Taking Winnie on a Wonder Cruise - A February Mexican Riviera Trip - All wrapped up 6/14

[Flossbolna]

What a hassle to get on that ship! But the food looks delicious! I hope I can convince Michael to do a sit down lunch instead of the buffet on our first day.

 

[franandaj]

It was POURING and COLD! I looked like a drowned rat by the time we all got inside and my poor paper boarding pass was disintegrating rapidly!

And that's coming from someone from Denver! Not a wimpy Southern Californian!

I was glad that I was in a spot where I could come out and help! I really feel like the port was VERY unorganized and chaotic.

I don't know what we would have done if you couldn't come help us. Between the guys yelling at me to move the car and Fran stuck on a scooter with six bags to maneuver we were having trouble!

I was thrilled you guys were able to overcome all the obstacles and be able to sail with us!

I'm so glad we were too! At the end Fran thanked me for making her go even though she didn't want to.

 

[dizneeat]

That's one not to miss. Will read when we are back on the ship. Sitting in a Catalina restaurant having lunch and missing my cruising buddies.

 

[Sophie’smom]

Thanks for the trip report - I have a friend with a similar medical situation to Fran‘s and reading your report is encouraging ! Hope you had fun and were able to relax

 

[bobbiwoz]

@franandaj, hi! I came across the trip report and am so happy this cruise happened for you, Fran and your friends! Looking forward to reading it all!

 

[franandaj]

What a hassle to get on that ship!

It was a total hassle! One of the guys took some pity on Fran when he realized she was in a scooter, but they were relentless about me moving the car!

But the food looks delicious! I hope I can convince Michael to do a sit down lunch instead of the buffet on our first day.

That was one of the best meals, but honestly I'm not sure we had a bad meal all week. Some were better than others. I would think Michael would prefer the sit down and having folks wait on him.

 

[franandaj]

That's one not to miss. Will read when we are back on the ship.

Sitting in a Catalina restaurant having lunch and missing my cruising buddies.

You're making me envious of your continued travels, but we are also very happy to be back home with all our kitties! They definitely missed us!

 

[franandaj]

Thanks for the trip report - I have a friend with a similar medical situation to Fran‘s and reading your report is encouraging ! Hope you had fun and were able to relax

The trip was not without it's complications. It wasn't a carefree trip where we were just enjoying ourselves, but it was certainly better than staying home and going through more of the same. We definitely needed a change of scenery and this was just right. At least for me!

 

[franandaj]

@franandaj, hi! I came across the trip report and am so happy this cruise happened for you, Fran and your friends! Looking forward to reading it all!

Hi Bobbi!

Great to see you over here! I know you know how fun it is to meet up with other folks from the DIS!

I'm glad that everything came together and Fran was well enough to do this. I know you know she faces a lot of challenges, but we made it work although as you'll find out it was still a challenge!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Hey Alison! Thanks for the heads-up. I'll circle back to comment.

 

[franandaj]

Hey Alison! Thanks for the heads-up. I'll circle back to comment.

Glad to have you onboard!

 

[justafigment27]

Yeah! I was so excited to find this trip report today. I think I’ve commented in the past, but probably not a lot. I really do enjoy your TR’s.

You guys certainly have had a scary, stressful year. My jaw kind of dropped just reading about everything - it was just one thing after another.

I’m glad you were able to make the cruise and look forward to hearing the rest of the story.

 

[DnA2010]

So she named her ileostomy “Winnie” short for “Winnie da Pooh

Ahh yes the introduction to Winnie!

She was in the hospital for 27 days that time

Boy it was a long time, wasn't it!

You have to give her kudos for not giving up!

Heck ya! Fran proud of you for keeping pushing on!

While we would be changing bags 4-5 times a day with the former, we are going 4-5 days without having to change the bag now.

Such a massive change! those 4-5 times a day were so crazy for you two!

I woke up to find that Fran had written a list overnight. It was written on a college ruled notebook, and it was three columns long!

Ahh the lists...I do love doing lists though

Not that we are slum lords or anything

You are certainly not!

This was the time where forecasters were calling for Blizzard conditions in Southern California

What an odd sentence "blizzard conditions in Southern California!" lol
I did see something about snow in DL though!

Fran tried something new; a sausage, egg, and cheese sandwich. She said it was good, but she could have had something a little bigger.

Yum, that looks good, although I do love a breakfast sammie of sorts with sausage

I was able to stuff a bunch of that into the scooter bag once I unloaded it out of the car

Scooter loading/pack-horsing here we go! Not like she isn't used to it

the guys at the drop off continued to hassle me to move the car.

Like why, eh! Like of course you don't plan to leave your car there...

Whoa, much wetness in this picture!

It was easier to bring too many than just enough.

Absolutely, with medical stuff, always bring more than just enough, much easier than trying to source things on a trip from who knows where!

I said to Fran, “I think I need a real beverage.” I ordered a glass of Murphy Good Sauvignon Blanc

Atta girl, I approve!

Yum, that looks super! Looks nicely cooked!

Fran went with the kids macaroni and cheese.

I expected the actual macaroni to be mickey shaped, but nope.


Great start, can't wait to read more!!
I was so happy it all worked out!

 

[Malia78]

This is what Fran as a pack mule looks like.

Looking pretty good as far as pack mules go...So good to Fran out and smiling.

The drop-off hassle and downpours are not the most desirable way to start but you made it onboard for a pretty good looking lunch to really start things off.

 

[franandaj]

Yeah! I was so excited to find this trip report today. I think I’ve commented in the past, but probably not a lot. I really do enjoy your TR’s.

You guys certainly have had a scary, stressful year. My jaw kind of dropped just reading about everything - it was just one thing after another.

And I just gave the bare facts, there were a lot more surgeries, or at least times that she went under anesthesia. Not to mention all the Barium Enemas and other such tests. It was something I hope to never live through again!

I’m glad you were able to make the cruise and look forward to hearing the rest of the story.

I'm looking forward to sharing it, I haven't had a trip to report on for a year or more.

 

[o&smom]

Hello! And welcome to another franandaj Cruise Trip Report!

This one is going to be a little different than previous Trip reports. If you have read my reports in the past, whether they be a cruise, a trip to WDW, or just my day trips to the parks at Disneyland Resort, you know that my wife Fran and I tend to be pretty mellow. We spend a lot of our time dining, whether it’s at a fancy restaurant or burgers, hot dogs or Mac n cheese, we love to eat good food. We aren’t ride junkies, and we rarely make rope drop. I expect this trip is going to be a lot more mellow than others especially for Fran.

Now we are not alone on this trip. On our last cruise in 2018, where we finally made Platinum, we traveled with a very fun group of friends. All of whom were met here on the DIS.

Back when we were on our trip to Disneyworld in February of 2022, I got a text from our friends Karin and Tom from Austria that they had just booked a cruise out of San Diego in February of 2023 for a “great price”! Several months earlier, I had booked a cruise in April of 2023 for a “not” so great price. When I checked the price of the cruise in February the price was $2K cheaper than the spring cruise!

It was a no-brainer to switch to the earlier cruise with friends and less money! Little did we know that we were on the brink of a life threatening disaster, but I’ll get to that in a moment.

This cruise is 7 nights long on the Disney Wonder, departs out of San Diego, and we have our favorite handicapped accessible stateroom booked. We sailed in this room about 7 ½ years ago, it's the one with a little room for a house elf! We will probably not be participating in a lot of excursions, and just generally be mellow and hang out. I need the downtime.

In case you need a reminder, this is me and Fran in our natural environment.

And also us at WDW last year.

So getting to our situation for the past year. Bear with me, it’s a long story and I’ve tried to be as succinct as possible, but a lot happened. I’m leaving out a lot of details, but giving you the basic facts. Fran has come to terms with everything that has happened and has agreed that I can share her condition. You won’t be hearing the gory details, just the cleansed version, but it will give you insight into traveling under some not so ideal circumstances.

For about three or four years Fran had been experiencing severe stomach cramps, which became increasingly uncomfortable. She had seen a gastroenterologist regularly and even had one of the last colonoscopies done by hospitals in March of 2020. About three days after she did it all elective surgeries were canceled due to covid. They found nothing remarkable with that test.

She continued to see the doctor through tele-med visits, and even saw his assistant several times in the office once things began to open up. She did all kinds of tests, took various medicines, and still the pain persisted. At one point we even thought that drinking Mtn. Dew was causing the problem.

The pain reached excruciating levels at the end of March in 2022. Our Primary doctor even prescribed blood work to see if she could determine what was wrong. There was nothing of note on that blood work. After the blood test, Fran laid down for a bit. When she woke her stomach had a hard lump that wasn't there before. I sent pictures to the doctor and she said, "Go to the ER, now!"

Well it turns out that her colon had ruptured. The surgeon that we were assigned to did emergency exploratory surgery. We later learned that the only thing he did was clean up her insides (removing a portion of her colon), vent her colon out her stomach, and give her an ileostomy to save her life. Most people are familiar with the concept of a colostomy, this is similar, but at an earlier point in the digestive system.

The Doctor’s plan was to allow her time to get her strength back and heal some. Then he would go back in with another exploratory surgery and discover what had caused her colon to rupture, there was a blockage in there somewhere and he needed to find and fix it. Once he had repaired the blockage, he could reverse the ileostomy and "hook her back up" with a normal digestive system.

Following the emergency surgery, Fran spent a week in ICU, a week in Telemetry, and two weeks at a skilled nursing facility before coming home. It was during this time that she got acquainted with her ileostomy. She basically had two wounds in her stomach. One was spewing out . The other was mostly dormant. So she named her ileostomy “Winnie” short for “Winnie da Pooh”. The other wound on her stomach she named Piglet because he is such a good friend to Winnie. She referred to her entire belly as the “Hundred Acre Wood”.

It was a long period of recovery and after many setbacks, disappointments and just generally tough times, we finally got a surgery date in August of 2022. The surgeon was able to repair the blockage, and in the process he closed up Piglet. However, he still couldn’t reverse the ileostomy. We had another 2 ½ months dealing with Winnie. Without going into detail, let me just say that an ileostomy is difficult to take care of. She wore a bag on her right side and it would constantly leak. She did not go out of the house much, and we had to carry an emergency medical supply bag whenever we went anywhere. The few times we did go places, we ended up with minor emergencies to take care of in the restroom. Sometimes we brought a change of clothes, but luckily that wasn’t necessary.

Finally, in November, seven and a half months after the initial surgery, the surgeon scheduled her for the reversal of the ileostomy. Though she was released after four nights in the hospital, we could tell there was something very wrong going on. She was readmitted to the hospital one week after the reversal surgery. It turns out that she had developed a fistula. A fistula is an abnormal connection between an organ, vessel, or intestine and another organ, vessel or intestine, or the skin. Fistulas can be thought of as tubes connecting internal tubular structures, such as arteries, veins, or intestine, to one another or to the skin.

Piglet was a fistula. The one she had developed after the reversal went from the colon out of the body via a place that it wasn’t supposed to. She was released again and the surgeon said he would consult with a colon specialist as to how to proceed. Because of this fistula she developed an e coli infection in her blood and developed sepsis. After an unbelievably awful Emergency Department experience she was finally re-admitted to the hospital on December 10th.

Her surgeon visited her while she was in emergency and revealed his solution for her fistula. He would give her a reversible colostomy on the other side to take the pressure off the lower colon while the area with the current issue could heal. During that surgery he would also repair the fistula to the best of his ability. She was in the hospital for 27 days that time, in and out of ICU, and finally released with a gaping wound in the middle of her stomach in addition to the colostomy. She was released from the hospital exactly 50 days before our cruise. There were several times when I seriously doubted that we would be able to go. While she did have some Physical Therapy in the hospital those 27 days on her back really took a toll on her strength.

She still has great difficulty moving. Getting out of bed, or even standing up from being seated is difficult. It requires a great amount of effort on her part. You have to give her kudos for not giving up!

For almost two months a home nurse visited her daily to change the dressing on the wound as it healed. When she left the hospital in January the wound was very large, however, the doctor told us that it would be “nothing that we couldn’t manage on our own”, when we asked him about this cruise at a follow up visit. He was right, the wound continued to shrink in size. When I saw the wound for the first time in the hospital it was large enough that you could have placed a "lunchbox" sized apple inside. When the nurse changed the dressing the day before the cruise, it was small enough that a date would fill the cavity.

The doctor also assured us that many people live their entire lives with a colostomy and we did not need to alter our plans. Never in our wildest dreams did we think that almost a year later that we would still be dealing with this, but here we are. The colostomy has been much more manageable than the ileostomy. While we would be changing bags 4-5 times a day with the former, we are going 4-5 days without having to change the bag now.

And of course she still calls it Winnie, but it’s Winnie2!

I hope you’ll join us and find out how we tackle this challenging situation and get back to living our lives after a year of putting life on hold.

So happy to see a trip report from you! I have so enjoyed your past ones. I have thought about both of you many times over these past couple of years. Sorry to hear about all the health stuff. Glad healing is happening. Love the positive and fun attitude about the whole thing. Can’t wait to follow along. Best to you both!

 

[jgl130]

I mainly lurk on your reports, but love them all. So glad to hear Fran is on the mend and that y’all got to go on the cruise! Being a caretaker is a job and then some! Yay for a Disney break!

 

[franandaj]

Ahh yes the introduction to Winnie!

It had to be done

Boy it was a long time, wasn't it!

Tell me about it, I had to climb the stairs from the parking structure to the hospital 2-3 times per day....

Heck ya! Fran proud of you for keeping pushing on!

She is a trooper.

Such a massive change! those 4-5 times a day were so crazy for you two!

Yeah, pretty much every time we turned around we were changing the bag. The worst were the ones at 3AM, when I was sleepwalking.

Ahh the lists...I do love doing lists though

Yeah, but do them in the weeks before. Not two days before!

You are certainly not!

Let's hope the investigators thought so.

What an odd sentence "blizzard conditions in Southern California!" lol
I did see something about snow in DL though!

Yes we did hear that on the cruise.

Yum, that looks good, although I do love a breakfast sammie of sorts with sausage

I'm not a breakfast sandwich person, but she liked it.

Scooter loading/pack-horsing here we go! Not like she isn't used to it

Yup, it had just been a while.

Like why, eh! Like of course you don't plan to leave your car there...

Yeah, and they could see that we had a scooter and there wasn't much I could do with the luggage. The worst is that they made us park super far from the luggage drop off part. Had we been able bodied people it wouldn't have been a problem, but she couldn't ride the scooter and move two carry ons while driving the scooter.

Whoa, much wetness in this picture!

We were all drowned rats by the time we boarded. A lot of our luggage contents were wet, like the paper towels in the medical bag and some water soaked through the porous parts of the suitcases where the zippers were.

Absolutely, with medical stuff, always bring more than just enough, much easier than trying to source things on a trip from who knows where!

We totally over packed. We brought so much more than we needed, but then again we didn't know.

Atta girl, I approve!

I thought about a mixed drink, but figured

Yum, that looks super! Looks nicely cooked!

It was perfect! I cut off all the little pieces of fat and ate them with the rare pieces of meat. I was totally in heaven as I ate that piece of meat!

I expected the actual macaroni to be mickey shaped, but nope.

With the amount of that stuff that they make daily they need to just have the regular elbows. I doubt Mickey shaped macaronibwould cook evenly.

Great start, can't wait to read more!!
I was so happy it all worked out!

I have lots more to come! Coming up soon!

 

[franandaj]

Looking pretty good as far as pack mules go...So good to Fran out and smiling.

It was good getting her out of the house and into new environments. I think overall it was good for her.

The drop-off hassle and downpours are not the most desirable way to start but you made it onboard for a pretty good looking lunch to really start things off.

It was definitely not the best start, but once we were sitting at that first lunch all the icky wet rain just faded away.

 

[franandaj]

So happy to see a trip report from you! I have so enjoyed your past ones.

I have thought about both of you many times over these past couple of years. Sorry to hear about all the health stuff. Glad healing is happening.

It was strange not having a TR over the past year. Even worse not doing anything worth reporting on.

Love the positive and fun attitude about the whole thing. Can’t wait to follow along. Best to you both!

As far as I'm concerned the only attitude to have is positive. I need to do it for both of us because Fran isn't so good at remaining positive.