0 A personal story: The stone that cancelled the cruise

The Stone...

McCrabby usually writes in third-person.  This one is written in first person, because it's a personal story, promised to readers, and detailing an account of a frustrating ordeal that should have been a week of fun.  It didn't turn out that way.

It began on Sunday morning, April 17, at about 9:15 a.m.– the twinge...
We were planning, on Sunday night, to settle in early, get a good night’s sleep, awake Monday morning at 3:30 a.m., head to the airport by 5:00 for a 7:05 flight to Miami. Then, a short shuttle to the Royal Caribbean Cruise ship, Majesty of the Seas, followed by a week of cruising, relaxation, sun, warmth, entertainment, food, and did we mention, relaxation?

The twinge came, while reading the Sunday morning paper, before church. It began as just a small, dulling pain in my left side; nothing serious. But we were leaving on a cruise tomorrow, and as a past-kidney-stone patient, my radar went up. Was it a stone? Or, maybe just a pulled muscle – we’ve been working out a lot and I was testing new muscles. I mentioned it to Mrs. McCrabby.

By noon the pain was almost gone; so even if it turned out to be a kidney stone, they sometimes stay dormant for weeks, right?? I could make this cruise. Our kids and kid-in-law had paid for the cruise, the airfare, the gratuities, the transfers, everything. They knew, after the last 3-4 years we’ve had, we wouldn’t be taking any vacations for awhile. We have great kids... We also had a non-refundable cruise (no insurance).

About 6 p.m. the pain came back. It still wasn’t huge, but it wasn’t to be ignored. Should we go to the hospital? I know how painful these can be, but other people have them floating around for weeks without real problems, so we figured we’d make the best of it and we’d be goin’ cruisin’.

At 11 p.m. we were at the emergency room. After waiting for an hour, I was given a CAT SCAN and it was announced that I was the proud owner of a 7-mm kidney stone –not as big as last time, but too big to pass. There would be morphine tonight, and a surgical procedure in the morning, not a flight.


The entire hospital staff began to learn of our cruise plans, and by morning even the doctor was expediting things to see if we could have surgery and still make the cruise at it’s first port. I was operated on at 9:45 a.m. and IF EVERYTHING went perfectly, we might be able to fly out Tuesday morning to Key West (first port for the cruise). Thankfully, we didn’t book that and pay the extra... yet.


Monday afternoon, I was sent home from the hospital to recover at home. The pain was intense, and we weren’t optimistic that we’d fly Tuesday, but we’d test those waters in the a.m.
By 6 p.m., things didn’t seem to be working quite right. They said they’re be some blood for a couple days, but this seemed like too much. By 8 p.m., a call to my surgeon resulted in the response of "just keep drinking; sometimes these procedures take some time." So, I kept drinking.


By 11 p.m., it was apparent that things weren’t going according to schedule, and neither was I.

Lots of liquid was going in but nothing was coming out, except blood. I toughed it out because I knew how painful kidney stones can be and the doctor said keep drinking. If other people could get through this, so could I. At 1:30 a.m., the pain was debilitating, excruciating, and more intense, by far, than anything I had ever gone through before. I have ripped ligaments in my ankle, taken twelve stitches in a finger that was almost severed, and had teeth kicked out in a kids’ hockey game, by a skate. This was worse. We headed back to the E.R.

Upon admittance this time (two ER visits in two days!!), I got to meet Amy, who calls herself the P-nurse (draw your own conclusions). Within 30 seconds of meeting Amy, she was doing things I had never had done. In fact, it raised a question, "who was the first doctor to suggest using a catheter, and what was the response of the first test patient when informed of this new idea for a procedure?" 


Amy explained to me that most people feel an urge to "pee" (direct from the P-nurse) when they have 200 milliliters of liquid in their bladder. When Amy got done with me, she had emptied 1,400.


Later, when my son asked what would be the maximum someone could hold, I answered "It appears to be 1,400."

I'd like to point out here that Amy started with the large catheter, and then changed (yes, we got to do this twice) to the XL catheter, which I am convinced was designed with NBA players, or race horses, in mind. While I was proud to be in the XL category, it was an uncomfortable position. We’ll leave it at that.


Upon Amy’s completed effort, I was checked into my second hospital room in two nights, and kept "under observation" for the rest of Monday night and through Wednesday afternoon; we obviously weren’t goin’ cruisin’. Three hours of sleep in the past 48 hours, and missing our non-refundable cruise, did not have me in the best of spirits. Damn...


The ongoing schedule would include another hospital visit two days later, to finally get that stone blasted by sonar (one more anesthetic, and one more "procedure" ), and then a week of trying not to mess anything up before my doctor would remove the stent, the following Friday. Two days later, I was back on the racquetball court, feeling better, and feeling good to be able to "go" about doing normal things again, finally.


Our trip?  Well, I'd like to report that American Airlines provided us vouchers for our full airfares, usable any time in the next year; that was very nice.  We’re still talking with Royal Caribbean about whether they can/will do more for us; they did allow us a 50% credit on a future cruise -- I always wonder when a company representative makes a statement like, "We CAN’T do anything else for you." REALLY? You CAN’T? There is NO WAY you can help us? NONE? Your company has NO WAY to show humanity to a prospective customer?   We'll let our readers know if they do more.


Even if they decide to do more, do I dare get on a ship?  What if my ailment would have happened one day later?  And, do I have the money to pay for another cruise? I still have stones in my kidneys, and when will those drop?


Anyone know the best kind of trip insurance to get???


Next post? My roommates in the hospital – they were interesting...


And, later?  The hospital staff -- angels??  Read that one HERE



McCrabby

 

　

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And, for the weekend, this is how we IMAGINED the cruise went, once we couldn't go...  Watch both videos to get the full picture....