Holland America's South America and Antarctica Cruise - the part we were on board for is outlined in red |
Thurs., 1/31/19 - Day at Sea
The Pacific Ocean is not very peaceful today. We have 10 foot swells with a strong - 50 to 70 mph - headwind. Marge and I are both wearing our Sea Bands and Marge had Dramamine. Since it is a day at sea, there were several programs in the theater that I found interesting.
By 5 PM Marge had a temperature of 102.4°. This required a trip to the doctor in the medical center. The early diagnosis was flu and they started both of us on Tamiflu. By the time we left the medical center, they confirmed it wasn't flu, but since we had started the Tamiflu, we were going to have to take the whole course - bummer.
Fri., 2/1/19 - Chilean Coast
This morning we were anchored in the nice bay at Puerto Montt, Chile. The two tenders were lowered and people prepared to go ashore. But winds from the south at 25 mph, expected to rise to 35 mph, caused waves that broke over the platform used for entering the tenders. So...the tenders were stowed, the anchor raised, and we sailed off to our next port, Castro on Chiloe Island.
We weren’t planning any excursions but only to walk some in town. Too bad that Puerto Montt lost the business of our 1200 passengers. Our ship sailed on to Castro and anchored and let people go ashore by tender service until 10 PM. We stayed on the ship and I ate dinner in the Lido buffet. I took something from the Lido for Marge to eat in the room, but she did not want to eat much. |
Shoreline at Puerto Montt
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Shoreline at Puerto Montt |
Farming mussels |
Volcano near Puerto Montt - probably Mt. Osorno
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Farming mussels
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Sat., 2/2/19 - Castro, Chile
Marge was not feeling well at all so we went to see the medical staff when they opened at 10 AM. This time they diagnosed double pneumonia. At first, they were going to try to treat it on board, but they finally decided to disembark her to the regional hospital in Castro.
Meanwhile, Gale went to lunch and then went onshore because the visitor center had free WiFi and she wanted to get our emails. I could not log on with my IPad so I walked up to the central square, looked into the Catholic Church with the all wood interior and corregated metal siding that was painted yellow. It was very hot. I went back to the visitor center and tried again to log in and finally had success.
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Village of Castro, Chile |
Local street
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Typical electrical work |
Looks like it is still Christmas as 90 degrees!
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Church of San Francisco
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Church of San Francisco
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Church of San Francisco
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Monuments to local heroes |
Castro harbor with the MS Zaandam at anchor
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Local goods for sale
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Making a long story short: When Gale got back to the ship, she discovered HAL had cleared out our stateroom and packed our suitcases (very efficiently). I was in a wheelchair with an oxygen bottle and assorted other leads all ready to be tendered ashore.
We had a smooth trip to shore where there was a waiting (un-air conditioned) ambulance to take us the short distance to the hospital. HAL arranged a hotel for Gale and transported the luggage to that location.
After nearly 8 hours (4:30 - after midnight) in the emergency room, with brief excursions to x-ray to confirm my pneumonia and for a CAT-scan to be sure there was no fluid in the pleural cavity (negative), they finally located a bed in a surgical ward containing two other women. After another hour of hooking up fluids, antibiotics, C-Pap machine, oxygen, etc., the lights were finally turned off - what an ordeal.
Some information: Chile has a very good health care system. Regional hospitals in remote areas (that is most of the country) are connected to the main operation in Santiago and constant medical advice is provided from there. Virtually no one in the Castro hospital (or town) speaks any English (and I have next to no Spanish) - this made communication interesting. Castro is on a barrier island where the temperature at this time of year is in the 55-70 degree range. However, for my visit they had a heat wave with temperatures in the 90s and NOTHING is air conditioned - especially not hospital wards. That room was over 90 degrees for more than 12 hours each of the 3 days I was there - really difficult. Everyone was really nice and helpful. The food was awful, so I basically didn't eat while there. One doctor spoke English (my savior). She appeared Monday morning and took over my case - absolutely nothing happened on Sunday except a constant stream of visitors for the other patients.
After being in the hospital from Saturday afternoon until Tuesday morning, the doctor declared me "Fit to Fly" and signed the various release papers. I really don't think I could have stood another night in that place!
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The ambulance ride
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Monday - looking a little better |
Breakfast - every day, as well as a second identical roll later in the day. The spread is apricot something and apricot is one of the two foods I just detest (coconut being the other). At least the tea was good.
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There is no airport in Castro. The nearest airport is in Puerto Montt, 100 miles north, on the mainland. Gale and HAL's English-speaking representive arranged for a car to drive us to Puerto Montt. The minivan was not air conditioned but had a pretty good fan. The driver was nice but spoke no English. He was able to ask if we needed to stop or wanted a “cafe,” a cup of coffee. The ferry boat ride and the scenery on the ride were interesting and pretty but I don’t think Marge enjoyed anything but being out of the hospital. We spent the night at a hotel in Puerto Montt. The doctor had suggested that we take it easy going home so we spent two nights in hotels rather than try to fly directly back. |
Wed., 2/5 - Fri., 2/8/19 - Puerto Montt to Santiago to Houston to Tucson
After breakfast Wednesday morning at the hotel we shuttled to the airport and spent a great deal of time finally getting a late morning flight to Santiago. Once in Santiago, we shuttled back to the Almagro hotel. Marge went straight to bed.
Our overnight flight to Houston on Thursday did not leave until 11:20 PM. The hotel was so accommodating that they let us stay in our room until 6 PM. We took the 7:30 PM shuttle to the airport and stood in line until the United Airlines counter opened. Marge got a nice wheelchair ride through security and all the way to the gate. The flight to Huston was a little bumpy going up the coast of South America but it smoothed out over Central America and the Gulf of Mexico.
We arrived in Houston at 6 AM and got a wheel chair for Marge to take us to our next gate. We had 6 hours before our flight to Tucson so we did not have to rush. The flight to Tucson was a short two hours. We picked up our car at EZPark, were back in our camper by 3 PM, and ever so happy to be home.
Marge has recovered very nicely. It took 3 weeks to get an appointment with a CFNP (our new PCP, probably) and by this time all symptoms had disappeared. This was a real learning experience. Hopefully, one not to be repeated.
Throughout this whole ordeal and after we returned home, the support provided by Holland America and Allianz, the trip insurance company, was wonderful. Several times they called to be sure things were going as planned and that Gale was able to make all the necessary arrangements. She did a fantastic job in that department, doing everything from arranging for hotels and air plane rides to bringing me water and using her Japanese fan to try to cool me off in that hot room. It would have been nearly impossible without all the help we received.
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