Pre-trip disasters

[Squidgyness]

I've had a few, though not TOO serious.

1996 and 1998 trips I was fine, but 2003 was different. A week before the trip was due to start I was riding my bike back from my grandmothers house, and a spider landed in between my glasses lens and my eyeball. So I sort of made this choking noise, flailed both hands up to get it and BAM, on the floor. (I'm sure it looked hilarious.)

Massive scrapes and gouges in leg and arm and serious pain in elbow and shoulder. Two old women walked right past me laying on the ground and moaning, glad I didn't have anything more serious or I'd have been a gonner with those two for help...

Anyway, I'm thinking that its just scrapes and cuts and the pain fades after a day or so, so no big deal. Go on the trip, have a blast (except for the hotel but that's a tale for another day) and come home. A few days later, I get this itch in my hand where I had gouged myself. It has healed by now so I think nothing of it, until two months later when it is still itching a little on and off. Getting sick of this recurring itch I sterilised a needle and went exploring (not really advisable but I was a dumb teen), only to find a small piece of gravel/asphalt in my hand under about 1/5" of skin that had healed over it. Probably should have at least checked to see if anything was embedded in the wounds before we left, but hey ho. I'm just thankful it wasn't too germ-laden and didn't give me septicaemia or something! It was probably one of the more well-travelled pieces of gravel having crossed the atlantic twice...

Then in 2006 one of the lenses of my glasses lenses fell out the night before we left for the airport. It was the left lens, and I have really bad vision in that eye even with it in so I didn't notice as we had woken up at 4am so I wasn't really all there, and nor did my sleepy family till we were 3/4 of the way to the airport. Major panic from my mother, but I figured I could just use my good eye for that trip. Spent 2 weeks in Florida, and NO ONE commented on it. Couldn't believe it. Maybe they just felt sorry for me since it looked like my parents couldn't be bothered to replace my glasses, my mother kept commenting she hoped no one thought that!

2009 trip was fine apart from a flu scare that turned out to be the common cold (phew!), as was the trip in 2011 to Malta. Going again to Malta next June, so fingers crossed that passes OK...

My mother on the other hand has issues with accidents on the trip, including a falling tree branch to the head and a doorframe to the face (massive black eye and embarrassment for my father! ) so I think I'll take the pre-trip ones, at least you can take steps to deal with them before you leave I guess.

Glad to hear he has sought medical help. Fingers crossed!

 

[Jennasis]

Update...

Broken pinky toe ( which isn't so bad in the grand scheme of things). They gave him one of those little hard soled shoes/boots thingies with Velcro straps , told him to buy some surgical tape to tape the toes together and to keep it iced over the next several days but otherwise will be fine.

 

[davedmaine]

We leave in 5 days...DH dropped a fire extinguisher on his foot this evening. He keeps trying to tell me "it's not broken..." as it swells larger and larger and turns every shade of purple known to man. "It doesn't hurt when I walk...only when I HAVE SHOES ON and walk."

He won't go to ER to have it x-rayed, and probably won't go to doc tomorrow either.

I'm sure in the grand scheme of pre-trip disasters I bet this is truly minor, but maybe if YOU guys share your pre-trip shenanigans with me it will make me feel better.

Was he at least able to put out the fire?

 

[Mikie]

Update...

Broken pinky toe ( which isn't so bad in the grand scheme of things). They gave him one of those little hard soled shoes/boots thingies with Velcro straps , told him to buy some surgical tape to tape the toes together and to keep it iced over the next several days but otherwise will be fine.

So glad to hear it's not worse! I am a gigantic klutz and have broken both both pinkie toes and 4th toes (more than once!) hurts like a dickens and the Velcro bootie just gives him a platform to walk on without pinching his toes. Crocs or flip flops may be an option although he'll be unprotected against someone stepping on the toe - ouch!!

 

[Jennasis]

Was he at least able to put out the fire?

No fire. He went Into laundry room and bumped into it (full size extinguisher at shoulder height) and knocked it off the wall onto his foot.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

2011 Hurricane Irene.

When we used to go to WDW (with XH) we would always drive in or fly in 1-2 days early and stay with his uncle. Then check into WDW and then back to his place for 1-2 days after our vacation.

We were already divorced but decided to take one last trip to WDW with the kids. Well he was going to take his mom but she backed out last minute and he had everything paid for and I had already made him ADR's for 4. So he asked me to go.

The day we were to leave Hurricane Irene was hitting NC, VA, etc. We are in NJ. We leave that Sunday morning at 4 am as she was just passing by. He wanted to leave the morning before or night before (can't really remember) but I told him he was nuts!

The ride wasn't so bad. Heavy winds in Maryland. Flooding in my immediate neighborhood but once we got on the 95 (15 minutes away) we were fine.

Now trying to get gas in NC. Uprouted trees on 95. I can not even imagine had we left when he kept insisting!

Had we decided to fly we would have been

 

[rwdavis2]

I'll bet it's broken. I dropped the corner of an iPad on my foot a the base of the middle toe. It swelled, turned purple but did not hurt much at all. Tight shoes made it worse. Although I was not wearing shoes much at the time as I had just had my knee replaced. I asked the surgeon about the foot about 7 weeks later and he said even if it was broken at that spot there was not much he would do about it.

I would watch how your husband walks when he thinks your're not looking. How bad is it? The increased swelling could be serious after walking several miles in a theme park. Even if it is broken that's no reason to cancel the trip.

 

[anniemae]

What a relief! Glad it was minor op!

 

[Davey Jones II]

Looks like he will need to rent an electric wheelchair during your trip. Unless someone can push him all day in a regular wheelchair. That does require some physical exertion, though.

 

[fallen_angel727]

Ours isn't anything major, but it did ruin the trip for us. Last year we went with my brother and his GF. Long story short, he was planning on breaking up with her because of someone else but didn't because of the trip, so they were fighting constantly before we left and while we were there. The kicker? This all took place way before the 45 day mark so had he just done it we could have canceled and re-booked just DH and I and we wouldn't have had to deal with it

 

[grimley1968]

Update...

Broken pinky toe ( which isn't so bad in the grand scheme of things). They gave him one of those little hard soled shoes/boots thingies with Velcro straps , told him to buy some surgical tape to tape the toes together and to keep it iced over the next several days but otherwise will be fine.

That's (relatively) good news. That will heal faster than a bigger broken bone or a bad sprain. If there's still swelling by that trip, though, I'd seriously look into renting an ECV for him. That would help him keep up on the walking between attractions, at least. Plus, it gives him a weapon to use on all those pesky people in his way.

 

[JoeA]

A few years ago I was redoing a bathroom in the house and sliced (more like filet!) the top of my finger. Went to get stitches and they said no way could I swim in the ocean while the stitches were in.

No way would I miss swimming and snorkeling so I did what any guy would do - took out my own stitches! The wound wasn't quite healed so I spent the next week superglueing my finger closed.

 

[rwdavis2]

Update...

Broken pinky toe ( which isn't so bad in the grand scheme of things). They gave him one of those little hard soled shoes/boots thingies with Velcro straps , told him to buy some surgical tape to tape the toes together and to keep it iced over the next several days but otherwise will be fine.

I did Universal with a broken small toe. I wore hiking shoes that had more room at the toes than my sneakers and had no problems. Just iced it every night before bed.

You should see if you can find some shoes that work instead of the boot.

 

[melissapi]

I always seem to have such anxiety about these types of accidents before our trips. All these post have actually encouraged me that things happen but you can still get there and enjoy part/parts of your trip!

In 2010 I had my gall bladder removed 8 DAYS before we left. Then we get there and the first ride I go on is Dinosaur in AK....I was fine but it was not a smart move!

 

[fallen_angel727]

A few years ago I was redoing a bathroom in the house and sliced (more like filet!) the top of my finger. Went to get stitches and they said no way could I swim in the ocean while the stitches were in.

No way would I miss swimming and snorkeling so I did what any guy would do - took out my own stitches! The wound wasn't quite healed so I spent the next week superglueing my finger closed.

This made me and at work none the less lol. Sounds like something DH would do. Oh who am I kidding, sounds like something I would do

 

[jcano]

Update... Broken pinky toe ( which isn't so bad in the grand scheme of things). They gave him one of those little hard soled shoes/boots thingies with Velcro straps , told him to buy some surgical tape to tape the toes together and to keep it iced over the next several days but otherwise will be fine.

Yay!
Always good to KNOW instead of worry about the what ifs.

Have a great trip!

 

[practicallyperfect77]

Update...

Broken pinky toe ( which isn't so bad in the grand scheme of things). They gave him one of those little hard soled shoes/boots thingies with Velcro straps , told him to buy some surgical tape to tape the toes together and to keep it iced over the next several days but otherwise will be fine.

I've been in a fancy velcro boot now for over 6 weeks (trying to heal achilles tendon tear). The one piece of advice I would give is try to find a shoe with similar height b/c if not, knees, hips and back could start hurting. Hopefully it heals quickly and he won't have to use it on vacation. I leave 5 weeks from tomorrow and I am telling myself I will not be in a boot that long. Surely I can WILL myself better!

 

[Jennasis]

Maybe I can rent him one of those ECV's with a cow catcher on the front?

 

[smokeyblue]

We are leaving in 4 days and 10 days ago I spilled my entire cup of coffee between my legs leaving 2nd and 3rd degree burns on my inner thighs. They are healing slowly but will not be comfortable in the September heat with my pants rubbing on them
I never knew how dangerous my morning cup of coffee was!!!

We are leaving next Saturday and I got backed into by a front end loader in my car this weekend. Bad whiplash, hoping I'll be okay to go. I thought this was bad your your burns sound awful. Sending positive thoughts your way! Is there any way you could wear like compression or bike shorts to protect your legs?

 

[PFopma]

By the number of posts here I would say that you are not alone! I want to go back and read them all but first wanted to give you my disasters that happened prior to two different trips.

in 2002 I planned a trip to WDW during Spring Break with my niece, nephew, and sister. We had a split stay at Coronado Springs and Wilderness Lodge and were really looking forward to the trip. This was less than a year after 9/11 and my sister did not want to deal with the hassle of airport security so we decided to take the auto train. We even booked a sleeper car so it would be an adventure for the kids. The Tues before the trip my niece broke her ankle. She didm't need a traditional cast but they gave her a walking cast that was removable so she could still swim. We have a portable wheel chair that was my dad's so we were set. On Thurs my sister called me at work and said that she heard on the news about an Amtrak train derailment. I called Amtrak and they assured me that our train was still running on Saturday and they would just be diverted around the accident. The next morning I was working from home. I did not feel right about the answer I got the night before from Amtrak and decided to call again. This time they told me that all trains were cancelled until further notice. I was so glad I called back - we would have driven to VA on Friday night only to find that the train was not running. I spent the next few hours on the phone trying to get last minute flights at a reasonable price and then calling WDW to add a day to the front of our Wilderness Lodge part of the trip. Everything worked out fine and the refund from Amtrak just covered our airfare.

The second disaster was literally that - we planned a ten day trip on Nov 1, 2012. A little storm called Sandy decide to pay a visit to NJ a few days before our trip. The storm happened on Monday and we were supposed to leave Thurs night. The airports were closed, we had no power, and driving anywhere was next to impossible from flooding, downed trees, and lack of gas. Luckily I packed for us because we were told we could loose power. So we were technical ready to go by Sunday night. We lost power and had no heat but were really lucky compared to so many others. When the airport reopened they said to check with your carrier as most flights were still being cancelled. We had no idea if we would be able to get out on Thurs. Each day I would check online using my phone and our flight time for the that day would be cancelled. The day we were leaving the flight still said it was leaving on time. There were just a few flights getting out that day. We decide to go to the airport early even though our flight wasn't until the evening. We thought if it was cancelled we might have a better chance getting on another flight if we were at the airport. I also wasn't sure how hard it would be to get to the airport as so may roads were closed. Our flight was the 2nd flight to go to Orlando that day. We were soooooo lucky. I felt very guilty leaving home when there was so much misery. My brother-in-law who was staying home managed to get a generator for us from my cousin who was driving from FL to MA on the way home from his vacation. He made a stop in NJ to drop off the generator which he bought for us in FL. One of my best friends was hit hard. I spoke to her the night of the storm and everything was fine but the next morning I had some alarming text messages from her that her apartment was flooding and she was on the second floor of the building waiting to be evacuated. I lost touch with her for several days and finally heard from her the second day of the trip. She was staying with her sister but her apartment and car were a total loss. It was heartbreaking.