Egypt Travel Day – Not Ideal ☹
I was 80%
packed by 9 pm last night, even watched a Hallmark movie (my guilty pleasure)
before I went to bed. At 4:30 am I woke up feeling nauseous & thought I
just hadn’t had a decent dinner as I was busy & might have part of a
protein drink. Within 10 min of doing that I began vomiting & continued to
do so for 2 hours….food poisoning I presumed from the lunch I had eaten at a
not to be named restaurant. At 6:30 I took Zofran (& every 4 hours after
that x3) & prayed I would feel good enough to travel. I couldn’t keep
anything down. With a plan to leave for the airport at 10 am I slept until 8:30
showered, dressed & stayed upstairs for Doug & a dear friend to give me
a blessing that I would be okay & able to travel. Getting into the car I had
a variety of potential food & the only thing I managed to eat by 11 am was
applesauce. I used the luggage cart as a walker to get into LAX while Doug parked
the car, He met me & I headed to the gate…longest walk ever! I managed to
eat half of a banana before the flight at 1 pm but I was pretty miserable.
There was an empty wheelchair near the gate that I sat in & the wheelchair
man scolded me until I told him I felt unwell then he not only let me stay
there but took me down the jet bridge. Fortunately, they changed my seat so there
was an open middle seat & the woman I sat by was so kind. I explained I was
not ill just had food poisoning. I took a sleep aid & slept off & on
during the 12-hour flight. Turkish air served 3 meals none of which I ate or
could eat. I did manage apple juice & a roll Doug packed me. I had a 4-hour
layover in Istanbul & still was not great. I walked for what seemed like a
mile to the “information desk” to get an idea of what terminal my next flight
would be in. The man there asked if I was OK? I assume I didn’t look it? He
brought me water & took me to a waiting area nearby where I promptly laid
across 3 plastic seats & slept for 2 hours…in that area you had to give
them your boarding pass & they would escort you to your gate so that
happened & now 18 hours later I was a lil better at the start of that
flight. I did eat the white rice in that meal & more apple juice, more rest
& felt better by the time I landed in Cairo.
I was met by
a nice Travel Agent w/ an Operation Smile placard & he whisked me thru the Visa
process & immigration, currency exchange & baggage claim. It was a very
nice service & I am pretty sure it is my preferred method of travel &
not just because I was sick 😊 I am not adventurous like Ryan who
figures out all of his international travel on his own. The agent had met 3
other mission members who were waiting & 2 of them were from my Morocco missions
in 2018 & 2019 Malika the clinical coordinator plus an OR nurse & an
anesthesiologist I just met. Somehow in my frenzied week I missed the team
composition page in all the attachments with the Team Packet. I looked at Malika’s
& was SO EXCITED to see that I knew 2 of the other PACU RN’s – Chris from
Sweden who I was with in Ethiopia & Morocco & Sager who is Egyptian but
was also with us in Morocco. It is like an unexpected reunion with dear friends
who you share this unique bond with,
It was after
11 on our ride to the hotel & the streets of Cairo were buzzing as if it were
noon. Little kids, families having food & treats on the street. The hotel
is definitely safe… a gate to get in, metal detector & man with a gun
seated near the front. It is also a very Noce lobby while the rooms are a step
up from Motel 6 with small twin beds. I unpacked, called Doug, ater some
saltines & my last applesauce & went to bed at 12:45 am knowing there
was a 6 am wake up call, 6:30 breakfast & team mtg at the hospital at 7 am.
Let the mission begin!!!
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