Made it to Jamaica

I am typing from Jamaica so that's the good news.  Overall, travel went well with an incident or 2 along the way.  Yesterday was a long day.  Here's the recap:

Up at 3:45am to get ready. Car picked us up at 4:45am.  Traffic free trip to Logan. Luggage (8 bags - don't judge) checked and through security in no time with no lines.  Hit up a Dunkin Donuts for breakfast and found a quiet (germ free?) spot to chill and have breakfast. (I am avoiding large groups of people due to low immunity and was masked up for the entire trip.)  Rolled up to the gate at boarding time of our first flight and were the first to board (first class).  I settled in, mask and all, and took my Ativan and shot of Benadryl.  My hands were super itchy and I was terrified of the burning-from-the-inside-out reaction.  

I was pretty teary on the first flight.  Not out and out crying, but teary.  I missed travel and being  on a plane made me nostalgic for it.  I spent time scrolling through my Instagram posts, remembering all the trips we've taken.  Revenge travel is being planned...don't worry.

Made it through first flight and was reunited with my oldest daughter at gate D5 in Charlotte airport.  SO happy to see her. (My youngest arrived home on Friday night (!) and was flying with us.)  We grabbed acai bowls, found a quiet spot to eat them, and again, rolled up to the gate right at boarding time and, again, were the first to board the plane.  I take another dose of Benadryl and we take off.

You might recall that I have been bemoaning the side effects - "why these weird ones when I have an entire pharmacy for nausea?"  Well, the side effect du jour came out, and proved to be full-on nausea for flight number two.  And if you read the post "Chemo Day Seven",  you will recall that I'm not a stranger to throwing up on flights.  Half way into flight, the nausea got real and I had to grab the inflight bag before sensing a puke-free window and dashing to the bathroom (literally pushing a man out of the way - he was a doctor and very understanding).  Spent some time in the bathroom, way too intimately close to a very dirty toilet.  When the coast was clear, I plodded back to my seat and collapsed.  

We landed but I was exhausted from the illness and probably the drugs coursing through me.  We had hired 'Club Mobay', a service that quickly sends you through customs and we were in the van to the resort in a matter of 25 minutes. My husband ordered a wheelchair but I was NOT doing that.

I was so relived to have made it in relatively one piece.  A nap was in order so I went to our room in the villa, unpacked a little (because you know me, I can't help myself), and crashed for an hour before dinner.

Dinner was chill at the villa.  I drank a lot of water and ate mostly plain things (if that's even something you can do in Jamaica).  After dinner, by husband asked if I wanted to take a short walk and I said sure.  It had been raining in Jamaica all day and had finally stopped.  

I took one step out of the villa onto the wet, marble stairs, and went down hard.  My feet slid out from under me (wearing leather soled shoes) on the wet marble and I crashed onto the steps.  My daughters said I went down quickly and my back took the brunt of it.  I couldn't move.  So many thoughts went through my mind as I laid there - Am I going to throw up again - I was so nauseous?  What did I break?  Dear God, I have the worst luck!  I don't want to go to a Jamaica hospital!

After several minutes of laying and self assessing, I painfully stood up (with help), hobbled to the closest bedroom, and laid down.  My girls got ice and I laid on ice. I called my oncology team - I was worried about bleeding as my blood counts are so low.  The doctor on call returned my call and said my platelets were good and if I wasn't on a blood thinner (I'm not) and I can take a deep breath with no pain, I should be okay but to obviously call if I have any concerns.  I should take Tylenol for pain, not Advil, which I did.

After icing for a while, I hobbled up to my bedroom, laid on more ice, and had my husband go on ChatGBT to see how one can change their luck.  Because mine has been shitty at best.  Turns out, I should change my routines, have a positive attitude, and put positivity out in the world.  

That's my goal for this trip - change my luck.  And to workout once a day.  That's it.  It's 7:49am and breakfast is at 9:00am. I'll got to breakfast and maybe head to the gym to walk on a treadmill (must stay out of the sun).  It's going to be a good day!  Hope you have one too.  xo J