As I mentioned in my last post, there was an upcoming trip to NJ for Sadie's bat mitzvah, followed by Mitch going back to Atlanta to finish his course and me driving back to Raleigh with Jessica and spending a week with her. Mitch had been gone for 2 weeks already, so it was great to see him again, even if only for 2 days. I knew we'd be together again a week later.
It was wonderful seeing the family, although the airline travel part was horrendous:
On the way over, I had a flight scheduled to depart at 10:30 via Jet Blue. Before leaving home at 8:00, I confirmed that the flight was still on time (it was). When I got to the airport (no traffic for a change, so 8:30, although I had planned for 9), the board said there was a one hour delay. Ok, within acceptable limits.
Walked the few (seemingly) miles, taking the air train to the TSA check-in point, did all that rigmarole and was done at 9:30. Got to the gate to find that the board now said.... CANCELLED (and then got a text message and email stating the same thing). They automatically assigned me a flight leaving the next day (Saturday) at 1pm. NO GOOD!!! I landed up having to scramble to find any airline that was in Tampa that had an outgoing flight to Newark within a reasonable time. I did find one (via United) although it cost an arm and leg to get it at the last minute. Of course, it will be a painful process trying to get a refund or credit.
The bar mitzvah itself was very lovely and it was wonderful seeing Mitch's side of the family. Unfortunately, his sister Doris had a very severe injury en route to NJ, resulting in 4 broken ribs and a broken collarbone (which she didn't even know at the time although she was in severe pain).
I drove back to NC with Jessica and we had a bunch of really deep heart to heart discussions. I'm confident we made a lot of good progress and can start to cement a good relationship. The visit with her was wonderful, except for the fact that I hurt my knee. Not sure what happened but the moment I got out of the car when we arrived in her driveway, my knee kept buckling, and over the course of the next few days, putting any weight on it was painful. I suspect I may have sprained it or pulled a muscle and it set off a reaction with the bone on bone arthritis that I know I have (I had a shot a few years ago). I got a knee brace and cane and by the time I had to return to Tampa (today), I felt like a total invalid. Needed a wheelchair at the airport,* and needed help wheeling and lifting my suitcases **. If I have no relief by Tuesday, I will go to the orthopedist, although right now we're so overwhelmed with medical bills and there's a 99% chance Mitch is about to lose his job (more on that in another post), so I'm not so sure I want to go. Other than another shot, nothing more I can do anyway. May just try to manage the pain, if it doesn't get better. I'm confident it's mostly the muscle pull and it WILL get better shortly, especially if I ice, elevate and rest it enough. Besides, Mitch has been complaining about his knees for a few years and he probably needs a replacement more than I do.
I can admit, however, that I am extremely disappointed. I worked so hard over the last few months to make my hips and legs stronger so that I could have more mobility and be able to go out and do special things like a hike in the park or a museum; anything that required even a minimum amount of walking. I didn't anticipate a knee problem and it really sucked that all our plans had to revolve around very limited walking.
We went out to eat in a few nice places, including sushi. Saturday evening, we went to a lovely wine bar. Came home and did karaoke (fun!) Tried VR (virtual reality) but I'm such a wimp and couldn't handle it.
* In Raleigh, I arranged for a wheelchair in advance (online) but when we got to the airport, nothing was available. They said it might be another 10 minutes. 30 minutes later and still nothing, Jessica had the thought of getting a security pass to bring me to the gate so that even if I had to walk, at least she could wheel the very heavy suitcase and backpack (heavy to me at least). She is such an ANGEL!!!! I have no clue how I would have done this without her and her great thinking (note: they then admitted they didn't have enough staff and it may have been another hour or more until a wheelchair was available).
When we got to the gate, she insisted someone help me down the ramp and onto the plane. Thankfully, there were people there who helped. There WAS someone waiting at the other end with a chair for me, and I even had the Lyft driver bring my suitcase and backpack up the steps and inside (for a nice tip of course).
Anyway, back to reality now. This week should prove very interesting and may very well set us up for the NEXT CHAPTER in our lives. No matter what the outcome, however, it is very clear that our nomadic travel days are over.
No comments:
Post a Comment