Anything would Help

My parents need and would appreciate any help you could provide during these unexpected medical issues with my dad Jim Garvin.

They are safely back home in Denison and dad is in TMC. He is still in the ER since yesterday waiting for an empty room. He is in a lot of pain.

They left February 4 from Galveston on a 51st anniversary cruise. Accompany them was me, their daughter, my husband, our son and his wife and two kids, our teen daughter and her good friend.

Dad got sick on Tuesday and went to sickbay that evening where he was kept overnight they tried to isolate what the infection was and get correct antibiotics going. By morning they were making plans to send him by ambulance to a hospital in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico from our first port in Costa Maya. He needed more care than the ship could provide. He and mom went by ambulance in an almost 4 hr ride to this hospital.

He spent two days there with them fighting what they said was septic arthritis that settled in his hip.

They were both told they could rejoin the cruise and ride home if released by medical and could get to the port we stopped at in Cozumel on Friday. Finally on Friday morning the Internist said he could release him based on that morning’s labs. They were dropped as close to the ferry as the taxi could get them and had to walk many blocks to the ferry to get across the bay to Cozumel where the Harmony of the Seas was docked for the day. I met them at the ship port when they taxi’d there and we pushed dad in a wheelchair to the ship where they would not let him board. They had told us about rejoining the cruise and then denied it and said they didn’t know who told us that but they could not take that risk in case he got worse. They were facing rough seas on the return trip again.

They both were left standing on the dock beside the ship with no room for the Night at 5:30 in the evening. The ship hospital had required full payment and they had paid in cash and card payments of close to $5000 before they would put them in the ambulance. They did buy trip insurance that will help with this but since the money here was medical they won’t even begin reimbursement until Medicare and insurance pays. On the expenses side they are non medical Mom started a claim today that will take some time they said and be decided by the insurance if it is reimbursable. All they know for sure is they will get a prorated amount back for the actual cruise for the days interrupted. That will be nice but doesn’t help on this cash and immediate need for money spent this week.

We would appreciate anything that you might care to help get them through these next few trying days. Their checking account is way overdrawn between the Royal Caribbean hospital payments of $1300 plus and just last night they took another $2100 from their debit card. That second amount was pulled even though mom had signed a promissory note for it and was told she had x number of days to pay. They took it last night! This is in addition to the hefty amount of cash she gave them and the flight home expenses plus the overnight stay in Cozumel. My aunt and her spouse put them up in Houston when they flew in Saturday night and Ubered them to Galveston.

They are trying to stay positive and were able to laugh a little about their 51st anniversary being spent on a Southwest flight where they applauded for them when announced that it was the 51st anniversary of the couple on the first row of seats. Then they dined on the Texas favorites of a drive thru Whataburger and Dr. Pepper.

Dad has a long hard journey ahead. They are still trying to determine if that diagnosis is right and are looking at a few other possibilities that also will require time and treatment. This was complicated due to all the antibiotics that have masked the original problems.

Today they are going to have to go in and drain the fluid from the hip to look for its source and hopefully get a good diagnosis and treatment plan.

At the moment mom is concerned about all the normal small things that are to draft out of the depleted checking accruing and the additional fees from the bank.

any amount of donation would be appreciated. Prayers are most definitely asked for as they continue this horrible journey. All we want is for my dad to be healed.

This is very difficult to have to ask for help. My mom and dad have always helped others when in need and for them to have to ask for this type of help is very humbling and difficult.

Please keep the prayers going.

Thank you,

Tracie Garvin Hawkins on behalf of my parents Jim and Felecia Garvin