The next morning we woke up at 6am. Our tour didn’t start until 9am, but we
wanted to have a chance to get some relief for Hildy. She hadn’t slept for more than an hour
because the pain was so bad, and it was even more swollen in the morning than
it was the night before.
Hildy refused to go to the medical centre without first
calling her insurance provider, so we all got off the ship before 8am in order
to find an internet café to make the call.
Unfortunately, we walked around the whole town and none of the shops had
opened yet. We returned to the ship and
told Oma that she should at least have it seen at the medical centre before the
tour started. She was in so much pain
that she didn’t object much. When we
arrived at the medical centre the nurse was very kind and took a look at Hildy’s
wrist.
Although the nurse advised she see a doctor right away,
Hildy advocated the fact that she wanted to attend the tour. The nurse got her to sign a release waiver
(of course she couldn’t sign it, so I did) and then she wrapped her wrist in a
tensor bandage to help provide some stability.
This seemed to help improve the situation.
Soon we were on our way walking to the tour bus. I had booked these tours online through a
website that advertised significantly cheaper excursions than the ship offered
(www.cruisingexcursions.com). This was the first time we would be using the
company so our fingers were crossed for a pleasant excursion. Hildy’s main concern was that the bus was
modern, not from the 1960s.
We saw that this was indeed the case. We met our guide, Cleopatra, and boarded our
very modern coach and soon we were on our way to Olympia, which was about 25
minutes away. Once we arrived, we stayed
together in a relatively small group and Cleopatra lead us through the ruins
which were once the grounds for the Olympic Games. Some of the buildings dated back to 230BC,
and took quite a bit of imagination to recreate.
The sun was beating down on us during the day and the crowds
were quite large. Our tour lasted for
just over an hour, and then we had free time to explore. Hildy was in a fair bit of pain at this point
and we were all quite tired, so we decided to walk to town for a gelato. The café we went to had Wifi, so we used the
opportunity to call the insurance and report the injury so that Hildy could receive
treatment hassle free. When this ordeal
was taken care of, we were able to sit back and enjoy our exquisite gelato:
Tiramisu, Honey and Yogurt, and Mango.
Soon we headed back to the coach which brought us back to
Katakolon. Hildy was so exhausted that
she slept the entire ride back. Jessie
and I brought her back onto the ship so that she could nap a bit more and catch
up on the sleep she lost the night before.
We also ordered ice to the room so that she could continue icing her
wrist.
In the meantime, Jessie and I went back into town and toured
around shops and called home. We woke
mom and dad up from their sleep because of the time difference, but I’m pretty
sure they were happy to hear from us.
By 4:30pm, we collected Hildy and made our way down to the
medical centre on the ship. The doctor
was going to be in at 5pm, but the nurse suggested coming in early. They promptly gave Hildy an X-ray and then we
waited for the doctor. I went in with
Hildy when she met with the doctor. He
reviewed the X-rays and confirmed that there were no broken bones or
fractures. He said that the trauma of
hitting the cobblestones was quite impacting and that she sprained her wrist,
but it appears to be only a sprain. He
offered her a wrist brace to wear, but she didn’t feel comfortable in it. Instead, he gave her a little white mesh
covering to wear on her wrist. I’m
assuming that this was more to allow other people to identify an injury, than
to provide protection. Either way it was
beneficial.
She was told to refrain from overexerting her wrist, and to
put heat on it at night. The doctor told
her that he could give her some pain medication for nighttime to help her
sleep, but of course she refused.
Essentially, this was a wound that will take time and patience to
heal. As long as it doesn’t cause her
immense discomfort and ruin her trip, I think we can live with it (it’s not
like she has to wash dishes and do all sorts of housework here on the ship… she
can be a diva!)
When we went to leave the medical centre, we approached the
front desk, preparing ourselves for the astronomical charges relating to X-rays
and doctor visits on a cruise ship.
Instead the nurse told us not to worry about it. I didn’t think I heard her correctly, so I
asked again, and she said that we didn’t have to pay anything. We were all shocked! I remember going to the doctor on a past
cruise and receiving bills of several hundred dollars… and Hildy gets it for
free! What a girl!!
Later that evening we went to see the Marriage Game Show. This is a show where the entertainment staff
pick three married couples from the audience (newlyweds, 5-40 year marriages,
and the oldest married couple) and then ask the men and women separate
questions and compare answers. The
questions were slightly risqué, but Hildy was laughing hysterically. She seemed to thoroughly enjoy the show
except for one of the married women who was too explicit for Hildy’s
liking. It was a great opportunity to
laugh and experience ‘Hildy giggles’.
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