Myasthenia Gravis Support Group
Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a neuromuscular disease leading to fluctuating muscle weakness and fatiguability. The hallmark of myasthenia gravis is muscle weakness that increases during periods of activity and improves after periods of rest. Although myasthenia gravis may affect any voluntary muscle, muscles that control eye and eyelid movement, facial expression, and...
Hi all -
After much consideration, we have decided to take a 5 night, 6 day, Carribean cruise.
Covid #'s out of Galvaston, our departure port, is .02%. We will have a balcony room towards the nose with elevators and stairs close by. All passengers and crew are required to be vacinated including booster. We are told that the Royal Carribean meets or exceeds all CDC guidelines. All passengers and crew are required to wear masks indoors.
Neither one of us are drinkers or gamblers and have always tried to avoid crowds. KN-95 masks are a must and I am right in the middle of my IVIG cycle. We will certainly carry all of our meds with us. We have travel health insurance that will pay for air transportation to get us where we need to go if we get challenged. Worst cast scenario is that when we get there and decide NOT to go and drive home - have about $1k invested. Next worse scenerio is that we get on board and find we can't get around due to crowds. We can use room service for everything while sitting on the balcony, smelling fresh sea air and looking at the ocean.
We have looked at VRBOing in a rented house or condo. We have looked at train travel, air travel and feel that this is the safest way for us to go. Any where we wish to go, we will be challenged with/by people. It is time for us to try this. We are hoping for the best.
One of the wonderful things about life in our diesel pusher, was that we could drive some where, where people weren't, set up and enjoy our time.
We have been thinking about this since before Omicron, and have decided that this is the time.
Scott
I watched a couple of cruise ship videos on youtube. I was amazed at the size and masses of people on the ship. One of the videos is the behind the scenes staff that make it all work -- quite amazing too.
As a person who values quiet, uncrowded, and peaceful surroundings, the idea of a bustling cruise with 100s of people doesn't appeal to me any more than cities or big events. So social isolation is a good fit for us.
We live on a farm, our nearest neighbor is 1/2 mile away and that is perfect for our lives, and it does keep us out of covid possible situations. A few years ago my cousin went on a cruise around the world. She got a cabin on a freighter that took a dozen passengers and said it was very enjoyable.
I am staying out of amost all activities right now in public as from the scientific talks I listen to, we are all likely to get Omicron before spring even with vaccinations and social distancing etc. However, I want to delay it until the hospitals are not completely filled with folks as they are now. And being vaccinated and boosted I am hopeful of a mild case.
Good Luck
Russ
Thanks for your input:
Nan - Thanks.
Debbie - Hope efgartigimod goes well. I am watching that one too - Duh - Will you update us along the way?
Russ - I understand completely. Before my wife and I sold everything we owned and bought our motorhome, we had a nice 3 acre property close to the Puget Sound. Sold it to live the dream. Actually - In 2009 my Wife had been diagnosed with cancer, and the % age of patients that survived for 5 years was 5 percent. While she was in treatment we planned to visit all of the things that she had not yet seen. Kind of a Bucket List - but we didn't call it that. Smithsonian Museums, New England when the leaves change in the Fall,........ Stuff like that. What started as a "Success" trip, in our travel trailer complete with our Harley, to celebrate the end of her treatments, turned into, "Do we really need all of our stuff"? After 8 years living our 42' U320 Foretravel I got sick with MG. Carol was a good driver but did not want to handle a 42,000# rig. Anyway - When I got sick, while undergoing diagnosis, and the beginnings of treatment we looked at many housing options and determined our tiny house 570 sq st house, behind our Daughter's would fit our needs. I do miss the back yard of our Gig Harbor home. Wouldn't change a thing. Other than me NOT having MG. Sorry to ramble. We have only been on one previous cruise from Long Beach to Hawaii and back - maybe 14 days. We found many places where we were not crowded. Find a corner with a chair and a good view becomes prime reading time. We ate at "Off " times, when crowds are low.
Mr Man - We will let y'all know how things go.
I am quite concerned with this Covid mess and tired of it. Hopefully we are not making a mistake. :-)
Scott
leaving tomorrow morning - we have been in a tizzy. :-)
Had our Covid test today and we were Negative. We will have another Covid test on day 5 of the cruise before we get to port. If anyone tests positive they will leave the ship via a different door/hatch then they will have to isolate/quarantine.
Bags are mostly packed and leaving the house for Galveston about 10:45am tomorrow. Boarding time for us is 1:30pm. They stagger the Boarding Time to stagger people to reduce crowd size. I will drop Carol and the luggage off with the Porters and then park the car. across the street We have a reserved HC parking and a ride is available if I choose. The is only about 800 feet from the garage to the vessel. I guess I can do that.
The planning part has been interesting and fun. Needed to get stuff we didn't have anymore. We have made reservations for 2 excursions. Both are small groups in A/C small vehicles. The places we will be visiting should require Light walking. If we can find the right spot, might try to try snorkeling.
On the vessel we will find the Clinic and, if the Doc. is there, we will introduce ourselves to him and let him know I have MG.
I did consult with my PCP and she gave me thumbs up, with caution.
Scott
Russ
Just got back home from our cruise. We did enjoy it, for the most part and will probably do another sometime in the future. The vessel was about 40% full so we were able to find many places to sit, read and people watch away from the hustle and bustle.
We did one on-shore excursion to a Mayan Temple. It was wonderful. Got 16,000 steps in that day. I felt good all day but paid for it the next. Was quite fatigued the next day with a small amount of eye twitching and some stuttering in the morning. We were supposed to go on-shore that day, but decided to stay on board. We found a nice secluded spot close to the Adult pool and spent the day reading, in and out of the pool and continued people watching. All in all the trip was a success and the next one, is yet to be determined. We will definitely branch out slowly and cautiously.
We did go to a live theatre performance one night but decided that we would not go back due to the crowd size. The cruise line, Royal Caribbean, took great care with sanitization. All Crew and passengers were vaccinated-with boosters and masked while indoors except while eating or drinking. The tables were spaced appropriately and we only had to request different seating in the dining room one time. The wait staff and room attendant got to know our needs and accommodated us very well. I did bring my cane and used it everywhere on the ship. It did help. We also dropped a whopping $10.00 each on the slot machines last night but did not stay long as the rooms got too crowded.
We were very grateful that we were able to get away on this adventure.
BTW - We did have a room with a balcony and spent some time out there too.
Scott :-)
Russ