Need assistance with medical issue

[jebhoward3]

Family member may need to get ankle x-rayed in Cartegenia, Columbia as ships x-ray machine is broken.

Has anyone received medical care in Columbia and what was your experience like? We would not want to risk missing the ship while waiting in ER.

We will arrive in Miami on January 16th. If she is unable to walk does anyone know how we can get her from ship to airport?

If you have suggestions please e-mail me as will not be checking cruise critic while on board ship.

Thanks in advance for any and all assistance.

jebwine@aol.com

[retired rascal]

Why not get it x-rayed now?????? Then she'll have it professionally wrapped or casted and can get crutches to get around.

[njhorseman]

Why not get it x-rayed now?????? Then she'll have it professionally wrapped or casted and can get crutches to get around.

 

I think you have to read the post a bit more carefully. It sounds like the injured individual is already on a ship, and the OP has said the ship's xray machine is broken, so xrays are going to taken at a medical facility in port. At least that's how I'm interpreting it.

[slcreads]

This may be a dumb question but - wouldn't the ship's doctor be working with you to arrange for the x-ray at the next port? And, wouldn't they (NCL) make sure they waited for you since they can't perform the medical task on the ship?

 

I understand that NCL isn't "responsible" in a bunch of ways for your medical issue. But I would think the ship's doctor would make sure they arranged for the x-ray at a reputable medical facility in this case. They have to have contacts at the ports. You can't be the first NCL passenger going to that port that needs medical assistance.

[garycarla]

I am also assuming... OP is on the ship heading for Cartenage, and then Miami.

 

Ship should be able to arrange something via the Ships Port Agent and get you off early to avoid delays.

 

As far as the ship waiting,I would not count on that. It is not unusual for a medical issue to occur, that might not even come back, who knows. The ship and the 3,000 people on board need to maintain a schedule.

 

Be prepared for anything is my best advice. (credit cards, passports, medicine, etc)

 

Getting from ship to airport. Easy. Ask ship for a wheelchair. They deal with this often.

[cruiseat50]

Family member may need to get ankle x-rayed in Cartegenia, Columbia as ships x-ray machine is broken.

Has anyone received medical care in Columbia and what was your experience like? We would not want to risk missing the ship while waiting in ER.

We will arrive in Miami on January 16th. If she is unable to walk does anyone know how we can get her from ship to airport?

If you have suggestions please e-mail me as will not be checking cruise critic while on board ship.

Thanks in advance for any and all assistance.

jebwine@aol.com

 

I wish you the best of luck and hope things go well for you but I have to tell you from experience be careful that what the ship's doctor arranges for you is carried out. I say this as DH and I were just on the Dawn and had a very bad experience. On the 2nd morning of our cruise he woke up only because I made him as he was burning up. They came and got him from the room and took him to the medical center where the doctor believe that he had a bacterial infection in his eye (which he had just had surgery on before we left) and his temp was over 103. They hooked him up to an IV and gave him antibiotics. The doctor arranged for us to get off in Tortola the next day and said that we would be going to the ER. We were a bit apprehensive about this but she said that the hospital there was excellent.

 

So we did get off but just because I didn't want to have to worry I packed a small bag with all passports, valuables and a change of clothes just in case.

 

We will never know if the hospital was any good or not as we never made it there. We were going to have company as there was a woman on board who also was going to the hospital for a problem with her achille's tendon. We finally found the port agent after searching for her for 1/2 hr and she said she was going to get us a taxi to the clinic. We asked her what clinic as we were told we were going to the ER at the hospital. She said that had been changed and we were going to a clinic that would be able to take care of us. We ended up in some dump of a place that had a ton of construction going on and dust and dirt flying around. I really was concerned as this was not a good place for him to be with his eye. Also while waiting there I had asked to use the bathroom which was right in the office and it had no soap whatsoever (no dispenser, no sign of soap at all) this also concerned me as to the cleanliness of the place. But being as we had been there already several hours waiting I was worried about trying to get out of there and find the hospital. Anyway, we did get to see the doctor finally and he looked at his eye and said that he thought it looked infected also. But quite truthfully we are not so sure about this as when we left I grabbed a business card of his and he is an orthopedic surgeon so again weren't impressed with the care. He did prescribe more antibiotics which we purchased before returning to the ship. Oh and do take a credit card they made us pay before we left.

 

We had to cut our trip a bit short (after disembarkation) and his eye surgeon said that he didn't believe that the infection was in the eye at all. Which DH agrees to as there was no pain and there always is (he has had a lot of eye surgeries).

 

The point of all this is to let you know that do not let the port agent redirect you to anywhere that the doctor hasn't told you about.

 

Best wishes to you and hope you have a great cruise!

[drmark50]

X-rays are helpful/crucial in diagnosing a fracture. Most ankle fractures only need casting (permanent immobilization for a few weeks). If the fracture is displaced, there generally is time (about a week) to manipulate the fracture. Fractures with dislocations can be very problematic and usually require prompt reduction - these are rare and usually obvious due to gross deformity of the extremity.

 

In all liklihood, xrays can be delayed until returning to the good old USA - however, their should be no weight bearing (use crutches or a wheelchair) until a fracture is ruled out.

 

Ice, elevation, anti-inflammatories will "buy" you some time as well.

 

Good luck. It's a shame the xray machine is broken. The physician on board should at list splint the ankle.

[bluesea777]

Family member may need to get ankle x-rayed in Cartegenia, Columbia as ships x-ray machine is broken.

Has anyone received medical care in Columbia and what was your experience like? We would not want to risk missing the ship while waiting in ER.

We will arrive in Miami on January 16th. If she is unable to walk does anyone know how we can get her from ship to airport?

If you have suggestions please e-mail me as will not be checking cruise critic while on board ship.

Thanks in advance for any and all assistance.

jebwine@aol.com

 

Can all of you posters email her as per her request?? She won't be able to read your posts here!!