Homeward Bound + Update

Wednesday, May 8, 2024

For the third time in less than two weeks, we woke up in Vancouver. 

I noticed my throat was a little dry and scratchy when I woke up but blamed it on the dry air in our cabin. I had to walk outside on "our private deck" to get a good enough signal but then was able to check in for our flight. I had booked our way home through Westjet last October when I saw a great price of $144/person for a direct flight from Vancouver to Minneapolis. And better yet, the flight was actually operated by Delta so we would pick up a few miles and get free checked luggage due to our Delta credit card.

Since booking, our departure time had been changed twice, but luckily it was for the better. We were now scheduled to leave at 1:15 pm, a time which I felt comfortable we could make. I knew getting from Canada Place to the airport was a bit of a journey so rather than deal with Uber or a cab, the four of us had booked the HAL transfers. This was a first for us but worked very well. We had reserved the 8:30 am transfer and from the time our tag color was called to disembark, we never stopped walking until we were seated on the large coach bus. 

Being in Canada, Tim Horton's in the airport seemed like an appropriate place to get an early lunch and then the four of us sat together by our gate until we boarded. Jon and Michelle were flying back to Atlanta and had a later flight. 

Our flight was full and I was seated next to a lady who had just gotten off the Grand Princess ship. I showed her the photos that I had taken of their ship in Glacier Bay and she was thrilled when I offered to airdrop them to her phone.

When we landed, we retrieved our luggage and were thankful we didn't have any drama as we did last time. (A hockey bag had gotten lodged in the conveyor belt on the carousel, blocking all of the luggage behind it.) Our youngest son picked us up as he had done in February and it was about an hour drive to his house where we spent the night. It was a school night for our young grandsons so we quickly said "good night" and they were off to bed.

The next morning I woke up and could tell my throat felt even more raw. I must have been overly tired because by the time I crawled out of bed my daughter-in-law had already left to take the kids to school and do some errands. Bob was outside helping our son on his latest project...building a sauna! We had discussed spending a 2nd night, but the way I felt I just wanted to go home.

By the next morning I knew I definitely had "something". I pulled out one of my stash of Covid test kits and after 15 minutes could see a very faint line indicating I was positive. The kit was past the expiration date (although the government says it is still OK) but I didn't trust the outcome so re-tested again with a different brand. This time the test definitely came back positive. 😞

Over the next few days I felt pretty crummy with mostly cold symptoms and a cough. I tested one more time about 5 days later and it was still showing a positive result. I was so thankful that I hadn't gotten sick until the end of the cruise but also guilty wondering how many people I might have infected without knowing it. Everyday Bob expected to start coming down with symptoms, but he never did. I even made him test just to make sure he wasn't asymptomatic, but it was negative. Jon and Michelle said they had some very slight symptoms when they got home but never tested to find out if perhaps it was Covid. 

Update from July

It has taken me two months to finally get this blog caught up so I thought I would provide a quick current update. My Covid symptoms are gone EXCEPT for an occasional cough. It isn't bad, but once the tickle starts in my throat, the cough follows. 

As far as my knee...it had been over three months since I first injured it in San Diego and it wasn't getting any better. When I returned from the cruise I contacted my local orthopedic doctor and she ordered an MRI. The test results showed I had a stress fracture, a complex meniscus tear, advanced arthritis and cysts on the back of my knee. She called me immediately and said I needed to see a specialist in Sioux Falls, SD (our closest large city) and until then I should be TOTALLY non-weight bearing. Based on my original x-ray, the diagnosis had been a dislocated knee cap so the MRI definitely was beneficial in seeing what was actually going on.

For me, being non-weight bearing was just a disaster waiting to happen. I can not navigate on crutches and trying to use a walker wasn't much better. As long as I was in the house, I used an office chair on wheels as my pseudo wheelchair but our bedroom is on the 2nd floor which made life tough. Fortunately I was able to get an appointment in Sioux Falls a week later and the specialist decided that the stress fracture was stable enough that I could walk and be OK. I have another appointment coming up and at that time they will decide what steps will come next. Having arthroscopic surgery might be an option, but the doctor said doing so would just speed up the process towards needing an artificial knee replacement. One other choice might be a steroid injection. 

That appointment was six weeks ago and since that time I have started taking a daily arthritis drug that has helped quite a bit. Maybe things are finally starting to heal and I won't need to do anything further. I am back attending my water aerobics class three times a week and last night I borrowed my neighbor's e-bike and went seven miles on the bike trail around our lake. 

For now we have no future cruises or travel planned. I am starting to receive special "private sale" offers from Holland America regularly in my email and one of our AMEX credit cards has a really good offer..."spend $750 get $300 back" so eventually I may start looking. The repetition in HAL entertainment causes me to think maybe we should be looking elsewhere for options, but we are SO close to becoming 4-star Mariners and that free laundry perk would be so nice!

Thank you to everyone who has followed along on this particular journey with us and special thanks go to those who have taken time to email or leave comments! As I've stated many times, the goal of this blog is to record MY memories, but if anyone else finds useful information or enjoyment from reading then that is a bonus! 

Until next time...