A Winning Hand, a Losing Gut

Disembarkment day! We lucked out with a self disembark express line right outside our cabin door on Deck 3, which felt like a small miracle. The whole process, customs included, took maybe 15 minutes. From there, we hopped on a 🚌 Carnival transfer (nice charter bus) to HOU ✈️ ($41 per person) about a 45 min ride of coughing, snoring and other mildly annoying traveler woes.

Would i consider a cruise transfer in the future? Absolutely. It was convenient, hassle free and door to door service — so long as the cost is less than an uber that is.

Once at the HOU airport, we awkwardly navigated the baggage claim and pickup area, which is currently a construction maze. Eventually, we figured it out and caught the Enterprise shuttle to grab our rental car, then headed to the hotel to wait out our Tuesday flight. We did look into flying out earlier, but prices were triple, so Tuesday it is. Of course, that decision was made before my body decided to go rogue.

**⚠️Feel free to skip ahead if this is not your kind of reading material.⚠️**

Saturday brought a painful bowel movement 😢 with a significant amount of blood — more than Justin ever had with his diverticulitis flareups. I meant to tell him, but the day got away from me and I wasn’t in pain so I didn’t bring it up until dinner after something triggered the thought. Nothing like casually discussing rectal bleeding over Surf & Turf, a lovely table setting and window view of the sea. Ah, married life at 44.

Otherwise, I felt completely fine that day and night. Then Sunday around 4 p.m., after a lunch of crab legs, fried shrimp, and fries (he had cravings and I was the support friend) the usual seafood-induced tummy gurgling kicked in. The good news: I hit $1150 on Buffalo slots right before sprinting back to the room. The bad news: what followed was not a bowel movement—just a toilet bowl full of blood.

I stayed in the stateroom the rest of the evening with mild lower abdominal cramping and that constant “I need to go” feeling, except each time it was just more blood. Justin is especially worried. He said the whole scene reminded him too much of what his mom went through with colon cancer, which understandably has him on edge.

We went through the options:
- Ship medical: too expensive, and likely limited in what they could do.
- Houston ER: I’m uneasy about navigating an unfamiliar system here.
- Message my GP via MyChart: 👍 I asked about a specialist or urgent appointment starting April 7.

Justin and I agreed that if things were still ongoing by Tuesday, I’d go straight to the ER after landing.

Update: A nurse called and strongly advised going to urgent care locally instead of waiting until after travel, given the amount of blood and symptoms. I’m feeling fatigued with slight vertigo (possibly sea-related), but still no real pain, just some bloating and occasional pressure that might be gas. I’ve stopped eating in hopes of avoiding further issues. Liquid diet for now. No NSAIDs, no injections aside from insulin.

For better or worse, I’ll also be documenting each bathroom visit, partly for medical purposes, partly for morbid curiosity. Future me (and possibly my doctor) will appreciate the thoroughness… I think.Read more