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| Duty free alcohol is sold aboard the ship at good prices, but held until the last night of the cruise to prevent passengers from drinking their own alcohol to avoid buying drinks. |
“Sighting on the Ship in Australia”
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| Painting in the art gallery aboard ship. |
Two days ago we wrote about how thrilled we were to have avoided getting sick when so many passengers were coughing and sneezing throughout the ship. I spoke too soon. That evening, while at the 70’s music and dancing party in the Centrum, I started feeling an awful tickle in my throat causing me to cough.
By the time we got back to the cabin I knew I was in trouble when my throat became sore, and the tickle turned into all night hacking. Yesterday morning, I awoke feeling lethargic and awful. Throughout the day, it only worsened.
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| Preparing audio for this morning’s presentation. |
By happy hour and dinner time with friends, I announced I was down with something asking everywhere to sit far from me. This was no bout of allergy as Tom’s sniffles may have been. This was a definitely some type of virus.
Instead of drinking wine and playing pool we returned to the cabin right after dinner while I fell into bed concerned I’d be sick for days. Unable to sleep with the worst sore throat I’d had in years, I soon began shivering. A fever had definitely set in.
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| This morning’s passengers in the Centrum during a “future cruises” presentation. |
Not only was I covered by the duvet on the bed, but I added a fluffy white robe and my travel blanket while I finally shivered myself to sleep. The last thing I said to Tom before he nodded off was, “I think I’ll have to go to the ship’s doctor in the morning. This is bad, bad, bad.”
During the day, I’d taken a non drowsy antihistamine, an 8 hour Tylenol and 3 grams Vitamin C (spread throughout the day), hoping to reduce the symptoms. Exhausted, I finally fell asleep. There was another one hour time change resulting in one hour’s less sleep. Id figured I’d be spending the day in the cabin in quarantine if I visited the doctor and the time difference would have little effect.
Then, the weirdest thing happened. This morning, after a fitful night’s sleep, I awoke at 8:00 am (new time) and I am almost totally better. And I mean, better. No sore throat, no hacking cough, only the slightest runny nose. What??? How did this happen?
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| Sale in the Centrum Shops when many items are priced at US $10, none of which has any value for us. The shops are open on sea days only. |
I wish I could say I’d figured out some magic formula, but I did not. Is there really such a thing as a 36 hour virus? It certainly appeared to be more challenging than the common cold.
I’m no wuss as many of our long term readers may be well aware. Often, medical care is sketchy in many areas in which we’ve lived and thus far, we’ve been able to treat any conditions on our own that may have arisen over these past years. That may not always be the case, but for now, it’s working.
I’ve only been to a doctor twice in the past four years, once in Hawaii with what I thought was a UTI and again in Trinity Beach in 2015 when we both had physical exams to discover all was well for both of us, as we’d expected.
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| Logo wear teddy bears. We’ve only seen a few children on this cruise. |
Even during the five months of excruciated back pain from the injury in Bali on June 1st, never once did we seek professional medical assistance. Now I’m completely recovered. Had we gone to a hospital or doctor, what would they have done anyway? Narcotics? No thanks. Surgery? No thanks.
So, today, I’m cautiously optimistic, hoping I’ve indeed dodged a bullet and recovered in a short 36 hours. We’ll see how it goes over the next several days. With 13 nights remaining until the cruise ends, we can only hope we don’t catch any other viruses.
Since we wash our hands obsessively, we’ve come to the conclusion that the cruise cough/virus syndrome most likely is airborne most likely a result of tight quarters especially in the elevators where escaping germs from coughing and sneezing is impossible.
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| The stairways are decorated with an array of artwork. |
Today is another day at sea with passengers milling around looking for distraction and entertainment. We’re content in our two chairs and tiny table in the Latte tudes Café where once again, by a fluke, we found available seats.
For the first time ever, Tom had breakfast on his own this morning while I held our table in the café. I just didn’t feel like eating. If later in the day, I feel like something, we’ll head to the Windjammer or another dining venue for a bite. There’s no shortage of food around here.
Besides, don’t “they” say, “Feed a cold, starve a fever” or is it, “Starve a cold, feed a fever?” Never mind. Eat when hungry. That works for me.
Happy day!
Photo from one year ago today, November 20, 2015:
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| In Savusavu, Fiji I sat on a bench waiting for Tom to return from the ATM after I’d purchased data from the Vodafone kiosk. He’s on the sidewalk across the street wearing a white shirt, carrying the Costco bag on his right shoulder. For more photos, please click here. |