We arrived in Port Colborne at the bottom of the Welland Canal Wednesday 26 July from Port Dover and docked at the Sugarloaf Marina.
One of our main concerns at that point was Hugh's finger. You may recall that in the very first week of the trip he cut it, it got infected and was diagnosed as cellulitis. Antibiotics seemed to take most of the swelling and redness away, but there was one area on the side of his knuckle that was still slightly swollen. So before we entered the USA we thought we should make sure it wasn't anything that was going to flare up.
There was an Urgent Care right beside the marina, so at 0630 Thursday morning Hugh went over to have it assessed. After an X-ray and exam the determination was that they did not know what it was! Maybe gout? Maybe go to a plastic surgeon to assess? More antibiotics? Yikes ...
And of course there is our Out-of-country emergency medical insurance that we bought. Following the trip to Urgent Care Hugh called to advise them of the situation, and they told us if he were to see a specialist he would not be eligible for the insurance. WHAT??
It's amazing how your mind works, thinking about all the scenarios that could happen if we were denied insurance ... do we go back? Do we keep going but through Canada only via the Welland Canal, Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence? That would mean no Bahamas this winter! That would mean being home for the winter! Oh my ...
So, we decided to call our family doctor at home and talk to him. But, of course, he was on holidays! So after speaking to a nurse it was decided that we would go home and have the doctor look at it Monday morning. Another trip home!! Our wonderful son, Trevor and his girlfriend Kate drove down Saturday to pick us up ... with laundry in tow of course!!
It was very nice to be home and visit with my mom, my brother Richard and his wife Sheila, and have dinner out with "the kids", Alyssa , Trevor and Kate.
Monday's assessment at the doctor's was good. He made a careful examination of Hugh's finger and his belief was that he had probably aggravated some arthritis in his knuckle but that there was no infection ... it could take weeks for it completely heal. Hurray!! So we called the insurance, advised them of the status of his finger, and they said "No Problem".
We were back on our regularly scheduled trip!
So once again Trevor offered to drive us back ... his morning was clear for work and we were set to leave at 9am.
But of course things don't always work out as planned, and as I was flossing my teeth before bed, a crown fell out! Right into my hand. WHAT!! I'm sure you can imagine the words that came out of that now one tooth less mouth! So much for leaving first thing in the morning!
But I am lucky as I have friends in high places! I called my old employer as soon as they opened and they were able to see me at 2pm. Thankfully it was a quick fix, thanks Dr. Mike!
So Trevor, following his afternoon appointments, drove us back to the boat, stopping for dinner in Port Colborne before dropping us off at the marina.
We were back on track, and would be off to Buffalo the next morning.
The next few days will be stressful, especially taking the mast down so we can head down the Erie Canal.
We have officially finished "phase one", the Great Lakes!
Phase two, Erie Canal and Hudson River.
Stay tuned!!
One day at a time!
Oh my gosh! We had a similar experience. Harley lost a crown while we were in Tonawanda and our son came and drove us home. It was interesting to note that it took us two weeks to get there and we were only two hours away from home....lol
ReplyDeleteYou got there much more quickly than us! Took us a month!
ReplyDeleteMy,my you two have had some bad luck. But that is now behind you I am sure. I got excited there when you mentioned the St Lawrence... we could have met up at the dentist office or some place fun like that in Lunenburg... best of luck going forward?!
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