I Am Back After Almost One Month From My Vacation To Holland/Germany

@wmg2006 (5381)
United States
June 2, 2007 9:48am CST
Hello everyone! I have been gone almost a month now and I am so glad to be back! I missed this place so much. I took a two week vacation to go to Holland and Germany to see my son, whom I have not seen in two years. He left 2 days after he graduated high school and had got married while in Germany. I went to meet his new bride and her parents. I also went to surprise my son to see his first live performance as a dancer, singer. My two weeks were the worse a person could imagine! I left May 5 and flew for 8 hours on an airbus flight, talk about cramped and uncomfortable. I was so miserable on this flight and of course it was packed, so I had to sit in my cramped assigned seat. Both people on either side of me were very large people and those seats are only wide enough for a baby's butt. LOL So for 8 hours I tried to watch movies, sleep, and eat all in about a 6 inch space. I could not wait to arrive at my destination. I left at 7PM my time and arrived at 3AM my time. I tried to rest all that day in case I was unable to sleep on the plane, but it didn't help. I was very tired when I touched down in Holland. My son and his wife had a very busy itinerary planned for my stay so I knew I needed to be very rested. I met them at the airport and we set out to explore Amsterdam for the day, then take a train for 3 hours to their home in Germany. We planned to check my luggage at the train staion so we would not have to lug it everywhere. But for some odd reason they had changed their storage to credit cards only, no cash! So we were unable to check the luggage. We had to roll two suitcases and carry one on our shoulder all over Amsterdam! What a problem that was, since there were millions of people walking around doing the same thing. Amsterdam was delightful, but very crowded and lots of rude people. Most of the people were tourist and they would run all over you and never say excuse me or anything. I was so tired by the time we left there 3 hours later. We boarded the train for our ride home. We had to change trains 3 or 4 times and it was getting very tiring to jump off one then run to get to the right first class car on the next with the luggage, but we did it. The last train we got on was only a 15 minute ride to our final destination. It decided to have problems and stop in the middle of no where. This was one of their newest and most up to date trains. We sat for about 10 minutes on the tracks while the engineer tried to get it going again. Finally it started and we headed to our final stop where my new daughter-in-law's Mother was waiting to drive us for 30 minutes to their house. I was so excited to finally be in Germany! I had a wonderful dinner with everyone and got all set up in my room. We all visited for hours then I had to throw in the towel and get some sleep. I had been up for over 28 hours when I finally laid down to sleep. The next morning it began to rain and got very cold! This was after weeks of beautiful sunshine and warm days. So we planned to walk into their village town and eat, shop, and take pictures. It was on a Sunday and most all the shops were closed and it was beginning to rain harder and get colder. I did not take any warm clothing with me, so I borrowed a thin jacket to wander around in the cold rain. I was able to eat some German food and do some shopping in a drug store and grocery store. I did get a few pictures of the quaint village, then we headed home. I ate with the family and visited while going over our itinerary. It all looked very exciting. The first week would be all about the performance and practice then the second would be fun tourist stuff. I went to bed Sunday night and sometime during the wee hours of the morning I started having severe chills. I was shaking so hard I could not even get the top off the aspirin bottle I brought with me. I could not believe how terrible I felt. I would take the aspirins, then sweat and a few hours later go right back into severe chills. I told the kids the next morning how horrible I felt and they said naybe it is just jet lag and I should rest that day since there was nothing really planned for the day. So I rested and took aspirin and had chills all day. By that night I could not breathe very deep without my back on the left side killing me. I would scream out when the sharp pain would hit. I felt clammy, feverish, had a headache, and could not breathe well at all. I thought I was dying all of a sudden. I kept telling everyone something terrible was wrong with me. They said I probably had the flu or a cold. I did not have either, because I did not feel like a cold or flu makes you feel. There was zero congestion anywhere, no soar throat, no stuffy nose, no achey body nothing. They kept thinking my back hurt because of sleeping on a different bed, but it wasn't like that at all. I knew whatever was wrong with me was something I had never had before. I know they had to go to practice and get ready for their big performance debut and I did not want to ruin that for them, so I tried to supress whatever was wrong and be a trooper and go along with them. I felt so bad everywhere we went. I would get dizzy then start having chills and feel like death. I kept pushing myself until the night of the performance, which was Friday night. 6 days after the initial problems. That night I was in the balcony with a wonderful seat and started getting very sick in the middle of the performance. I had to get out of that area soon. I kept looking around and could not see how to get out with all the people standing and sitting everyone. The performance was a sell out. I got sicker by the minute and decided I had to try to get out of that hot balcony. I began working my way to the door over and around people in the dark. Finally I made it to the door then I was going to have to go down steps to the break area. I took a few steps and the next thing I knew two people were beside me helping me up, I fainted! They took me to a table and it was so cool in the break area. They got me a soda and stayed with me until they could find my son or someone else in the performance that knew me. Thank goodness everyone in Holland speaks English, because no one speaks English in Germany. I missed the whole second half of the performance. After the performance ended they always have a cast party, but my son said they only stay about 15 minutes then we would go home. Not this night! They did so well everyone was wanting to celebrate and buy our group dinner, and drinks. We stayed out until 3 AM. I honestly thought I would actually die that night. I was crying by the time we got home because I was so sick! Finally after I begged for 6 days to go to the Dr. they said Monday you will go see a Dr. I had to faint and turn pale before anyone would believe I was seriously ill. Only because they do not go to Drs. unless they are injured. They do not give medicines as easily there as they do here in the US. They say we are spoiled to pills. Monday finally came and we set out to go to see the Dr. in Holland. It was over an hour drive. Every bump hurt so badly and I could not get a breath. While at the Dr. my daughter-in-law talked to him in Dutch. Then he asked me to tell him what happened, I described it all to him. He listened to my chest and back while I tried to breathe. He said he thought he knew what was wrong, but first I must go to the hospital and get a chest x-ray and blood work then come back to him. It was 45 minutes to the hospital. So off we go. I get the test and head back to the Dr. office. The whole time I am getting sicker and sicker. I go back to the Dr. and he says I was correct you have a very serious case of pneumonia in your left lung. The whole lung is full of solid mucous. The pain in the back is caused from no oxygen getting into that lung. I keep fainting due to lack of oxygen. He prescribed Amoxicillin and said after I take the first one the chills and fever will stop. He said he would call with the blood results later that day, by the time I arrived home and got into bed he called. The blood test identified the pneumonia as bacterial, he mentioned it was a very serious case and I could die if I did not rest and take very good care of myself. He also said I could not fly back to the US for at least 8 weeks. YIKES! I had no intentions of dying in Germany or Holland. I started the medicine and the chills and fever subsided. I laid in the bed for the next week taking meds and trying to live. I lost 12 pounds within 5 days and thought about nothing more than getting home on my flight May 19. On May the 18 I went back to the Dr. to beg to get on my flight. He listened to my chest again and made notes for my physician and the airlines. He advised me not to fly due to the lung possibly collapsing, but allowed me to board provided they had an oxygen tank available in case of the lung collapsing. Thank God! I flew back on the 19th and have been in and out of the Drs office ever since here in America. I still have pneumonia, but I am getting better every day and hope to recover completely within the next several weeks. I can not stay up long because I get tired and weak from trying to breathe. I still do not have any congestion and nothing is moving or breaking loose. It is still a solid mass in my left lung and I am taking meds to loosen everything up. I was told by both Drs. the kind of pneumonia I have is the kind people die with daily. I have lots of hope all will be well soon. Thanks for reading my book about my vacation from Hell! I hope to get back to My Lot as soon as I feel better. I am taking breathing treatments every 4 hours, taking meds, drinking lots of fluids, resting and trying to breathe. Please put me on your prayer list if you have one, my real name is Wanda Gibson.
6 people like this
18 responses
@Nan110 (469)
• United States
2 Jun 07
Hi Wanda, My name is Nancy. Your in my thoughts and prayers. Get well soon. Mylot will be here when your 100% well. Take care of yourself.
2 people like this
@wmg2006 (5381)
• United States
11 Jun 07
Thank you Nancy. Prayers are very important at a time like this.
@Nan110 (469)
• United States
11 Jun 07
Your welcome
@Willowlady (10658)
• United States
2 Jun 07
Prayers are indeed offered up. You sure had an interesting time and I hope that there will be good memories to outweigh the awful things that tried to mess you up royally. I cannot imagine such a great trip being interferred with. Were there pictures and maybe postcards and souveniers? I hope that you are on your feet really soon and you can be back and start some interesting discussions that we can share with you. Take care and get well soon!
1 person likes this
@wmg2006 (5381)
• United States
11 Jun 07
Thank you for the prayers. I am getting stronger every day. I was unable to get a lot of pictures, but I did get some. The kids did buy me some postcards of the places I was unable to visit and they went out and bought me some souveniers to bring home to my friends and family. So all was not lost.
@Willowlady (10658)
• United States
11 Jun 07
Tis good that you had family to fill in some missing pieces. I hope that you can sometime find a way to make a trip that is so enjoyable that this one will be but a far memory. Take care!!
@sarah22 (3979)
• United States
11 Jun 07
wow, glad to have you back, and sorry to hear you got sick but im glad you where able to fly home and are well.
@gabs8513 (48686)
• United Kingdom
2 Jun 07
Wow WMG first of all I had wondered where you where and I am so sorry that you are this Sick and I know it is scary I do hope you get better soon and you are certainly in my thoughts Sweetie Love and Hugs to you
1 person likes this
@wmg2006 (5381)
• United States
11 Jun 07
Thank you Gabs. I am here reading as much as possible. I hope to begin responding soon.
1 person likes this
@gabs8513 (48686)
• United Kingdom
11 Jun 07
You make sure you get better first ok Love and Hugs to you
@mimpi1911 (25464)
• India
5 Jun 07
welcome back WMG! i was wondering about your absence here, missed you. it was a wonderful read. i was literary transportated to a new world altogether and by the time i finished reading it, i was at awe of your literally excellence. just take care of your health. get well soon and get going...
• Malaysia
3 Jul 07
You forced too much for your body to do a lot of tiring activities. Anyway I pity very much about your condition and hope that you will heal completely from pneumonia. But next time when you want to have a vacation, I suppose you should plan to go on a comfortable journey so that you would not put pressure to your body. And if possible, try to use a car (taxi or rental car for comfort) instead of public bus or train if you have to rent a public transport. Good luck and wish you get better and heal 100%.
@caribe (2465)
• United States
2 Jun 07
Oh, my goodness! Wanda, I have been wondering where you were. I am so sorry to hear that you have been so sick and that your vacation was ruined by your illness. At least the doctors spoke English. I hope your health continues to improve and your lungs clear up soon. That is such a dangerous thing to happen to you. It is too bad that nobody took you very seriously and got you to the docter sooner. Maybe it wouldn't have gotten so bad. I am glad that you made it safely back home. I just feel so badly for you that you didn't get to see all the sights you had intended to see while you were there. Take it easy and I hope you are feeling better really soon.
@lucy02 (5016)
• United States
4 Jun 07
Gee Wanda! Some vacation. I'll bet you are thrilled to be back home. I can't imagine having pneumonia in a foreign country. I will be praying for you. Also congratulations on your son. He sounds like a very talented young man.
@swatig (1183)
• India
3 Jun 07
Sure, we prayer for your health. nothing to worry, everything will be allrite. remember this may be tough time but you have to get through as we, mylot with u,Wanda. take liquid as muchas possible and read mylot discussion if not able to participate as it may divert your attention for sometime. anyhelp, always welcome.
• India
2 Jun 07
Very very welcome my dear friend.I miss you very much.I think we are responsing each other after a long time.How's your vacation?Is it alright or very good?
@rpafsal (18)
• India
5 Jun 07
hi babes how are you and i thing your suggesstion is good and havea good time and keep in touch..kisses
• Philippines
3 Jun 07
hang on there wanda my friend. i know you can hurdle that temporary physical set-back. im glad to hear from you again, i missed your posts and discussions. my prayer is for you to get well soon my friend.
• United States
3 Jun 07
Oh my goodness hon! I am so glad to hear that you are back safely without your lung collapsing or anything. I don't understand why you son would not have insisted that you see the doctor sooner. I know I would make my mother go. I am praying for your speedy recovery and I hope that all will be well in a few weeks. (((((HUGS)))))
@Savvynlady (3684)
• United States
3 Jun 07
Wanda, I am sorry for the experience you had over there; I was curious about it because I was about to ask if you got any postcards of the place but after your story, I have to say that I hope you get better. Rest well and take it easy; Yes, your also in my prayers. Peace.
@aidonia (4209)
• Greece
2 Jun 07
My dear friend ...what an adventure you had !!!! I don't know from where to start and what I say first,your *book* include so many news. First I want say that I wondered all these days where you was and if you was fine.i don't know if you had a discussion that you gonna be travel but I didn't remember it. Anyway first than all I hope you be completely well very soon.how unlucky you was getting ill when you travel to see your son after 2 years.Is long time for a mother without seeing her son.I can't imagine how much you miss him. Now just take care yourself,pneumonia need very good care.We will be here praying and waiting your news...
@patootie (3592)
2 Jun 07
Good grief .. I started out thinking how wonderful for you to have this brilliant holiday .. then as I read further and saw how it turned into a nightmare .. Blimey .. you poor thing .. I can't believe you weren't able to get to a doctors sooner .. that puts you right off going to Holland or Germany doesn't it .. What a lucky 'escape' you've had .. keep up the good work with all your meds, docs and exercises .. I am sure you will be right as rain once your treatments sort out the bugs .. And rest ... rest and more rest .. your body needs all the rest it can get so it has the energy to fight the illness .. so take lots of naps, pamper yourself ..
@hoghoney (3747)
• United States
2 Jun 07
OMG! I feel so bad that you got sick while visiting your son and my prayers are with you. I wish you a fast and healthy recovery and much love. I am sorry to hear that your trip was so bad and that you could not enjoy it, so get your rest and take your meds and we will be thinking about and if you can at times please keep us updated on how you are doing. Hugs!
@as2006 (5040)
• Israel
2 Jun 07
I feel your feelings in this beautiful story! First you visited your son and his bride and it's very important about your vacation I'm sorry to hear that you came from hell. My son was in the week before in Germany from his work he took some beautiful picture and spend good time there. Good to have you back here and have a great weekend.