We almost left Hawaii without visiting a hospital or doctor – but had to leave the plane before takeoff

By LineogJesper on February 25, 2016

Except for our first stop in Cyprus we have had a 100% hit-rate in terms of at least one of us getting sick or injured in each country to the extend that medical assistance has been needed.

Track record:

Thailand:
- Noah falling and injuring his arm. Turned out just to be a nerve but did get 3 x-rays at the hospital in Chiang Mai
Vietnam:
- Vitus had a bad ear infection
Phillippines:
- Vitus had a hign fever (40 degrees) and had to be checked for Malaria and Dengue in Puerto Princesa, negative luckily.
- Noah caught pneumonia in Mindoro
Australia:
- Noah was checked for pneumonia and Vitus for re-occurring ear infection.

So everything is looking good. It is our last day and everybody is feeling fine. Wanting to get a last chance to snorkel in Hawaii, we decided to go to a small beach a few hundred meters from “Turtle Town” about half way down Makena Rd. (A side-road to Makena Av.). Being very windy we doubted to the last second that we would find calm waters but just around a corner the small beach appeared nicely sheltered behind a rock formation and even with toilets and outdoor showers.

But unfortunately on our way there Jesper’s stomach started to hurt a lot. It gradually got worse during the day and only because he could not stand loosing the opportunity to try his new mask and snorkel did he manage to go in the water for 10 minutes (of course he saw a sea turtle – which Noah and Line were not entirely happy about since they spent much longer in the water).

We had drove a giant SUV since they did not have the small SUV we had booked. Great for room and comfort – crap in terms of fuel economy and navigating in tight spaces.

By the time we got to the airport and were getting ready to board the plane for LA he almost could not stand it anymore. Not wanting the trouble of hospital and finding a hotel late at night we decided to board anyway but as Jesper was about to sit down in his seat he got tunnel-vision and yellow and green spots appeared before his eyes. He needed to put his head between his knees to avoid fainting, which obviously alerted the flight crew who refused to let us continue. So close to leaving Hawaii without medical expenses :-).

All hotels were fully booked but though it was passed midnight we still managed to get hold of our AirBnB host Janice who prepared a room for us in the middle of the night. Line and the kids went back there at 1.30 AM while Jesper Stayed at the hospital. At the hospital the pains quickly got worse and even on strong medication it was almost unbearable.

Symptoms indicated kidney stone or appendicitis (“blindtarmsbetændelse” in Danish) so a quick CT-scan was performed. Fortunately and to everybody’s surprise all the scan revealed was constipation (especially since Jesper had had no trouble in that area and had been to the toilet everyday for the past week , sorry – too much information). After another series of tests and puzzled looks from nurses and doctors he got some more pain medicine and was “released”. During the night the pain subsided (even without visiting the toilet, sorry again).

Feeling a bit embarrassed for causing so much trouble for constipation built up in no-time at all a small part of Jesper actually wished it had been a small kidney stone or similar easily treated but more “serious” illness. It is just not very “manly” to tell the story about one almost fainting, having to get off a plane late at night with two tired kids and having the insurance company pay close to 3.000 dollars (21.000 DKK) in medical bills – because of constipation that can be treated with a 1 dollar bottle of laxative medicine. Well – a very bad experience while it was going on but a funny story to tell afterwards.

For the insurance company it was good news that we were all checked in to the 2.24 pm flight the next day without any extra costs.