Injuries or illness before a trip

[Pauline]

Isn't it frustrating when something happens to you just before a trip? I always worry those few weeks before in case I get a bad cold or something. Well, we leave for Israel in 2 weeks and I have wrenched the ligament around my knee! It happened 2 weeks ago, I am seeing a physio and it is not long-term serious, just annoying. I had planned a lot of hiking for our 4 weeks in Israel. Instead it will be shorter, easier hikes I guess! And more buses/taxies and less walking in the cities.

At least it didn't happen before the Switzerland trip!

Has anyone else had something like this happen before a big trip?

 

[SMJ]

Yes.
I went to Italy this past September, and 10 days beforehand my 10 year old partial knee replacement started to fail.
Had xrays which showed that.
I just bought a cane and a good knee brace and went anyway.
I was extremely careful where and how I walked; sat down whenever I could, used every elevator and ramp if they were available and rested when I could.
Made it through, and saw Ortho. when I returned.
Now I'm on the list for a total replacement, which should be in about 6 months.
I certainly wasn't going to cancel the trip!

 

[phirhon]

About three months before our trip to France last year, I developed a health issue which resulted in three hospital stays for surgery. The last was a week before we left. While it was not life threatening or going to result in cancellation, it certainly put a dampener on our preparations. I was not feeling great sometimes and did not feel like planning. It also did affect my stamina , especially in the first few weeks. But our trip did provide some light at the end of the tunnel!!

 

[Eleanor]

Do you have to declare these to your insurance company before leaving home?

 

[JustTravel]

Three years ago, I had a total left hip replacement surgery a mere five weeks before our Venice trip (a three-month stay). Per the surgeon, the hip bone was dying and it can colapse at anytime. I was resigned to missing the trip completely o,r hopefully just cutting the trip short. I let our landlord know but held off cancelling our flights. About a week before our planned trip, I went for my post-op appointment - no walker, no crutches, no cane. The surgeon was impressed with my progress, so I asked if I can still go (flying business class on British Airways). I got her okay, so I called our landlord to ask if the apartment was still available. And it was! So off we went. I did a lot of walking in Venice.

 

[SMJ]

Eleanor:
For insurance in my case ,(in Canada) you have to declare if anything like surgery or a change in medication has occurred in the previous six months.
As I hadn't had either of those, I didn't tell them anything.

 

[Pauline]

so I asked if I can still go (flying business class on British Airways).

I used miles months ago to book our flights in Club World and then was beating myself up about the choice because you still pay a lot and it uses so many miles! Now I am happy because I can stretch out my sore leg and even put it on the footstool.

I never thought about my travel insurance. Maybe I should give them a call!

 

[devarae]

I got a cold the day before we left on our most recent trip ( to Spain, for 12 nights, which I am currently working on a trip report for!) and in spite of my best efforts, everyone else ended up getting it too (we were traveling with my parents and my brother-- my husband was the one who gave it to me so at least he was already mostly recovered). It was a pain but there wasn't much we could do about it. It did make me realize that next time I want to proactively take along cold medicine from the US though, because we had a hard time finding exactly what we needed to treat our coughs.

More challenging was the fact that my mom injured her IT band a month before we left, and thus ended up much less mobile than we'd expected (and had a hard time with anything that wasn't flat). Thankfully all the apartments were close to major sites so she did not need to walk too much, but I wish I'd gotten places with fewer stairs! I was glad that I'd gotten us private drivers for several of our transports though-- it cost more but it was worth it! I also decided at the last minute to get us spaces on a group tour of Italica rather than trying to negotiate public transport.

I did have trip insurance, but Mom felt good enough that she didn't want to cancel-- she just recognized that she was not going to be able to do as much as she might have wanted, and focus on the sites she most wanted to see. And we got really good at finding benches and places to sit!

I hope you can still enjoy your trip, Pauline, and that you recover quickly!

 

[Pauline]

Another bit of luck, all the accommodations that I booked are on the ground floor. In Jerusalem we usually have a few flights of stairs but this time we don’t.

 

[veronicafrance]

I broke my ankle in June. Thought I'd be fine for my long-booked walking holiday in Italy in mid-September. Nope I did do some walking, but not as much as intended, and it was painful nearly all the time. Broken bones take much longer to heal than you think they do! Even now, although my ankle is healed, I still have tendon pain in that foot which limits my walking.

 

[Pauline]

I broke my ankle in June. ... Even now, although my ankle is healed, I still have tendon pain in that foot which limits my walking.

So sorry to read this! It has been 2 weeks and my knee is still sore. The physio said it can be up to 6 weeks to heal an injury like this (sprained ligament). A break would be so much worse. It is frustrating! I've had problems with my back and my feet, but I know how to deal with them.

 

[JMichael]

Three weeks before our last trip to Paris, my wife dislocated her knee. Her orthopedist prescribed an elastic brace with steel bands in it. We also bought a collapsible cane. I don't know how it will be in Israel, but that cane was a free pass to any seat on public transit. I'm used to people staying aloof and in their own world on subways, but riders on the Metro were quick to jump up and offer seats when she entered the cars. It allowed her to rest her leg enough that it didn't impact sightseeing once we made our stops. Good luck with your trip, and I'd recommend getting a collapsible cane whether you think you'll need it or not.

 

[veronicafrance]

Three weeks before our last trip to Paris, my wife dislocated her knee. Her orthopedist prescribed an elastic brace with steel bands in it. We also bought a collapsible cane. I don't know how it will be in Israel, but that cane was a free pass to any seat on public transit. I'm used to people staying aloof and in their own world on subways, but riders on the Metro were quick to jump up and offer seats when she entered the cars. It allowed her to rest her leg enough that it didn't impact sightseeing once we made our stops. Good luck with your trip, and I'd recommend getting a collapsible cane whether you think you'll need it or not.

There are seats on the metro reserved for disabled and pregnant passengers, and however oblivious Parisians may seem, they do respect this!

 

[Pauline]

We also bought a collapsible cane. I don't know how it will be in Israel, but that cane was a free pass to any seat on public transit.

In israel on the buses people give me their seats all the time and I am only 64! I was shocked the first time this happened. Years ago I walked with a cane in Rome, when my back was bad, and I noticed the same thing. Everyone gave me space, cars stopped to let me cross. It was great. I was thinking about getting one!

 

[veronicafrance]

In israel on the buses people give me their seats all the time and I am only 64! I was shocked the first time this happened. Years ago I walked with a cane in Rome, when my back was bad, and I noticed the same thing. Everyone gave me space, cars stopped to let me cross. It was great. I was thinking about getting one!

I had mixed experiences with my recent experience of crutches. Sometimes people gave me space, other times they barged past me to the extent of almost knocking me off balance. An "interesting" experience at Carcassonne airport -- the assistance guy helped me off the plane, took me to the terminal on a golf cart, and then told me he couldn't go beyond passport control so I was on my own. Hopping, on crutches, with a full rucksack, and a hold bag to collect, with other passengers pushing past me to get theirs ...

 

[SMJ]

Waiting at the gate to board my plane in Florence last month; the gate agent woman suddenly barged out from behind her desk and shoved me as she went by, even though my cane was fully visible in front of me.
I was stopped from falling by the people behind me.
No apology from her!

 

[Wendy&Rob]

In the fall of 2018, ten days before we were to fly to Hong Kong for a 26 day SEA trip Rob slipped off the bott step and knuckled under all his toes on his Right foot. i happened to have a PT appointment the next day and the therapist did not think it was broken, but said if it was still at that particular stage in 4 days to go to Emergancy Care. They took X-rays and read it as a broken big toe ball-joint. Could we travel? They said “no”, it was not advisable...
so 5 days before we were to fly we had to cancel our flights, hotels in HK and Singapore, and cancel our cruise.
The cruise was covered with cruise insurance, and thank the heavens I had taken insurance out on the flights (1st class = over-the-too expensive, but the whole trip was a really special one, so I had booked that class). It took a couple of months but we were fully reimbursed.
Because of Rob’s type of injury (“Turf Toe”) we couldn’t go to Italy in the spring either. it took a full year to heal. I feel that a break would have been better, versus all the tendon and ligament damage...the doctor agreed.
So, 2018 and 2019 had only one trip (this past November) versus what would normally be four. We are in the process of planning a five week trip to Italy this April and May. The apartment is rented and I am looking/watching airfare. We will take out insurance, of course. Things happen, and they aren’t always in our favor. Wendy

 

[BarbaraM 48]

We always take out insurance now. Travel has gotten more expensive and we are older...

 

[italian excursion]

Last year in late April, just 2 weeks before my spring trip to Italy, I had some respiratory issue that I was hoping wouldn't turn into a full-blown case of bronchitis. I did two things that staved it off, I think:
1) got an rx from my doctor for antibiotics just in case; (never had to take them, yay!).....
2) bought a bottle of Garlic Forte from Standard Process Medi-Herb. Not your regular garlic pills, in fact they do not stink up the body as most will. Took 2 a day the 2 weeks before leaving and daily on the trip.

Result was that, there were actually 5 people on the tour that sat out a day or two on activities because they contracted "something" but I never got sick. Placebo effect or ??????

Anyway, it does make for a great story!

Ciao,
Cheryl
www.italianexcursion.com