DAY 45 - DAY THIRTY SEVEN ON THE CRYSTAL SERENITY

They say in life that some days bring the unexpected and that was the case last night.

Shortly after we ordered dinner last evening, Keith was not feeling well and said to Anne Marie that we should go back to the room.  As we made it out of the Crystal Dining Room and over to the elevator, Keith fainted.  He was quickly helped by another guest who we learned was a retired doctor and in a blink of an eye the Doctor and Medical team arrived and took Keith in a wheel chair over to the Medical Center.  They checked his vital signs and ran various tests including an EKG.  A short while later he broke out into a very hot sweat. After reviewing the initial tests, it was determined that Keith should be taken to a local hospital so that additional tests could be performed.

Keith was taken off the ship in a wheelchair and also broke out into another hot sweat.  The ship’s doctor accompanied us off the ship as Keith was wheeled a very long distance to an ambulance.  On top of the long distance there were several flights of steps to be navigated and there were lots of local people in hard hats that lifted the wheel chair.

Keith was put in the ambulance with Anne Marie and three medics.  This was our first time in an ambulance.  Most of what was being said was in Japanese but they did understand some English.  The local port representative followed us by car and stayed with us at the hospital for the entire time.

Once at the hospital Keith was put in a medical room and the doctor came in.  His English was not great, but good enough.  Most of the other people in the room did not speak English.  They ran several tests on Keith including an echocardiogram and the heart was strong and fine.  They checked for influenza as there is a major outbreak in Japan and that was fine.  They did a chest x-ray on his lung and that was fine.  They did another EKG and that was fine. They did a complete blood check and a urine check.  The net of all of this was that Keith’s electrolytes were out of balance and he also had an infection likely from the upper respiratory virus.    Before he was discharged they gave him an IV and also they gave him antibiotics (Z-PAK) to take starting when he returned to the ship.  He was given a clear medical report that he was fit to travel.

The port agent drove us back to the ship and had a wheelchair in his trunk.  It was very cold last night and windy as he wheeled Keith over to the ship.  Keith walked up the steps himself with Anne Marie right next to him. 

Once on the ship the port agent gave Keith a copy of his medical report. Anne Marie spoke with one of the ship’s doctor’s nurses and we ordered some room service, as we had not yet had dinner.  We did not get to sleep until about twenty minutes after midnight.

We woke up and had breakfast in the room and pretty much rested there most of the day except for a short walk that Keith did with Anne Marie.  Anne Marie walked some on her own as well.   We realize that it was the combination of the exercise with Keith’s upper respiratory virus and the OTC cough medications he was taking that caused the problem. 

We wanted to take the opportunity to thank the fellow guest and retired doctor who helped us last night.  Ironically, on our short walk this afternoon we ran into him and his wife so we could thank them in person.  We also wanted to thank the ship’s Medical team, the local port agent, Cruise Director Rick Spath who came by the Medical Facility last night and also checked up on us, Hotel Director Josef, the Chief Concierge, our Stewardess Lunghar, our Butler Rao who helped Anne Marie with those items that we took to the hospital and has been a big help throughout the day, the night room service attendant ,several members of the Security team as we left and returned to the ship, and so many other members of the crew for all of their assistance and their concern.  We can’t thank you enough.  We are also thankful for the medical assistance we received at the Hospital and for those who assisted us getting into the ambulance and as they monitored Keith during the ride over to the hospital.

This will be our blog entry for today.   To be on the safe side, we have cancelled a private excursion that we had in a few days for Kyoto and will just take it easy for the next few days.  Keith feels very strong today and we are very thankful that he is well.

TODAY' THOUGHT FOR THE DAY………….

"To keep the body in good health is a duty.  Otherwise, we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear."  - Buddha 

Keith & Anne Marie