Have you ever been sick or injured on vacation? (not Covid)

[loves to dive]

One year while diving in Bonaire, which is mostly shore diving with one boat dive a day, on the very first dive of the very first day, I stubbed my toe on some rock while walking in and broke it. I did the dive and the next one. We had a doctor in the group who looked at it and said yep you broke it. Told hubby how to tape it. I only missed one dive the entire rest of the trip but boy did it hurt when jumping off the boat.

On another dive trip in Hawaii in the middle of the night on about the 2nd night, I got very bad sick. Stuff coming out of everywhere. I got up and went diving the next morning and afternoon but couldn't eat anything. It wasn't making me sick, I literally couldn't swallow. So I missed the next day of diving and was back at it the next because I could actually force clear liquid down my throat. By the end of 5 days I was fine again, only missed one day of diving and we had planned on taking a day off, just not that one and we weren't planning on laying around the hotel.

On another dive trip, I think it was Little Cayman, I started out the trip with a sprained ankle, sprained it the day before we were supposed to leave. My son was along on that trip so his job after every dive was ice and wrap Mama's ankle. I didn't miss any dives that trip.

So, yes, I've been sick/injured on a lot of vacations but rarely let it interfere with the trip.

 

[emer95]

Years ago we went to Jacksonville, FL. My girls were 4 and 5. The 4 year old started having vomiting/diarrhea while we were in the rental car, driving over a bridge with no place to pull over. Horrific. I had to peel her clothes off, throw them in the garbage, and carry her naked into the hotel. I cannot properly describe the mess. My husband took the rental car to a DIY car wash place to clean it up.
A day later, I got it. There’s something extra terrible about being stuck in a hotel room, throwing up, while the beach is right outside your window. All I wanted was to just go home.
Then (finally!) on our flight home, the flight attendants came on and apologized and said the bathroom was not functioning on that flight. Dear God.

 

[MamaLema]

Only once thank goodness.

I dislocated my jaw while yawning on a road trip. It was a 10 hour road trip and it happened on hour 5 in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night. This was pre GPS and poor DH had to find a hospital with 3 kids under 7 in the car.
By the time DH found the hospital I was vomiting from the pain.
We were still determined to make it to our destination.
After a few hours in the hospital and shock from the hospital bill (we’re Canadian and it’s the first and last time traveling without insurance) I was told to try to speak as less as possible. I couldn’t entertain my kids through singing and games and DH was driving so we spent the next 5 hours with restless kids. In the end , our 1 year old hated the beach and wouldn’t even get out of his stroller to touch the sand or try going in the ocean.

 

[can'tgetenufofwdw]

My family likes to tease me because it seems like I visit the urgent care everywhere we go. Every year on out Disney trip I end up at the Urgent care right outside Disney Springs for a sinus infection. Sometimes both my husband and I end up there. Once it was for strep throat. I would guess I have been there at least 15 times. On 2 different trips to Siesta Key got sick too. Another case of strep throat and the second time was very strange. About 3 days into the trip my left foot blew up like a balloon. No redness, not hot, just bloated right up. I couldn't see where I had been bitten by anything. Never did figure it out. The urgent care doctor told me to take over the counter water pills and drink Gatorade. It was very uncomfortable to walk on. Once we got home I went to the ER, they gave me 10 mg of Lasix and with 12 hours it was back to normal and has never happened again. Two years ago in Vegas I was walking from the lazy river to the bathrooms at Tahiti Village Resort. I thought the green stuff was real grass and figured it would feel better on my feet than the hot concrete. Surprise it was fake "plastic " grass. Third degree burns to the bottom of my feet. The right was much worse than the left. Spent the last 3 days of that trip in a wheelchair. My poor husband pushed me all over Vegas. Other than vacation times I am healthy as a horse. Never even catch a cold.

 

[RogueX]

Extreme morning sickness during a trip to Disney World. Had I known how severe it was going to be, I would have canceled. Between visiting nearly every restroom in the parks and the storks stalking me at the resort, it was all a bit much.

I've sprained my ankle in Japan, not even sure what I was sick with in Morocco, but atleast I was staying with family and friends, so I had people who could help me easily.

 

[slpeters]

I got amoebic dysentery while touring India when I was young It was kind of scary. I seriously lost about 30 pounds in a couple days (every ounce of water weight I had)--like my face looked different. I was travelling with a Dutch nurse at the time and he hooked me up with the right medications and then all the little twenty-something European travelers in my hotel would stop by my room to see if I needed anything from town. It was awful, but kind of a nice little lesson in the kindness of strangers at the same time. I recovered in about a week and spent another 6 months touring after that.

 

[fortwildernessishome]

January 2015, I got a severe stomach bug on the second day of was to be a 14 day trip. After being sick in the room for two days and getting terribly dehydrated and weak, we went to the ER. Spent a day there getting fluids and anti nausea meds. We went back to the resort, where I spent another day in the room recuperating. The next day (7th day of the trip) I felt great so we headed out and had a great day. Middle of the night, I was terribly sick again. By that afternoon, we were back at the ER. I received more fluids, meds and had a few tests done, before being released again. The next day was spent in the room again. The next day (Day 11) I just felt terrible. My husband called Southwest and for a little over a thousand dollars (on top of what we had already spent for our return flights) we were able to get flights home that afternoon. We flew home and two days later, I was back to the ER again! I was admitted and was there for 4 nights. No one ever figured out the root of the problem.

The hardest part was the trip included our extended family. My husband and I fly to Disney 2-3 times a year with a kid occasionally joining us, but that trip was to be a super special trip with family. On the plus side, it took us 5 years to get the family back to Disney again, but this last January, we were all together again at Disney. (My younger son did get sick with flu type symptoms and was down for 3 days, but we were there for 2 weeks, so it wasn't the end of the world!)

 

[low-key]

I got so sick at my last couple days at wdw, I was thinking I might not be able to fly, but I did and my nose was running so bad, I didnt have anything, so I took of one of my socks and used it as a snot rag . I remeber it was the night Ohiop St beat Miami for the national championship game, I watched it on my deathbed iN WDW

 

[Mysterian]

I used to get these real bad stomach cramps that put me in a debilitated and barfy state for hours. I was in Toronto (my first trip by myself), and I was due to leave soon when it hit me. Called to cancel the flight and reschedule.

Second trip to Toronto the following Summer, I caught a cold on a couple days before leaving.

(Third trip to Toronto was during the G20 summit protests/riots. Got off the bus near the Eaton Centre during the aftermath.)

 

[leebee]

It was on a mother/daughter trip, the night before our last day at Disney, our second day at MK to do all the things we hadn't, and have another run on favorite rides. We'd had dinner at 1900 Park Fair, and by midnight I was on my knees with my head in the toilet. I was too sick to go to MK the next day. I felt so bad for DD (she was maybe 10), but she was a trooper, and the folks at the hotel (The Niki Bird) brought me soup, checked up on us, brought lunch and supper for DD.

Then there was our trip to Food&Wine for dd's 21st birthday. I'd planned this trip for 9 months, which is long-term planning for me; we've actually done Disney trips with 5 days of planning. Anyhow, on our last day we were actually going to F&W, the purpose of the trip... except by 1am I was heaving up my toenails. DD and DH went to F&W without me and had a marvelous time! I stayed back at BWV, in bed. I missed all the fun! I was well enough to fly home the following day- but this wasn't food poisoning, it was a stomach bug. DD barely made it off the plane before she lost it, and she was so sick we stayed at an airport hotel that night; if we'd driven home (2+ hours) we'd have needed a haz-mat team to clean out the minivan!

One Christmas we were at my sister's for the holiday. Got up early Christmas morning to set out stockings and felt really, really hot, so hot I stood out in the garage, in December in Maine, to try to cool down. Within 2 hours I was dreadfully ill, feverish. Vomiting, diarrhea, bone-rattling chills. I have no idea what anyone got for Christmas, not even me! It went on for almost 2 days. Fortunately I was the only one who got sick.

Stepped in a hole in the dark on a camping trip and dislocated my knee. Kinda ruined my weekend.

 

[VandVsmama]

One time a few years ago, my sister went on a vacation with a friend to some fancy eco-resort in Nicaragua. And she came home with some sort of parasite that took a month's worth of a big cocktail of antibiotics and repeat visits with a tropical diseases specialist in order to cure.

My parents had an epic around-the-world cruise scheduled. Cruise was to depart from Copenhagen, Denmark. This was going to be a big celebration cruise for them after my mom had completed chemo and radiation for cancer (pancreatic). Sister & I tried to talk them out of it, but they were insistent. They flew into Copenhagen 2 days before the ship was to leave port.

After waking up the following morning after their 1st night in the hotel, my mom noticed that her skin was kind of orange and the whites of her eyes were starting to turn a bit yellow. This meant that the cancer was back. My mom called her oncologist back in the US, who said, "Get back to the US as quickly as possible. One of your bile ducts is blocked and the cancer has returned. If you check into a European hospital, you will likely never be well enough to make it back home." My dad tried to talk her out of it. He was convinced that since he'd purchased the most expensive travel insurance package available, that he'd be able to get a helicopter to air lift my mom from the ship out in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and take her to a hospital.

Thankfully, my sister, I, and my mom all talked some sense into him. They had to pay over $5000 for last minute one-way airfare from Copenhagen back to the US.

Because of the airline they flew on, the only flights available at the time went into JFK. Well, the connecting flights available from JFK to their home airport were not that frequent (5 or 6 per day). They ended up stuck at JFK for 36 hr because of repeated delays and cancellations. Until somebody suggested to try a flight from La Guardia to their home airport (15-16 flights per day).

As more and more time went on, my mom got worse and worse. By the time they got to La Guardia, she could barely walk on her own and needed a wheelchair. Once they landed at their home airport, my dad raced straight to the hospital and she was checked into the ER immediately and admitted for a few days. They had to insert a bile duct stent to bypass the blocked bile duct. It drained to an ostomy bag outside of her body. They had to go through her lung in order to get to the site. And she had to be awake for the entire procedure, which they did in the CT scan room.

They never went on the cruise and she died 2 months later. The medical facilities available on cruise ships are VERY limited. If you aren't well enough to get back on the ship, they WILL leave you behind. I am not interested in ever going on a cruise!

 

[SirDuff]

My parents joked that I made good use of travel insurance as a kid:

- Stepped on glass and had to get it picked out and foot stitched up
- Broke my fingers (twice - exactly one year apart on trips to Florida)
- Pneumonia in both lungs (same Flordia hospital as fingers and glass)
- Burns on my hand from accidently grapping the lit end of a cigar
- Strep throat
- Really bad pink eye where I couldn't open my eye because all the crud had basically sealed it shut because it was not responding to normal treatment
- Various stomach bugs and colds, but no other hospital visits

 

[kymom99]

One time a few years ago, my sister went on a vacation with a friend to some fancy eco-resort in Nicaragua. And she came home with some sort of parasite that took a month's worth of a big cocktail of antibiotics and repeat visits with a tropical diseases specialist in order to cure.

My parents had an epic around-the-world cruise scheduled. Cruise was to depart from Copenhagen, Denmark. This was going to be a big celebration cruise for them after my mom had completed chemo and radiation for cancer (pancreatic). Sister & I tried to talk them out of it, but they were insistent. They flew into Copenhagen 2 days before the ship was to leave port.

After waking up the following morning after their 1st night in the hotel, my mom noticed that her skin was kind of orange and the whites of her eyes were starting to turn a bit yellow. This meant that the cancer was back. My mom called her oncologist back in the US, who said, "Get back to the US as quickly as possible. One of your bile ducts is blocked and the cancer has returned. If you check into a European hospital, you will likely never be well enough to make it back home." My dad tried to talk her out of it. He was convinced that since he'd purchased the most expensive travel insurance package available, that he'd be able to get a helicopter to air lift my mom from the ship out in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and take her to a hospital.

Thankfully, my sister, I, and my mom all talked some sense into him. They had to pay over $5000 for last minute one-way airfare from Copenhagen back to the US.

Because of the airline they flew on, the only flights available at the time went into JFK. Well, the connecting flights available from JFK to their home airport were not that frequent (5 or 6 per day). They ended up stuck at JFK for 36 hr because of repeated delays and cancellations. Until somebody suggested to try a flight from La Guardia to their home airport (15-16 flights per day).

As more and more time went on, my mom got worse and worse. By the time they got to La Guardia, she could barely walk on her own and needed a wheelchair. Once they landed at their home airport, my dad raced straight to the hospital and she was checked into the ER immediately and admitted for a few days. They had to insert a bile duct stent to bypass the blocked bile duct. It drained to an ostomy bag outside of her body. They had to go through her lung in order to get to the site. And she had to be awake for the entire procedure, which they did in the CT scan room.

They never went on the cruise and she died 2 months later. The medical facilities available on cruise ships are VERY limited. If you aren't well enough to get back on the ship, they WILL leave you behind. I am not interested in ever going on a cruise!

I’m sorry your mom
Went through that but glad she made it home.

 

[Kitty 34]

Broke my toe while staying at the SwanDolphin many years ago which made sprinting around the parks quite difficult as it was quite painful. Did meet a DISer because of it, tho.

 

[SarahM1987]

Just before our first ever family vacation to WDW in February 2018, I broke my leg in two places in a freak accident while transferring from my wheelchair. I had surgery, and ended up in a bi-valved cast from hip to toe before our trip. We were all so looking forward to the trip, and I just couldn't let my daughters down by having to postpone it so we went anyway. I couldn't ride on any of the attractions, but we still had an amazing time, and I'm looking forward to our next trip with hopefully some much better luck!

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

Thankfully no, and knocking on wood I hope it stays that way.

 

[bennifer]

When I was a kid I woke up in middle of the night to getting into an ambulance on our first ever beach vacation (1 night, 2 days) because I fell out of bed and needed stitches after my face hit the corner of the table.

The next year we were at an amusement park in the neighboring state. They had just put in a water park, and we were really excited about that. We decided “one more slide” before we left the water park and went to the other part. My dad, brother and I were the first ones down, waiting and waiting and waiting for my mom. Then pink water started coming down the slide. I don’t remember much
else except all of the lifeguards started yelling and running to the slide. She had flipped over on a fast turn and ended up with a pretty bad concussion, a skull fracture and a nasty gash requiring many stitches.

10 years ago, DH, DS15 and DS1 and I drove to WDW. All was fine until we left and went to Miami for 2 days to visit my brother before driving home. I spent my entire first trip to Miami visiting my brother who I hadn’t seen for years in the hotel room with a stomach bug.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

Not me, but a couple of years back my mom broke her ankle...on Easter Island. I would say that was literally the most remote place in the world she could have gotten injured, except that once she made it back on her cruise ship their next stop (Pitcairn Island) was, in fact, the most remote place in the world. They had no phone service and only minimal internet, and so I was tearing my hair out back in the states trying to contact insurance companies and arrange for alternative transportation home with only brief, occasional emails from my dad to guide me. She had months of surgeries and recoveries once she made it back home. It definitely put a damper on the remainder of the trip.

There are some awesome vacation photos of my mom lying in pain on the ground with maoi in the background, and two guys in native dress (undress, really) watching over her. My dad took them for "insurance purposes".

 

[JimMIA]

LOL...all skiers, please raise your hands!

One minor knee injury, 100% fixed after physical therapy. One dislocated/fractured shoulder (warming up on a GREEN run!).

DW also fell on the same green run (different trip) and knocked herself goofier than normal. She hasn't been right since!

 

[Luv Bunnies]

I sprained my ankle on the last night of a WDW trip in 1992. I hobbled through the airport the next day to get home. Turned out I tore a ligament and ended up in a cast for three weeks. Many years later, I got food poisoning on a trip to Portland, OR. We were going to drive to the coast and I ended up in bed with chills all day. Later that night, DH got sick. We took turns taking the kids out of the hotel room so the other could get some rest. It was pretty miserable.