5. Aug 21-22: Helsinki

Aug 21-22: Helsinki, Finland

Nothing noted about the day we spent at sea going from Riga to Helsinki. Actually I didn't make a recording of the days between Aug 21 and 25 until the 25^th. As will become clear in a moment, a shadow fell upon the trip on the morning of the 22^nd. 

Photos taken from observation deck as we arrived in Helsinki:

 

One thing to be noted, though: we met, while we were leaving Klaipeda, a lovely couple on the ship from Sydney, Australia: Maree and Graeme Watts. We hit it off immediately, and were with them for several meals and shore excursions. Graeme's back was in the last photo of the Riga bridge. We had all elected to take the 20-minute walk back to the ship from where the shore bus had last dropped us off in Riga. We walked down by the Daugava River, and went under that marvelous suspension bridge to get to our mooring just the other side of it, it being the first obstacle to ships of any appreciable size in the river coming from the Baltic.

Aug 22: 2am – docked in Helsinki

I awoke at 2am with pretty severe abdominal pain; I thought it might be a colostomy blockage – we called the medical center, and were there until 6am. There was no blockage, as it turned out. The medical staff, who had taken marvelous care of me while I was still on the ship, were superb. Here they are: The doctor, Maria Novella Cruzado,and the nurse, Mirabel. More about them and their care later.

 Nurse Mirabel and Dr. Maria, l to r.

We took a cab to the Helsinki University Hospital – I was seen, after a long wait, at the Urgent Care/Triage Center, and then transferred around the corner to the ER. There I was attended to by a wonderful nurse, Tarya, and doctor, Sanna Kouhia, a vascular surgeon with G-I experience. I was diagnosed, after a CT scan, with uncomplicated diverticulitis. Since we were headed to Russia, the doctor decided to take no chances with me falling into Russian medical hands (she actually said, “Health care in Russia is crappy!”) and gave me high doses of antibiotics. If I had been going anywhere else, she would've let me weather it on my own. That was followed by 2.5 more days of IV, morning and night, on the ship, to which she permitted me to return well in time for departure to St. Petersburg. Thank goodness! We were terrified of being kept in Helsinki after the ship departed, and having to come home early.

After the 3 days total of IV antibiotics, I went on oral of same for another 7 days. That stuff kills my appetite, and as a result, I did something very unusual for a cruise: I lost weight!

Doing it the hard way, but I'll take it.

I had to change radically how I was eating and drinking after this episode -- I drank gallons of water, almost to the point of nausea, but it was necessary, and still is, actually, so that no blocks occur, and no more nasty infections in diverticuli develop ever again.  In fine, a small price to pay.

What a day.  Grateful indeed that it was just the one day, and that it was in Helsinki.