I can’t believe that we are finally on our way to Roatan for our dream dive vacation. It almost didn’t happen.
It all started with a crab that I found in our parking garage—he looked scared and was obviously lost. I recruited my husband to help in our catch and release project. The mission was a success and the little guy was returned to the ocean where he belongs.
While he made his quick escape I tripped on the uneven walkway, fell and heard a loud crack, not good! We watched my ankle swell as we waited for the paramedics. Worried that something might be broken, my heart sank…
The following week was like riding a roller coaster. Do we cancel our dive trip and stay home or go and make the best of it? How could I dive, climb on the ladder, steady myself on the boat, never mind finning my way underwater? I could barely walk! Maybe I could float around in the pool and snorkel without fins (or with one fin!) not exactly what we had planned. The more we googled the more worried we became. We spent the week bouncing from ‘we go’ to ‘we don’t go’ between doctors visits.
We never had to cancel a trip before and came very close to having to cancel this one because of my injury. Fortunately we had paid with our credit card that includes travel insurance so if we canceled we could have gotten our money back. For more expensive trips like a safari we even buy extra insurance, one never knows when it will be needed.
Tip: If you need it having travel insurance is well worth it, so get it!
Thankfully the X-rays showed no broken or fractured bones, but the MRI showed that I had a nasty sprain. A day before our scheduled departure, I had my follow-up visit with the specialist. I was preparing myself to cancel expecting the doctor to give us the thumbs down. He came back with a long face (oh, oh!) and gave me the diagnosis in a dramatic and animated way. He said, shaking his head, that one of my ligaments was completely gone, finished! That was the snap I heard! I expected him to tell me that I needed to cancel my trip. A diver himself, he concluded with: “Go and dive, enjoy and bring back some pictures!” his serious face turning into a broad smile 🙂
I was so relieved and happy and so was my husband. He wanted to hug the doctor!
As I’m writing this we are about to take off. Happy and grateful to be able to go to Roatan and dive into the great blue pool. (More on that in an upcoming post.)
I think the crab was happy too…
