On the fourth night (Friday), my mom slipped and fell hard by the drink station in the buffet dining because one of the attendants was mopping, without a caution sign put up, and he had his back turned to my mom who didn't notice him at all.
We stayed on board that night and since she still could not lift her leg while lying down or put pressure on it to stand/walk the next morning, we were taken to a hospital (a private clinic that deals with international students/tourists) in Barcelona. My first time in an ambulance and Barcelona!
The itinerary for our trip was:
Civitavecchia, Italy
Florence, Italy
Monte Carlo, Monaco
Nice, France (this became a day at sea due to rough seas preventing us from docking on the pier or tendering in)
Barcelona, Spain
Day at Sea
Motril/Granada, Spain
Gibraltar, UK
Cadiz/Seville, Spain
Lisbon, Portugal
London, UK
Toronto :(
Both my mom and I had already been to all the ports prior to Barcelona (she's already been to BCN) so we missed out on all the new places (in italics).
Saturday & Sunday
After disembarking the cruise, I spent the next 2 days in the hospital with my mom, waiting for news but since it was the weekend, there were no specialists around. We did find out that she fractured her femur right below the bone's head and so there was no bone displacement since she had for the most part, kept off of that leg.
Monday
The specialist was finally in and told her she could move around in the room and sit on a chair instead of laying in bed all day. If the bones stayed in place, we could go home and proceed with whatever treatment was necessary and would not have to have surgery in Barcelona.
So with that news, my mom kicked me out of the hospital and I spent the rest of the day exploring the city on the hop on/off buses.
Tuesday
They were still waiting to see if there was any bone displacement but then we also had to wait for the port agent to find us a flight home, so I wandered the streets a little more and darkened my farmer's tan just a touch.
Wednesday
More waiting, so I spent a few hours at L'Aquarium Barcelona staring at the sharks and penguins and walked back up through the shopping district to the hospital though my legs were like jelly at that point and it was all uphill, of course.
During my 5 days there, I have to say, my Spanish did not improve at all. Not that I had the vocabulary to begin with - should've watched some Dora before we left! Whenever I'm in France I want to speak English, in Italy I tend to blend French and the little Italian that I know, but in Spain I was either at a complete loss for words or would want to speak English/French/Italian/Mandarin. Basically anything BUT Spanish. Not many Spanish people know English so I think a lot was lost in translation! One super nice doctor who saw my mom briefly in the ER upon our initial arrival kept coming in to check on us and translate for the specialist who knew very little English. Between the nurses, usually one knew just enough English to get by, but there was one shift where I had to speak with my bad French since none of the nurses on duty could speak English.
Thursday
We flew back (with a walker, crutches, and cane in tow - I was a complete mess trying to juggle everything lol) and my mom is currently at the local hospital awaiting surgery. Things sure have advanced these days though! All the doctors in Barcelona and Toronto have said that after plates are screwed to the bones, there's only a 2-3 day recovery period and then she can be on her feet again (probably with some Tylenol 3 :) ).
Next Week?
So since I still have another week of vacation left, which I debated about cutting short, I might just head off to NYC for a few days to join my brother who went on Wednesday for 12 days. For the past 4-5 years, I've gone to NYC four times each year to watch all the Broadway/Off-Broadway shows that I can squeeze in and this trip would be my fifth of the year, having last been in June. If I can't have my yummy 5 star cruise food, I'm not going to pass up another chance for NY street food (chicken biriyani from a cart on 46th & 6th is amaaazingly good) and cupcakes!
I have tons of trip pictures to sort through (lots of sharks/penguins...) so for now, here are some pics from the Covert Affairs Season Two Pre-Wrap Wrap Party.
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| Peter Gallagher is a bee-yoo-ti-ful, beautiful man! |
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| L: Christopher Gorham watching Peter Gallagher; R: Christopher Gorham and 'Covert Affairs' co-creator Chris Ord enjoying Peter Gallagher's songs and stories. |
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| Piper Perabo also loving Peter Gallagher's performance. |
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| Me and Peter Gallagher. |
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| Me and Christopher Gorham. |
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| T: Me and Melinda Clarke! I LOVE HER!; B: Alexandra Holden and I. She was filming a guest appearance that week. |
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