My ship may sail without me tomorrow

[vacruizer]

I am ready to cry. Been looking so forward to leaving on the Pride tomorrow to celebrate my 40th birthday next week.

 

Starting having some tummy issues about a week ago that have been getting worse and worse. Had chest pain start mid-week and ended up having a full heart work-up and stress test on Thursday. All were fine, they gave me an antacid and told me to enjoy my cruise. Kept feeling sicker and sicker yesterday with tummy issues and dizziness. Instead of loading the car this morning we went back to the ER where they said my gallbladder has sludge and they are testing for an ulcer that will take 2 or 3 days but that I need to see a surgeon to get my gallbladder out. :( Then they told me it was up to me whether or not to take the cruise.

 

We could technically still leave early and drive up to Baltimore in the morning, but the way I feel now there's no way I can make it 5 hours in the car. Can't eat, can barely drink, and too dizzy to even finish packing.

 

To top it all off, I called CSA travel insurance today and I probably won't be covered for cancellation since the dr. said it was up to me whether or not to travel - even though I have the ER paper work diagnosing the gallbladder issue and advising removal. My only hope is that the surgeon can see me next week (don't know how long it will take to get an appt.) and certify I wasn't fit to travel.

 

I'm so bummed - never thought I'd be in this situation. But I honestly can't fathom getting on the ship feeling this bad.

 

Sorry for the long rant but had to vent to some folks who know how painful it is to be sitting here sick on the eve of your cruise knowing you probably won't be onboard tomorrow. :(

[rnvattes]

Oh how rotten! :(

 

First and foremost I hope you are well soon.

But secondly I hope you get reimbursed for this trip and can take it at a later date.

 

Big (gentle) Hugs!

[ozzy_emg]

That's terrible and how disappointing. I hope you feel better soon and hopefully you can get it covered by insurance.

[mikel24m]

That really stinks !!! You may want to get your doctor to word your note differently so your insurance covers you

[cruisenanny]

I'm so very sorry to hear that! How awful for you, I can absolutely empathize with you wanting to cry!

Your health is number one and I hope it all works out for you however is best, do take care..

[sharecruises]

OMG.....I would go back to the doctor...or get a 2nd opinion...one that

will be accepted by the insurance

 

this sounds too sick to be "your choice">> doctor needs to step up here

and help you out

 

Hope you get the help you need, heal fast and take another cruise paid for by the insurance

 

PS have friends who had that gallbladder and it is pretty easy nowadays,

laproscopic and once it is out you should feel better fast

 

Good luck !!

[StingRaysfan]

:( That is my greatest fear as a cruise approaches... I'm so sad for you...:(

[lucigo]

If you are sure you can't make the trip then go back to the ER and tell them how miserable you are and ask for a letter stating that you can't travel. Hope you feel better quickly!!! Had my gallbladder out in December so I feel your pain!

[navybaby1113]

I'm sorry! I hope you feel better soon.

[Karysa]

I too hope that you feel better very soon.

One thing that you need to hear though is that many health travel insurance plans such as mine will not cover you for a pre existing condition. If you have been under medical care for a condition within the past 3 months that condition is not covered. In your instance if you need emergency gallbladder surgery like my sister did and you are away then your evacuation and surgery would not be covered under such a plan.

Being in the medical field I agree with the others who suggested asking for a second opinion or stronger worded note for the insurance to cover your trip if you need to cancel. I don't think that would be a problem. Most Doctors tend to err on the side of caution.

[MSRussell]

My Word!! How awful.

All are correct, if you can't make the cruise, go back to the DR and have him re-word is diagnosis.

There is one small good thing about this...if you started getting sick on the ship, they may have had to medivac you off. So it's a good thing it happened now, even though you are disappointed.

You have the birthday gift from Mother Nature, to live to see 41.

Let us know what happens...

Melanie

 

[ChefSusan]

Sorry to hear this bad news. If I was you, I would get an appointment with a Gastro doctor pronto, and get a REAL diagnosis.

 

Best luck and hope it works out in your favor!

[kayhold]

My gallbladder was bad for about 18 months before I had it pulled. You can manage it with diet if its not infected, which if yours was, you would have already had it out.

 

Did they give you percocet? Half of one always worked for me when I had an attack, otherwise if I stayed low-fat and stayed away from ginger, I was fine. Fatty meals will bring along an attack.

If you do decide to go, I would try and manage it with diet and relax all week! You can just stay on the ship if you feel bad, better than home!

[vacruizer]

Thanks everyone - the kind words really help. With it being the weekend I can't even call to make the appt. with the GI specialist until Monday. Hopefully he will back me up to the insurance on how crummy I feel. Hopefully he's not one of those specialists that takes forever to get an appt. with. I've been through the ER twice now since Thursday - I don't think they really are interested in paperwork for my insurance. The doctor I saw this morning told me she would probably not go due to lack of medical care on the ship should something major go wrong with (so far no signs of infection that would need immediate surgery) but that it was up to me and that I'd "probably" be fine if we went. Their other concern was finding a bland enough diet that it wouldn't aggravate it if I go.

[vacruizer]

My gallbladder was bad for about 18 months before I had it pulled. You can manage it with diet if its not infected, which if yours was, you would have already had it out.

 

Did they give you percocet? Half of one always worked for me when I had an attack, otherwise if I stayed low-fat and stayed away from ginger, I was fine. Fatty meals will bring along an attack.

If you do decide to go, I would try and manage it with diet and relax all week! You can just stay on the ship if you feel bad, better than home!

 

They did give me some Vicodin for pain, antacids, anti-nausea meds, and something else for digestive pain and spams. I actually don't have that much pain - just some tenderness. My symptoms are mainly gastro stuff and discomfort. Can't get food down at all and am having trouble with liquids. The overall bad feeling is almost flu like but has been going on over a week and no fever so they are pretty sure it's not flu or a stomach virus.

 

They are also testing for an ulcer and will call me if that test is positive on Monday or Tuesday so if it turns out to not be gallbladder I'd be on the ship if we went and not able to get the results.

 

I just hate not knowing exactly what is wrong. A few weeks ago I was fine, working out, eating healthy- then all of the sudden I had tummy troubles one day that haven't gone away since. :confused:

[gapearl]

So sorry to hear this! I hope you get better soon and still have a good birthday. Please keep us posted on what happens. Best wishes to you! :)

[LHP]

Sorry to hear about this...

 

I can totally relate.

 

In October 2008 (after slowly losing 40 pounds by walking 4 miles a day)

 

I was sitting on the couch at 9PM and suddenly thought I was having a heart attack.

 

Bottom line..it was a gallstone.

 

Apparently this can happen when women of "my age" lose weight.

 

We have 5 cruises booked in the next 4 months and I did not want to miss any of them....so...

 

once it was determined that the stone was to large to move into the pancreas and do any damage....

 

I just did not eat any fat for 4 months.

 

5 cruises and NO FAT.... I ate a lot of rice (with no butter) and a lot of baked chicken.

 

After the Blogger's Cruise in Feb 2009, I went in and had it yanked out.

 

This worked fine for me because we knew EXACTLY what it was...and as long as I did not aggraviate the gallbladder, I had no issues.

 

Since the doctors are not certain that this is the issue....I would opt out.

[LSEA]

 

To top it all off, I called CSA travel insurance today and I probably won't be covered for cancellation since the dr. said it was up to me whether or not to travel - even though I have the ER paper work diagnosing the gallbladder issue and advising removal. My only hope is that the surgeon can see me next week (don't know how long it will take to get an appt.) and certify I wasn't fit to travel.

 

 

I am sorry to hear you aren't feeling well. Gallbladder issues are miserable!! Take care of yourself and catch another cruise soon! As far as the insurance, if you have a primary care physician perhaps you can contact their office on Monday morning and explain your situation. She / he might be able to take care of the documentation your insurance requires.

[Andoria]

Oh how awful. I hope you feel better.

[dixieva]

So sorry that this has happened to you! If I were in your shoes I would not go either. Hope you're feeling better soon.

 

Someone mentioned travel insurance and pre-existing conditions. We purchase Travel Guard insurance and if you get the insurance within 15 days of booking and making your deposit it does cover pre-existing conditions. Does not cover if you wait past the 15 days to purchase insurance. But it sounds like yours was not a pre-existing condition.

 

Hope you can get insurance to re-imburse you for the cruise.

[bobmal99]

That really is unfortunate,

take care of yourself.

Have a Happy Birthday..

[Momis2]

I feel so bad for you!!! Did they diagnose you with an ultrasound? That is the only way to see how full the gallbladder is and the size of the stones . If you get a stone in the blie duct(like I did) you are in for the worst pain you have ever felt .Worse than childbirth. I know. I had my gallbladder out last August after 3 attacks and a ride in the ambulance to the ER. You DO NOT want a major attack on the ship!! I had it out laproscopicaly(spelling) and have been fine ever since. The surgery and recovery kept me in the hospital about 10 hours, not even over night. I do not mean to scare you, believe me. If you have time , get it out before you go anywhere. I was afraid to go to the grocery store and have an attack there. Get the surgeons certification , cancel your cruise , and get that bad boy OUT.

[floresskylar]

ay pobrita. My mom had gallstones and still does need to have her gallbladder removed. Shes put it off for years (I could kill her for that). Anywho, I've seen that kind of pain and theres no way you can go on your cruise. The attacks are something serious. She says she feels like shes dying when it happens. You would be miserable and waste a trip being sick. As long as your surgeon says its medically necessary then I don't see why your travel insurance wouldn't cover it. Forget about the trip for now and focus on getting better. Saying a few prayers for a speedy recovery.

[Cushing985]

After all of the "doctors" on this thread finish diagnosing you I would, as others have stated, call your doctor on Monday. I'm sure he would be agreeable with changing the wording.

 

Sometimes insurance companies have me shaking my head in wonderment.

[H82seaUgo]

ugh. we had to cancel once for dw's gallbladder. it had turned ceramic, whatever that means.

 

do what you can to get the insurance to cover, and rebook and sail asap.

 

good luck, God bless, and feel better.