My father is being evacuated from a cruise ship

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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The latest saga in my father’s health - my parents are one week into a four week cruise. Today, he had almost no energy and looked pale. Mom took him to be checked out by the ship’s medical staff. His hemoglobin count is down to 6.1, his blood pressure is “very low” (although I didn’t get numbers), and his kidney function is “slightly impaired.” The quotes are from the ship’s chief doctor, who I got off the phone with about an hour ago.

Dad has low red blood counts in the past, and needed a few transfusions a few years ago. They never figured out what was going on, but his values eventually rose and stabilized in the 11-ish range. His last test here, at the beginning of March, was 11.2.

They are currently docked in Costa Rica, and the ship is sending him to a hospital in San Jose (CR, obviously…not California). The hospital is an hour away, and the ship leaves in 6 hours (as of when this started). So there is almost no chance they’ll make it back and continue the cruise.

I’m waiting for an e-mail from the cruise line with contact information at the hospital. The ship is sending one of their staffers with them, just in case they need any additional support. Even though English is widely spoken at the hospital and surrounding areas, having a bilingual aide available may be helpful. The ship normally provides a cell phone in circumstances like this, but they only have two, and they are both with other patients right now. The doctor told me they were trying to dig up something to help them anyway. I told my mother to try to get her phone on WiFi at the hospital, and then at least send me e-mail.

The most likely scenario is that he’ll get a transfusion, stabilize for a day or so, and then my parents will fly back home to South Florida. If he can’t fly, then either my sister or I will probably head down there for a bit. That would be quite an adventure for me, since I’m in a walking boot myself…but my job is easier to scheduler around than my sister’s.

The doctor did stress that he didn’t believe this was life threatening - it’s just beyond the scope of proper care for the cruise ship. Still, Dad is not in great overall health, and I’m worried. I wish I could be there now to see what’s going on, and to be supportive for both of them.

2

I haven’t followed this particular story, but I’m sorry to hear that. I understand the feeling of worrying about the health of someone close.

Hope things get better quickly.

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Good luck.

4

Oh, goodness, what a scary position to be in, for all of you. It does sound like the cruise line is taking very good care of him.

I’m sorry their vacation was ruined. I hope he turns out to be all right and they have an uneventful flight home. I think I remember you posting about his health issues a few years ago.

5

How frightening for you! Hoping he’s well and home soon!

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Thanks.

Brief past history:
Full diabetic. Doesn’t take care of himself. Overweight, eats bad, etc. Prone to falling, at least in part due to some neuropathy in his feet. He’s cracked ribs, his orbital rim, and had other injuries from random falls. He walks with a cane or a walker, depending on where he is and how confident he feels. That doesn’t always work.

A few years ago, he had prostate cancer. And not the “watchful waiting” type - his was aggressive. He opted for surgery, followed by radiation. That’s in the past, at least.

He’s been having memory issues over the years, which have been getting worse recently. We had already decided (and discussed with him) that it was time to sell his car.
Right now I’m trying to remember the account information for his medical records at our local hospital - I have the password, but don’t remember the user-id. And it’s possible that he’s changed it and didn’t bother to tell me. I don’t think I need to get in, but my sister and I wanted to check some of the recent tests. Just because.

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I’m sorry to hear all this, but glad that the cruise ship seems to be acting in a careful and responsible manner in regards to your dad. Hope things are sorted out and back to normal soon.

8

From your description, this sounds like a recurring/chronic thing & not something he needs to rush home & go thru a battery of tests for. If he’s better in a day or so & there’s still 2½ weeks left, is there any chance they can rejoin the cruise somewhere?

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Hopefully there’s a way to do an end run around the security, and get the info. Maybe when you are in contact your mom might know? Or maybe she could somehow authorize access?

I hope your dad gets better, that hemo count is way too low.

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I’ve received a half dozen e-mails and a phone call from various members of the medical and care team. They are certainly on top of everything as much as they can be, and are being quite diligent in keeping me in the loop.

My parents have arrived at Hospital CIMA San Jose Torre. Mom was apparently able to get on WiFi - she sent me an e-mail telling me they arrived and are already running some tests. They are waiting to see the doctor.

I don’t want to ask about the account information, but it’s really more curiosity than medical need, and I don’t know how secure the connection is where they are. If I get to talk to Mom on the phone later, I’ll ask.

Possibly. We have the contact information for the next port, which is in Guatemala.
They’re really on two two week cruises - going from Miami to San Diego and back. So flying to San Diego and catching the return trip is still an option too. I mentioned that to Mom when she called originally, and she hadn’t even thought about that as a possibility. We’re going to wait and see what the doctors at the hospital say after the tests, and see what the cruise line medical staff thinks makes sense once that’s known.

One concern is why his counts dropped so much. Did he fall and not tell us, and have some internal bruising? Is there some other internal bleeding? In the past, he hasn’t shown to be anemic.

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Not surprisingly, they’ve admitted him for the night. According to the CareTeam associate, they’re doing a blood transfusion and additional tests. My mom and the staff taking care of her are at Hampton Inn Suites near the hospital.

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Quick update - his blood pressure has stabilized. Last e-mail from my Mom was about three hours ago - Dad was getting the first of two units of blood, and is apparently feeling a bit better.

Still no idea what caused the drops, so we don’t know what the near term future holds as far as travel or other plans.

13

The cruise line might not permit that, given his condition. They may not want to be responsible for him for the 2nd two week cruise.

14

Glad things are good, for now at least.

Assumign everything goes well, you may want to contact the cruise line and ask if they would allow him to complete his vacation in the future.

15

Good heavens, the motor and most engine parts are shot or barely functioning, mistreated, and mechanics have tried to fix them previously and yet, and yet, they feel they ought to make his problems everybody else’s .

I am old. I understand. But there is a term for such people…

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May I ask which cruise line? We always hear about the bad ones, it would be nice to hear which one is on top of things.

17

This is uncalled for. There is no need to be a jerk to the OP while he is dealing with his father’s health issues. Don’t do it again.

Warning issued.

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Best wishes to your dad!

This cruise line and hospital sound amazing, by the way.

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Most cruise lines, in my experience, have some sort of plan in place, since a modern cruise ship will hold 3,000+ passengers and over 1,000 crew, and the chance of something happening on any one cruise is pretty good.

I had an acquaitance fall and bust his hip during one Carribean trip; we were close enough to the USA that they steamed near Florida and took him off by boat to the mainland, then resumed course.

That said, this sounds like the cruise line did the job with expertise and efficiency…good on them.

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They are (were) on Celebrity for this trip. They tend to either do that, or Royal Caribbean. Same company these days. And we’re very happy with the support they’re giving us. I spoke to Mom late last night, and she said the local staff assigned to her has been amazing, too.

Test results are all inconclusive, which is frustrating…but potentially good news. Because he’s had episodes like this in past years and recovered some after transfusions, it looks like this may be a mystery for a bit, but hopefully let’s him travel soon. The thought last night was to release him today so he could fly home tomorrow, but that doesn’t seem to be happening yet.

Dad is apparently getting antsy about leaving. That’s definitely good news, because it means he has some energy back and is acting like himself.

Still, I’m going to a bit anxious until he is released, and they are back home.