I'm Absolutely Gutted Cruise May Be Cancelled

[mypleasure]

I have been looking forward to my 50th Birthday cruise on the Pearl to the Caribbean in Feb for many months. I now think I may have to cancel it and go another time.

On Saturday I was admitted to hospital and had an emergency operation to unblock an artery and insert a stent in my heart that was causing a heart attack. As I am from the UK my travel insurance will cover me for the cancellation but will not cover me should I choose to travel and then have another cardiac incident whilst outside the British Isles.

 

I am really glad I survived the heart attack but feel I need the cruise even more now and cannot take the risk given the cost of care in the US. I am so disappointed as I feel better right now upon my discharge from hospital than I have felt for a very long time. Such is life! I will discuss further with the doc next week and then make a final decision.

[WhenIsOurNextCruise]

So sorry to hear your plans may be disrupted but happy you are feeling better. I understand the concern of seeking emergency care outside your own country might be daunting. Maybe you can vacation a little closer to home in February and then do the Caribbean for 50 1/2 or 51? I hope it works out for you.

[debnjoe1438]

I have been looking forward to my 50th Birthday cruise on the Pearl to the Caribbean in Feb for many months. I now think I may have to cancel it and go another time.

On Saturday I was admitted to hospital and had an emergency operation to unblock an artery and insert a stent in my heart that was causing a heart attack. As I am from the UK my travel insurance will cover me for the cancellation but will not cover me should I choose to travel and then have another cardiac incident whilst outside the British Isles.

 

I am really glad I survived the heart attack but feel I need the cruise even more now and cannot take the risk given the cost of care in the US. I am so disappointed as I feel better right now upon my discharge from hospital than I have felt for a very long time. Such is life! I will discuss further with the doc next week and then make a final decision.

 

ABSOLUTELY talk to your doc before canceling the cruise. Good luck. Hope you're feeling better.

[slotaddict]

Sorry to hear of your situation. Perhaps you can just book another trip in about 45 to 60 days - I know you were looking forward to this cruise - but the truth is you have survived a heart attack and have your entire life ahead of you - as long as you follow the docs advice...

 

Rebook the cruise - go and have a wonderful time - you have been given a second chance at life...

[slotaddict]

Sorry I just looked back and see that you are sailing in 1 month and 23 days - perhaps you will still be able to go....

[nseagirl]

Ahhh, Man :(:(! I am so sorry. I know how dissapointed you must be. I would be too. Glad you survived your heart attack though.

[calmac]

If your doctor says you can go make sure to ask him/her about travel insurance - some companies will still cover you although for extra £.

[sparks1093]

I had a heart attack at 47 with stent placement to unblock the artery. I haven't had a bit of trouble since. Of course I removed the cause of the heart attack from my life (smoking) and am now considered low risk for recurrence. Talk to your cardiologist and follow his/her advice. Good luck!

[newmexicoNita]

I have been looking forward to my 50th Birthday cruise on the Pearl to the Caribbean in Feb for many months. I now think I may have to cancel it and go another time.

On Saturday I was admitted to hospital and had an emergency operation to unblock an artery and insert a stent in my heart that was causing a heart attack. As I am from the UK my travel insurance will cover me for the cancellation but will not cover me should I choose to travel and then have another cardiac incident whilst outside the British Isles.

 

I am really glad I survived the heart attack but feel I need the cruise even more now and cannot take the risk given the cost of care in the US. I am so disappointed as I feel better right now upon my discharge from hospital than I have felt for a very long time. Such is life! I will discuss further with the doc next week and then make a final decision.

 

Good luck and you may be surprised at what your doctor says. I had a stint put in, after a similar incident about 7 years ago. As to whether I had a heart attack or not, that is still up in the air. If I did it was very mild. Anyway, yes, I am sure you do feel better. I have not had any trouble since that day. Usually the stint alone will work wonders. If it doesn't and doc says wait a few months, there are lots of cruises, but you only have one life.

 

Nita

[mypleasure]

Many, many thanks for the kind words from you all. I knew that I would not be alone with this issue and that is why I wanted to share my initial disappointment and hear some encouragement from people I have come to think of as my friends.

 

I will be having a lot of appointments over the next few weeks and I am still hopeful but not trying to build myself up to what maybe not possible. I actually travelled to the US and cruised Alaska 2 years ago with insurance for cardiac issues invalidated due to a minor change in blood pressure medication. Ramipril gave me a cough so the doc changed it for something that had the same effect but not the side effect. I took the risk then as I didn't feel I would have an issue. This time I am scared as I got a major wake up call on Saturday.

 

There will be opportunities in the near future I am sure and I could have died and but I lived instaed so I know I have a lot to live for with this second chance I now have. And yes Sparks I am also now a non smoker of 3 days and sitting here wearing my patch. What I will say is that I had obviously been deteriorating slowly for a long time as I am now full of beans and rareing to go. I am looking forward to using my new found energy.

[jjb415]

Sorry to hear of your situation. Perhaps you can just book another trip in about 45 to 60 days - I know you were looking forward to this cruise - but the truth is you have survived a heart attack and have your entire life ahead of you - as long as you follow the docs advice...

 

Rebook the cruise - go and have a wonderful time - you have been given a second chance at life...

 

Sounds like good advice to me. :)

[Arwenmark]

I have been looking forward to my 50th Birthday cruise on the Pearl to the Caribbean in Feb for many months. I now think I may have to cancel it and go another time.

On Saturday I was admitted to hospital and had an emergency operation to unblock an artery and insert a stent in my heart that was causing a heart attack. As I am from the UK my travel insurance will cover me for the cancellation but will not cover me should I choose to travel and then have another cardiac incident whilst outside the British Isles.

 

I am really glad I survived the heart attack but feel I need the cruise even more now and cannot take the risk given the cost of care in the US. I am so disappointed as I feel better right now upon my discharge from hospital than I have felt for a very long time. Such is life! I will discuss further with the doc next week and then make a final decision.

 

Sorry to hear that, I had the exact same thing happen to me, blocked main artery, two stents etc. and they almost sent me home saying it was indigestion.

 

I doubt you will need to cancel, But do let us know what the Dr. says. I know what you mean about feeling better physically than you have in a while.

 

Do let us know how it turns out. Good Luck.

[Samstress]

Good for you for quitting smoking! I know how tough it can be; even with the 'wake up call' that you've just had. I've been smoke free for 8 years now (and I've got quite a few years on your 50;)).

Hopefully your Doctor will give you the go ahead to travel and you can go on your well deserved cruise.

Whatever happens, I am sure that you'll make the best of the situation.

Stay strong,

Cheers,

Sandra.

[mrdrdoso]

my disclaimer, i am a nurse not a doctor but my two cents worth, is first follow drs. instructions but you most likely will be able to go. I work in surgery and people have wonderful recoverys and since you had angioplasty the recovery is better, and good for you quitting smoking, what a great gift to give yourself.

hope everything works out for you and hope your recovery is uneventful.

Happy early birthday

[cusyl]

Living with a stent is uneventful unless your heart was damaged. Your doctor is the one you need to be talking to. I hope he says you are good to go, but leave it up to him. Glad you survived your attack. :D

[*Wink*]

Well I'm gutted too!! I'm sorry for your health issues, and am very happy to hear about the outcome of your heart attack.

 

Keep us posted on your final decision and I hope whatever you decide, you'll have a great peace about it.

 

I'm sure you'll be cruising very soon one way or another. :)

[sparks1093]

And yes Sparks I am also now a non smoker of 3 days and sitting here wearing my patch. What I will say is that I had obviously been deteriorating slowly for a long time as I am now full of beans and rareing to go. I am looking forward to using my new found energy.

 

Good for you! (The nurse in the CICU asked me if I was a smoker after I was admitted and I said not anymore. She said "when did you quit?". I said "this morning".:D) A heart attack is a great motivator and with the proper support you won't miss it. I hope you are given the clearance to go on this cruise, it would do you a world of good (I'd stay away from the casino though).

[nseagirl]

I will pray for you tonight as I go to bed. I'm sure what you went through is very scary! I'll pray for your continued recovery and ability to cruise.

[catnanny]

I'm so sorry to hear about your medical problems. Try not to stress too much about your cruise so you don't have more problems due to stress! I always think that anticipation leading up to the cruise is a big part of the fun. In September, my mother became very ill and was hospitalized. We lost her in October. The cruise my friend and I were to go on was on the Dawn in November. I really needed that cruise after all the sadness during the last couple months. We had booked the cruise about six months earlier. One hour before I was to leave to pick up my friend to go to the airport the day before the cruise, the call came that the cruise had been cancelled. The ship was just drifting 1000 miles from its home port. It was disappointing, shocking, and unbelievable! Soon after that, we rebooked for March 7th. I just made the final payment today! Now, I'm almost glad that we didn't get to go in November, as now we are going in March and I have time to have fun planning the cruise all over again, but this time without as much of the sadness just before (hopefully!) If you don't get to go this time, remember that you too, can just have more time to think about all the fun you will have, when you know your heart has had a little more time to heal, as my heart has had to heal, but in a different way. Best wishes to you! Let us know

[newmexicoNita]

Many, many thanks for the kind words from you all. I knew that I would not be alone with this issue and that is why I wanted to share my initial disappointment and hear some encouragement from people I have come to think of as my friends.

 

I will be having a lot of appointments over the next few weeks and I am still hopeful but not trying to build myself up to what maybe not possible. I actually travelled to the US and cruised Alaska 2 years ago with insurance for cardiac issues invalidated due to a minor change in blood pressure medication. Ramipril gave me a cough so the doc changed it for something that had the same effect but not the side effect. I took the risk then as I didn't feel I would have an issue. This time I am scared as I got a major wake up call on Saturday.

 

There will be opportunities in the near future I am sure and I could have died and but I lived instaed so I know I have a lot to live for with this second chance I now have. And yes Sparks I am also now a non smoker of 3 days and sitting here wearing my patch. What I will say is that I had obviously been deteriorating slowly for a long time as I am now full of beans and rareing to go. I am looking forward to using my new found energy.

The non smoking is part of the victory..It took me so many tries before I finally quit but I am so glad I did. I did it without the patch, but there was a reason. I couldn't smoke in the house so I had to use the screened in porch. When the temps got below 25 degrees I said forget it and the next thing I knew it was spring and I hadn't smoked for 4 months. I still miss it once in awhile, but rearely...

 

Good luck, keep us posted...And stay away from the stupid cigarettes. Don't we all wish, years ago we knew what we do now about them???

 

Nita

[rsinj]

Don't we all wish, years ago we knew what we do now about them???

OH MY!!!!! I needed a good laugh this morning and you've just provided it!

 

What do we know today that we didn't years ago? There are actually people who believed that filling their lungs with smoke and toxins would not be harmful? And doing it 20 or more times a day at that?

 

I wish people just had common sense.

 

Howard

[sjbdtz]

Ok...this post isn't so much cruising related, but I quit smoking 9 years ago and found this bulletin board incredibly helpful: http://forums.quitnet.com/community/talk/ the other stuff on quitnet is useful too, but the forums really helped me cope with the inevitable changes which the body goes through after quitting smoking.

 

Good luck with it, and your recovery.

[terrymtex01]

I have been looking forward to my 50th Birthday cruise on the Pearl to the Caribbean in Feb for many months. I now think I may have to cancel it and go another time.

On Saturday I was admitted to hospital and had an emergency operation to unblock an artery and insert a stent in my heart that was causing a heart attack. As I am from the UK my travel insurance will cover me for the cancellation but will not cover me should I choose to travel and then have another cardiac incident whilst outside the British Isles.

 

I am really glad I survived the heart attack but feel I need the cruise even more now and cannot take the risk given the cost of care in the US. I am so disappointed as I feel better right now upon my discharge from hospital than I have felt for a very long time. Such is life! I will discuss further with the doc next week and then make a final decision.

 

I am so sorry to hear of your possible cruise cancellation as I know how much you have been looking forward to it, but even more so I'm sorry to hear of the health issues you have had. I am SO glad to hear you are doing much better and have a lot more energy. I will keep my fingers crossed that the doc gives you the OK to travel. I just want you to be ok. You know you are one of my favorites.. 8-)

[sjn911]

Dear OP,

 

I had my big 50 in October..finances, and some "health" stuff put mine on hold too, not with

the same health level issue at all...but I feel the diappointment...Anywayperhaps you can do something special now..get insurance for all things by waiting a bit on cruise...feel your pain...I was so bummed too...so I'm having my 50 cruise at 50.5 or 51...good thoughts for better options than you can imagine presenting themselves!!!! Anyway a closer to home excursion can tide you over? Good thoughts...sjn911