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A Fractured LIVE - Fractured My Ankle on Carnival Spirit - In hospital in Cartagena

TravelBluebird

By TravelBluebird,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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klfhngr

klfhngr

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Great post! I love post where people create threads such as 'What happens when you...' I did a similar thread, 'what happens when you miss the ship'! You hear of people missing it, but that's it! I've also heard of people getting hurt, but then never hear what happens after! Thank you!!!

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SeaHunt

SeaHunt

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3 hours ago, TravelBluebird said:

plane had STAIRS

 

 

OMG of course it would have to have stairs to top off this trip 🤪 

 

How did you manage? Wheelchair up? I'm afraid I would have had to probably sit down backwards and bounce my way up each step (whereupon my husband would immediately start acting like he didn't know me!) 😁

 

 

CC1.jpg

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MagnoliaBlossom

MagnoliaBlossom

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18 hours ago, ArchieCruise said:

Another option instead of crutches is a device called an iwalk.  It is basically a peg leg that allows you to walk freely so you have use of both hands.  It is great for things like cooking or daily chores so you have use of your hands.

Those are fabulous.  I e not used one but during my nursing years in the dark ages I had a patient whose son made him one and it was perfect for his defect.  Recently I’ve seen them and thought “there’s nothing new under the sun”.

 

when I was disabled, our house had five steps up to the house and scooting down was easy but going up was more difficult, usually because I’d been out for the day and was tired.   Necessity being the mother of invention, I took a square bucket (formerly a kitty litter bucket) and realized it was the width of the step.  I put a folded towel on the lid and knelt on it until my good leg moved up, then used the handle to move it up a step where I could kneel on it again.   Was a real game changer, especially when the steps were wet.

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TravelBluebird "Live from...." Rare

TravelBluebird

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2 hours ago, SeaHunt said:

 

OMG of course it would have to have stairs to top off this trip 🤪 

 

How did you manage? Wheelchair up? I'm afraid I would have had to probably sit down backwards and bounce my way up each step (whereupon my husband would immediately start acting like he didn't know me!) 😁

 

 

CC1.jpg

 

To get up the stairs, they have a very narrow stair wheelchair.  I wasn’t fully terrified until they made me sign a liability waiver at the bottom of the stairs.  Then they strapped me in (with one very small strap and 3 airport employees hoisted me up (me facing down the stairs).    Even worse, by the time this was all accomplished, the entire rest of the plane was standing outside waiting for me to board.

 

I knew something was up when they came to get me 20 minutes before pre-boarding started! Not only did we have the stairs, but the walk to get †o the plane outside was VERY long—at least 300 yards!

 

We couldn’t get a first class seat—the plane was fully sold out and they had a waitlist that all couldn’t get on yesterday plus today’s waitlist, so it explains why there were no seats available yesterday.n. The bulk head was fine and gave me a little extra room to prop up my leg.

 

We are now in Miami seated at the gate,  WOW Miami is a huge airport—I felt like I was being pushed in that wheelchair forever—to customs, baggage claim, re-check bags, sky train and then a really FAR way our gate (the last D gate, 60). One thing I do NOT like at this airport is that they drop you off in the disabled seats at the gate, take the wheelchair and leave you there! With a 3 hour wait to get our plane, I feel pretty trapped.  

 

If the rest of the evening goes well, we should hit my front door around 12:30pm. LONG day. But I’m glad to be ALMOST home.

 

 

1A6519FF-D8D2-4349-B212-7484BF3BD32D.jpeg

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TravelBluebird "Live from...." Rare

TravelBluebird

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Obviously, our COVID tests were negative! Guy next to us on the plane had quite the required COVID test travel story. Bunch of guys at a resort in Cartagena at a bachelor party. They go to get their COVID tests yesterday, and the groom tests positive (minor scratchy sore throat). To get home in time for his wedding, he is flying Cartagena—Bogota—Mexico CIty—Tijuana, and from there driving to LA.

 

I’m not going to discuss the ethics of him taking all those flights COVID positive (I mean, I wouldn’t do that) but just another example of how all aspects of travel are still effected by it.

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TravelBluebird "Live from...." Rare

TravelBluebird

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2 hours ago, klfhngr said:

Great post! I love post where people create threads such as 'What happens when you...' I did a similar thread, 'what happens when you miss the ship'! You hear of people missing it, but that's it! I've also heard of people getting hurt, but then never hear what happens after! Thank you!!!

 

Thank you! I started to blog it to keep my mind off my ankle/foot situation during the long wait for my ankle to be operated on, and then I realized I could impart some useful information as well.

 

I am going to look for your “miss the ship” thread!  

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bigrednole

bigrednole

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Glad you made it home. I am sure it has been an adventure to say the least. Besides all the updates, I am very curious to hear how the rest of the story goes...the insurance coverage. It is not until you have to deal with insurance you realize how bad it is to deal with them. That was our experience in another situation and I can tell you that insurance companies are only your friend when you are paying them.

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jbhcw

jbhcw

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Glad you made it home....I cannot remember what insurance we had...it was thru carnival...but everything was reimbursed except a Mickey Mouse ball hat I lost when the van turned over.   We were charged 400 each from the ambulance company...when we actually took a taxi to the hospital...there were 14 of us in the van....it took a while but eventually charges were removed.  Our situation was different as we were not hurt..just shaken up...examined at the hospital..but our friend had to have surgery and be flown back to NC...We stayed with them...went back to the ship to pack up two cabins...and spent the day at the hospital..until his jet arrived to take him home...we then spent the  night...went to a travel agent the next day to get plane tickets home...looking back I think how oblivious we have been on some tours...once a small boat had an engine fire in Nassau...and the surgeon who operated on our friend said if we had been in one of the open safari type vehicles he would still have been xraying people....makes you look back and think about some of the things we did.

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purpleally

purpleally

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On 4/24/2022 at 4:05 PM, TravelBluebird said:

 

Oh ouch—that sounds as painful as mine!  6 months to a year for full recovery is definitely what people are telling me.  It’s frightening how many people have told me similar stories; I now know why first-floor bedrooms are so popular (of course, we have a 3 level house with no bedroom on the first floor..but once I get to our top level—up one flight—there is everything I need except a kitchen (bedroom,  no-step up shower, tv with lift-your-legs seating, my office) and we can make that work.

 

@MagnoliaBlossom What is the limit on your medical evacuation coverage?  We also have medical evacuation coverage—that part of our policy is very high, up to $500,000. I thought that was enough but we may up that because I read here on Cruise Critic of a medical evacuation that cost about $560,000 so the poor person was out of pocket for $60,000. Costs seem to be skyrocketing for that.

 

 We may look into upping the amount of medical coverage as well...seeing what a fractured ankle cost, what if it was something worse?  We renew our travel insurance policy in September before our Viking River Cruise.

Get MedJet.  Sign up for five years to bring the cost down a bit.  If you are hospitalized they will fly you home to whatever hospital you want in a private jet. That is a biggie and what matters most to us. 

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pe4all

pe4all

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Welcome home!  Time towel and get your strength back.  For our Belize "experience" Travelguard re-imbursed all our expenses except $5.  (we had over $15,000 in expenses between Dr., hospital, plane fare, hotel, food) Had all our money back within 3 weeks of submitting, which was great.  Hope your trip insurance does the same.

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crewsweeper "Live from...." Rare

crewsweeper

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Glad you're home.  Gate 60 D concourse at MIA is my nightmare gate.  Seems all smaller places gate there.  I once had to walk from there to  rental car agency with a heavy box, carry-on bag, a bad knee and no cane.    Then back again for return flight.  So I empathize with your trek.

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klfhngr

klfhngr

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16 hours ago, TravelBluebird said:

 

Thank you! I started to blog it to keep my mind off my ankle/foot situation during the long wait for my ankle to be operated on, and then I realized I could impart some useful information as well.

 

I am going to look for your “miss the ship” thread!  

Lol, same here! I started writing it as I was going thru the 'ordeal', lol! 

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