Our Wellness Came Crashing Down—Literally

We spent our last day on a Greek island on the beach of Andiparos,  that is surrounded by  blue-green water and has little huts to protect our aging skin.  We had our farewell dinner in Nousa  with our incredible guide, Doris, who was nothing short of a miracle worker for every aspect of the trip.  No stone was left unturned.  

When we returned to our beautiful  “wellness” hotel that night, we learned that in order to set the appropriate amount of ambience, adequate outdoor lighting was frowned upon. Doris had just dropped us off at the hotel and we were on our own til morning when she would return and shepherd us off to our next adventure. 

As we were walking back to our bungalow, I missed a step and came crashing down hard on my right knee (the one of course, that needed significant physical therapy earlier in the year) and on the left side of my face. While we later learned that the cut was quite small, there was a fair amount of blood. I wasn’t even off the ground, when the two husbands looked at each other and said, “Should we call Doris?” It is important to note that between the four of us, there are three lawyers and a nurse, and we have had a total of seven children.  In  just ten days however, thanks to Doris’ steady hand, we had forgotten how to make decisions and act like adults! 

Judy, our nurse, sprang into action. I was brought up to the lobby where a group of very young employees stood nervously, uncertain what to do. One young woman tried to help but Judy told her she was a nurse and the relief on her face was palpable. Judy said that I needed ice and a lovely young man brought me a glass of ice water. It didn’t do much for my knee or head but I was a bit thirsty, so I thanked him and drank it. My main concern was that I didn’t want to get any blood on any of the staffs’ pajama-like uniforms. I was happy that Judy felt I didn’t need any stitches as their was no hospital on this tiny island and who knew when the next ferry would be back?  

After her assessment, Judy asked someone from the staff to look in their first-aid kit for steri -strips. She could have been asking them for a trip to the moon because they had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. Judy then disappeared to see what exactly was in this so-called first-aid kit—and she was not happy. The kit had a lot of “stuff” but was missing some key emergency essentials. I wouldn’t be surprised if in the future, Judy comes out of retirement and begins providing hotel staff with professional development on how to be prepared for a health emergency—hopefully, it will be in Greece so that we can tag along!

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