We have had to cancel our trip to Rhode Island.

 

I had plane and hotel reservations all made for the two of us, and confirmation that all RIPTA buses have wheelchair lifts. The only thing I had not made were the RI Comic Con memberships themselves, and glad I did not, because they were nonrefundable.

 

Why? Because James would need a portable oxygen generator for the trip and Apria needs a three-week notice to get you one. He was just out of the hospital only two weeks ago (and they did say he could go!). (The "portable" oxygen generator, by the way, was that wretched 20-pound monster I had to struggle up the stairs with two weeks ago!) But I was still willing to get James and our luggage dumped in Kennedy Plaza with the darn thing to try to make it to RICC. I am absolutely heartbroken to not only be missing Vincent D'Onofrio and John Glover, but to be missing William Daniels and Bonnie Bartlett. Daniels is in his 90s and who knows when we will ever get a chance to see them again.

The other horrible part of the week was having to drive to the Gwinnett Kaiser office for a followup appointment that basically took ten minutes. A two-hour drive home for a ten-minute visit. The only good thing about it was that the urologist was very cooperative, unlike James' current one, and gave us a scrip so we could try some self-lubricating disposable coude catheters for travel. I don't mind using the rubber ones for at home, but cathing in a hotel bathroom? (Alas, the coude catheters did not work for James; the rubber ones get more fluid out of him. But at least we got to try.)

We did go to Conjuration over the weekend and had a good time at the panels we saw, talked to friends...but still not as good as getting to go home and have some decent food in the bargain! (I mean, we had an extra day; we were planning to take Amtrak to Boston, eat at Quincy Market or maybe the North End, and RIPTA does go out to Oakland Beach—we could have had doughboys and clam cakes and a lobster roll...)

Labels: conventions, excursions, food, health, sickness, vacation

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. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 11:12:00 PM

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