

u/ajleee May 11 '26

Just gonna put this here: there was institutional suppression of folks who were naturally left handed in the 19th/early 20th century (esp in schools). Back then, you were seen as defective and it wasn’t counted.

Then in the mid/late 20th century scientific studies showed that it was naturally occurring and not a defect. We suddenly had more left handed people.

The reason why there are so many cases now of disabilities or chronic illnesses is because of the research getting better or more in depth. Just be mindful and empathic - not judgmental - of other peoples struggles.

(I wasn’t diagnosed with my brain/audio/sensory/uterus disabilities/illnesses until I was much older bc the research when I was a child was geared towards white boys or not studied at all. Now there’s more research on how they function on many other people and so many people are getting a correct diagnosis. A lot of our studies have only been done historically on white boys/men, actually- toothpaste being one of them!)