LAST BLOG 

 

HOME: Sixty hours in transit (hour to airport in Mumbai, 3-hour flight to Dubai; 9-hour layover in Dubai airport; 14-hour flight to Toronto; hour drive to son Peter’s; overnight; 2-hour flight to Halifax; 2-hour drive to Antigonish.  

LAST HOSPITAL STORY: When we left the hospital on Saturday, I left two read paperbacks by the garbage bin in the room. Two days later a hospital employee showed up at our hotel with the books. 

SOUTH INDIAN FOOD: Neither Betty nor I know much about Indian food, but one of the hotel restaurants specialized in items from the south of India. I felt we should try this place even though it was a very, very long walk from the hotel lobby (including crossing a courtyard, and including two short flights of stairs. Betty just managed to get up the stairs while I carried her wheelchair. 

Once seated we were presented with a bowl of papadum and then five sauces for dipping. There were no plates, instead the food was served on large leaves. 

Following the Sommelier’s suggestion I ordered a Super Tuscan. The wine was superb, but unfortunately it was decanted before I got a chance to examine the label. 

We next got three small appetizers, and I even recognized one as having been made from bananas. 

At this point the waiter came for our order. The menu had a section of non-vegetarian, and a section of vegetarian. I asked for one of the 12 items from the non-vegetarian page and was told that it was a fixed menu, and if I ordered non-vegetarian I would get all the items on the page. 

We next got two of the items at the same time (a fish item and a chicken item). This was followed by the remaining items presented in several small silver bowls. 

There were three desserts on the menu and, of course, we were given all three. 

The last picture shows Betty being served South Indian coffee. 

When we left the restaurant the waiter insisted that he push Betty’s wheelchair. When we got to the stairs, he asked us to wait while he summoned another man. They then carried Betty’s chair (with Betty in it) down the stairs. 

The conventional wisdom is that passengers gain a pound per day on a cruise. Despite the meal described above I actually lost 8 pounds on this adventure. 

 

 

 HOSPITAL STAY  

Medical Report:   Betty was admitted to the hospital on Sunday and told that she needed surgery.  However, because of her age and chronic conditions they needed lots of assessments, etc.   The surgery was scheduled for Wednesday.  Betty has a long-time thickening of her heart wall (not terribly serious), but the cardiologist did numerous tests.  The surgeon was concerned about her cough and nasal blockage.  Betty has a condition called rhinitis and was told by a Canadian specialist that it was untreatable.  However, the lung specialist in Mumbai started treatment immediately, and by the time of surgery her condition was at least 80% improved. 

The surgery was scheduled for Wednesday and was expected to last 2-2.5 hours.  However, there were more bone fragments than predicted and the surgery lasted 4 hours.  She now has 2 metal plates in her elbow, no pain, and only a little soreness on the 6-inch incision. 

On Friday the surgeon removed the cast/splint and the drainage tube.  As everything looked o.k. she was told she could be released.  The advice was not to try and catch the ship, but to go back to Canada asap in case any problems developed. 

Getting flights home:  After the medical report Friday we started the process of getting flights home.  We had a lot of frustration, but that turned out to be two pieces of good luck.  Firstly, the money I had transferred from CIBC to my VISA card was slow in going through.  When I tried to book a flight my payment was declined (at that point my card was loaded with hospital charges).  Then when Charlotte, our daughter-in-law, tried to book flights for us there was a problem with a one-day discrepancy in Betty’s age.  In the meantime, our wonderful travel agent in Fort Lauderdale independently contacted the cruise company, and after some negotiations Oceania agreed to fly us for free (Business Class) from Mumbai to Toronto.  That flight is scheduled for tomorrow (Monday).  Once I had paid the final bill on Saturday the hospital provided a suitcase full of x-rays and other records for our insurance people.  They then provided a car to take us to our hotel.  The picture is street food outside the hospital.

Hotel:   On the advice of hospital staff we booked two nights at the ITC Grand Central Parel.  As the prices seemed a tad steep we booked “a run of the house room”.  When we arrived and saw the hotel the prices seemed cheap.  The elegant doorman and his two assistants immediately produced a wheelchair. 

Our room on the 21st floor has every amenity including four telephones.  Which one do you answer when they all ring at once? 

Once in our room we celebrated with some wine and potato chips.  The hospital diet seemed free of salt, thus the chips were wonderful. 

While Betty rested I took a walk around the hotel and stumbled upon a wedding occurring in the courtyard.   There are some pictures below. 

In the evening we ate at the most casual (still elegant) of the hotel’s restaurants.  The food was good, although the names of things were not recognizable to me.   Although there was an extensive wine list I was convinced by the Maitre d’ to try a bottle of Indian wine.  It was drinkable, but I shall not be ordering any for my cellar.  After sleeping in my clothes for a week on a leather couch in Betty’s hospital room, the hotel bed felt pretty wonderful. 

Sunday in Mumbai: We started the day with a fine breakfast accompanied by a flutist.

After breakfast I asked the concierge if there was a way that we could see some of the city. His response was: "Would you like to leave now, or would you prefer later." I chose a time and he told me a car would be waiting.

Our driver seemed to prefer Betty to me so all the sites ended up on her side of the car and she is not good at taking pictures one-handed. Nonetheless I have included a few below, starting with the famous Gate of India on the waterfront.

What we saw of Mumbai was much nicer than we expected, although we could never have imagined how crowded were the streets or how bad was the traffic. Of course, because of betty, we didn't ever leave the car so were only seeing things from that perspective.

Upon return to the hotel we caught our breath by attending afternoon tea on the 30th floor.